Frozen feet - and fingers - challenge
Making habits
When I lived in Missoula, I was a member of a terrific running organization called Run Wild Missoula. Each January, they sponsored something called the Frozen Feet Challenge. The idea was to walk or run at least a mile a day for the whole month. The prize? Fittingly, a pair of socks.
If memory serves, the first week or so of January inevitably was mild, making the challenge an enjoyable breeze. Then, after the weather had lulled you into a false sense of security, Real January arrived, with temps often plunging to below zero. But by then I was midway through and didn’t feel like quitting. (See how it works?)
On the worst days, I only did a single mile and even that was sometimes broken up into short bursts: I’d do a half- or even quarter-mile, duck into the office or the house for warmth, then head back out for another dash, etc.
Thing is, when February rolled around, I was so wedded to the routine that I didn’t want to stop, which was the whole purpose of the challenge.
I’m not in Missoula anymore (sigh), or running, either (heavier sigh), but I’m doing the frozen feet challenge anyway, albeit walking these days. As if to cooperate, New Jersey’s weather has mimicked Montana’s, with a mid-month temperature plunge that was colder than Missoula’s. I bundled up and went out anyway. After the first few teeth-chattering minutes, I was always glad I did.
What does this have to do with writing?
The minimal distance – a single mile – is akin to my daily writing goal. I usually try to do 1,000 words but I’ve been in a bit of a slump over the last few weeks. So I lowered it to 500, achievable even by my slacker self. On good days, much as during those rare January warm spells, my frozen fingers blow right past 500 and sometimes even beyond 1,000. Just as with the daily walk, once I’ve gotten past the first reluctant paragraphs, it feels pretty good.
Got any handy strategies for tricking yourself into writing? If so, I’d love to hear them.
One-word resolution
I wasn’t going to make a New Year’s Resolution but then I remembered the one-word thing, whose vagueness makes it way easier than something like losing weight (as if).
I don’t know how effective a one-word resolution is, given that I can’t even remember last year’s, but here goes:
Reach.
If I need a reminder, all I have to do is look at my tattoo of an Octavia Butler quote - “So be it. See to it.” - that memorializes my daughter Kate, who first called my attention to it.
I’m already set up to reach, as I’m starting 2025 without any book contracts. But last year I wrote my first humorous novel (A Senior Citizen’s Guide to Life on the Run, coming May 6 and already available for pre-order!) and boy, was it a stretch. So, I’m continuing to flex those unfamiliar muscles by working on a follow-up.
Likewise with a follow to my still-seeking-a-home historical novel set in prewar Sicily. I loved-loved-loved writing that book and am reaching for a synopsis on something similar.
As with all new exercises, these are a little uncomfortable. But we all know stretching is good for us. Here’s my commitment to keep it up.
Bake of the month: Apple cider muffins
One of the things I love about being back in this part of the world is getting reacquainted with regional food specialties. Scrapple, anyone? No? You’re missing out.
But how about apple cider doughnuts?
Most of the bakeries and supermarkets around here sell them, but my favorites are from the farm stands that abound here. If I get to one early enough, I can grab a doughnut hot from the fryer. Despite being rolled in cinnamon and sugar, these cake-style doughnuts are not as sweet as a lot of their brethren and they’ve got that wonderful cider-y tang.
Alas, all the farm stands are closed for the winter. So when a recipe for baked cider doughnuts – wait? All that goodness and healthy(ish), too? - popped up in the New York Times, I went for it. The recipe (here’s a free version) is adaptable to muffins, which is good because while I lack a doughnut pan, somehow I’ve acquired three muffin pans.
They were easy as could be and tasted great, and will hold me over until the farm stands open up again this summer.
What I’m reading: Family secrets
January’s a dark month, so maybe that’s why I stumbled into reading novels centering on family secrets.
As in William Kent Krueger’s The River We Remember, the thing about discovering a dead body in a small town is that everybody immediately knows who it is and why anyone would have killed him. Krueger’s lyrical writing about rural Minnesota always makes me want to go there.
In The Sense of an Elephant by Campiello Prize-winning author Marco Missiroli, the arrival of a new concierge begins unraveling long-held secrets among the residents of an apartment building in Milan. Turns out this seemingly disparate group has connections that go back decades.
I grabbed S.A. Cosby’s All the Sinners Bleed when it came out in 2023. Alas, it got lost in the shuffle of moving. I finally resurrected it this month and am glad I did. As with his other novels, deep empathy and compelling characters leaven the intense violence. An added pleasure is the Tidewater Virginia setting, so reminiscent of my own Delmarva childhood.
Like a lot of other people, I fell in love with Elizabeth Strout’s writing with her 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning Olive Kittredge, so it was a treat to return to many of her characters in Tell Me Everything. The novel’s mystery yields its own surprise, but its chief delight lies the way Strout’s characters routinely upend a reader’s expectations.
Appearances
I set aside my novelist hat this month and dug out my journalist’s cap for a talk on survival tips in this age of fake news at the Gloucester County Library’s Logan branch. I haven’t given this talk in a couple of years, and updating it proved daunting, thanks to the prevalence of AI. The upside? Those attending were a well-informed group, and their concern for trustworthy journalism warmed my heart.
Sign me up
I love talking with groups about books or writing in general, either in person or via the magic of Zoom. I also give writing workshops, perfect for libraries and writing groups. Interested? You can contact me via my website or by messaging me here.