March 2026 Newsletter, Liegois Media

Hello, everyone. This is The Writing Life, my monthly newsletter about a writer of many interests (me, Jason Liegois) and what’s been going on with me and my writing.

Let’s get started.

What I’m Writing Right Now

In all honesty, I have not had a good writing month in February. In fact, although I’m not always going to get into numbers every month, I will say I’ve probably written only half as many words as I did in January. I’d much rather write 20,000 words than 10,000, but I’ve got to keep it in perspective. I am going to have a better month in March, however. I’ll have the advantage of Spring Break, for one thing.

[NOTE: For more detailed summaries/synopses of the works in progress I discuss below, go to this link.
Also note, all titles except those of my series are working titles. This is the reason for that.]

The Land, The River, and The Waste

What is it? An environmental sci-fi horror tale set in a quiet Iowa town on the Mississippi River. In a state where agricultural pollution effects people and the environment are a big deal, the new pollution is getting into everyone…

Status:I’ve been working on this more or less continuously since Halloween night of last year. I’m now at about 35,000 words and I plan to have the rough draft done by the end of this year, but next Halloween would be even more poetic.

The Fool 2

What is it? The sequel to my first book, The Holy Fool. It follows the adventures of ex-Chicago newspaper columnist turned independent blogger journalist Sam “Sonny” Turner, as he and his correspondents struggle to get the news out about America during troubled times.

Status:Number two priority after LRW. Not much work recently, although I have been gathering background material so I remember everything that has been going on in America during 2024-2025. Hopefully I make more progress on this soon. I had thought I needed to have a better idea of what the outline of the story was until I found an outline I had written a couple of weeks ago. Oops.

I’m going to mention the next couple of stories below, but currently they’re on inactive status in my writing queue. So, I’ll not mention them for a bit after this edition of the newsletter, although you can always find them on this projects page.

The Yank Striker 3

What is it? This is the third in a series about DJ Ryan, a one-time high school and college football star turned prospective pro soccer player for the underdog Donford FC of London. After facing a setback in his climb to success, he’s relentless in seeking an opportunity to get back on the winning road. (Book one is explained here and Book 2 here.)

Status:Somewhat inactive as of this point. I’m guessing the story won’t be coming out until at least 2027 at this point.

Kayfabe Stories Part 1

What is it? The first in a series of stories featuring Robbie Traynor, a creative writing grad student at the University of Iowa. His thesis project is a novel about a young man seeking to reconnect with his father, a professional wrestler. Robbie himself is from a family of pro wrestlers, but has had little connection with the art – until his research for the novel pulls him closer to a life that horrifies and fascinates him all at once.

Status: Not actively adding to this project, but I am revising it based on the feedback I have been receiving from my writing groups (especially the Midwest Writing Center, shout out to them). With more than 50,000 words into the rough draft, there’s no way I’m abandoning this project, even if I have to self-publish it on Ingram Sparks or whatever.

The home office.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

I ended up getting a new laptop early this month. (Laptop not shown above). I remember hearing a story about how medieval knights wouldn’t name their horses because they’d just end up getting killed right away. Don’t know if that’s true, but I’ve gone thru a lot of desktops and laptops in my day, so I’ll avoid a name.

I wanted to thank The Corner, Mediapolis’ new indie bookstore right on 703 Main St., for hosting an event for me two weeks back. It’s a great local business in a town I used to teach in for a couple of years, so I was happy to be there. I’m hoping to be back there soon and maybe do some writing workshops there. Can’t wait.

I also want to thank Beaverdale Books for hosting me and several other local authors at their local author’s fair last weekend. It was an honor to be there and Beaverdale were fantastic hosts as always.

I’m looking forward to being part of their DSM Book Fair on Saturday, May 2 as well. So, this is my current schedule of appearances coming up:

  • I’ll be appearing at the DSM Book Festival between 1 and 2:30 p.m. with a large contingent of area authors. Come see some of the speakers (it’s a shame I’ll miss Art Cullen ‘s presentation) as well as some good books and authors. This one I’m looking forward to.
  • From about 4:30 to 7 p.m. May 28, I’ll be outside Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington, for an appearance and signing as part of the farmer’s market in downtown Burlington. Chris, the owner at BBTB, has been a longtime supporter of me and other local authors and I’m delighted to be returning there.
Screenshot
  • Finally, I’ll be at the 11th annual Indie Author Book Expo from 12 to 5 p.m. at the Valley Junction Activity Center. This is one of the bigger book events in Des Moines during the year and I’ll be happy to return there once again.

Hopefully, I might be adding some other appearances before the year is out.

The Home Front

The principal for my school (my boss) recently talked about how March is one of the roughest times of the year for teachers, and Spring Break is a valuable time for them. Spring Break is a week away from now, and I’m looking forward to it.

I think I wrote a poem which compared teaching to running a triathlon with your mind, but that was the one I sent in to the Iowa Poetry Association for their contest, so I’ll have to hold off showing you that one until I figure out whether it won a contest or whatever.

Any of the rest of it I’ll want for until later.

Writing Quote(s) of the Month:

First, some advice from the King about bad writing.

Bad writing is more than a matter of shit syntax and faulty observation; bad writing usually arises from a stubborn refusal to tell stories about what people actually do― to face the fact, let us say, that murderers sometimes help old ladies cross the street.

― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft

Also, I saw this bit of advice that still applies to writing from one of the English language’s best writers of the 19th century, who lived for a time in my original hometown of Muscatine, Iowa.

I notice that you use plain, simple language, short words and brief sentences. That is the way to write English―it is the modern way and the best way. Stick to it; don’t let fluff and flowers and verbosity creep in. When you catch an adjective, kill it. No, I don’t mean utterly, but kill most of them―then the rest will be valuable. They weaken when they are close together. They give strength when they are wide apart. An adjective habit, or a wordy, diffuse, flowery habit, once fastened upon a person, is as hard to get rid of as any other vice.

― Mark Twain

When and What I Post

Check this out for when and what I post on a regular basis.

How to support me😊.

As always, go to the links on the side if you are reading this on a desktop/laptop or the links on my profile on mobile. If you follow the links, you will be able to buy both the paperback and ebook versions of my books on Amazon. If you just put “Jason Liegois” in Google. you’ll find them on the first page of search results.

I have quite a few places that now carry at least some of my books, some of the many great and fantastic independent bookstores in Iowa and the Midwest.
These are the bookstores you’ll find at least some of my work1:

  • Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
  • Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • The Corner and More, 703 Main St., Mediapolis.
  • Green Point Mercantile, 217 E. 2nd St., Muscatine.
  • The Brewed Book, 1524 Harrison St., Davenport.
  • The Black Rose, 116 W. Main St., West Branch
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
  • The Atlas Collective, 1801 5th Ave, Moline, Illinois.

I’m always looking for some new places to place my books, so feel free to hit me up in the comments if you have a suggestion.

For those who are budget conscious among all of you, my books are part of the collections of the Fort Madison, Burlington, and eventually at the Musser (Muscatine) public libraries.

My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point, Burlington By the Book, and The Corner and More, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. See below.

The Flow and the Journey

The Flow and the Journey

$6.00

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

Category:
Tags: , ,

Final Thoughts:

Not much else to say. All you writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

-30-

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.
  1. All Iowa locations unless otherwise noted. ↩︎

Writing Journal 11 March 2026: Better but still rubbish

This will be short because I want to get writing on my projects and not how unproductive I’ve been.

Even though my numbers were still rubbish last week, they were my best numbers for at least five weeks. And I can at least partially blame having to get a new laptop set up for part of this slowness.

Here’s the stats:

Writing statistics for the week ending 7 March 2026:
Words: 3,870
Days writing: 6 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 6 of 7 days.

Not that I’m happy with those stats, but I’d have been happier to have five straight weeks of those numbers rather than the lower ones I actually had.

I’ve tried to get going on a sci-fi environmental horror project with the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, (I am so superstitious about revealing a real title until I am closer to publishing), set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I need to cut out more dialogue and get to people howling at each other.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.

A Writer’s Biography, Volume III, Part 9: Keeping Procrastination and Distractions at Bay

close up of a poster

In recent months, some of these entries have gotten slightly more difficult to write. I’m slightly self-conscious about the fiction projects I’m active on, so I’m not quite sure when to share excerpts from them. That might change in the near future, but not just yet.

This week, I had a conversation with one of my students, one who, at times, would prefer to distract themselves1 rather than get going on their work. At a certain point at the end of the day, I said to them, “You think you know about procrastination? I could teach you doctorates in procrastination.”

I talked about their position, how they needed to keep on top of their work because time can slip away from them. Of course, when you’re in your mid to late teens, your perspective on wasting time changes from when you’ve passed a half century of life.

This made me think of something I wrote a few years back as part of my A Writer’s Biography series, an intermittent series of articles over the years that might end up becoming the basis of my memoir, if I ever get around to it. I wrote about this issue of procrastination years back, but looking back at the initial article, I was thinking I might have a few more things to say about the issue now. So, let’s talk about it.

How I See Procrastination Now Compared to Before

I distinctly remember a moment when I was fourteen years old when I was visiting my relatives at my Grandpa and Grandma Sumner’s place on the north side of La Crosse, Wisconsin. I remember it being evening and I was hanging out with several of my cousins outside staring at the nighttime stars and declaring to one of them (I believe it was my cousin Kathy, hi there.) that I would write four books by the time I turned eighteen.

I did not quite reach that lofty goal by my eighteenth birthday. Now past my fiftieth birthday, I have three completed novels and one poetry collection to my name.

Obviously, procrastination had some effect on my production. I mean, I’m not like Harper Lee, but I’m sure as heck not as prolific as several of my literary idols such as Stephen King or Elmore Leonard. Then again, in the latter two cases, they have or had the advantage of securing enough publishing support to be able to live off their writing earnings full-time, which is a very late 20th century phenomenon, as I’ve recently started to sense.

I am someone who tries to avoid falling into stereotyping and bias, but I cannot help but think my generation, Generation X, born in or around the 1970’s, came of age in a transitional era in our country when it came to both culture and technology. We came of age at a time, the 1980’s and 1990’s, where America was arguably at our peak. We stood triumphant over the world, and all of the ugliness that it took for us to get there was buried in classic Westerns or revisionist cinema such as the Rambo series, which promised its audience there was a way to win the Vietnam War even though the entire premise was ridiculous.

We also certainly came of age at a time when we were at the junction between the late industrial age and the information age. We had video games, CD’s, and computer graphics when previous generations had none of the above. We were among the very last college students not to regularly use email and worry about the cost of long distance calls. Often, rather than depending on our parents getting us desktop computers, we relied on the computer labs in the basements of our college dorms. We generally had no cell phones and no real encounters with the Internet except for the odd places to find in the exotic nooks and crannies there.

Despite this, I certainly had my own distractions. There were video games from the Atari 2600 up to Sid Meier’s Civilization for my desktop computer. There was even the Playstations and XBoxes my wife and I bought for our children that I ended up piloting more than a few times. Then there were the movies, the shows, the World Wide Web.

There were years when I didn’t write a single thing, where the tall tales and ideas simply burbled up and down in my perpetual stew of ideas in my head which gathered stories in my head for as long as I could remember. In all seriousness, I didn’t have the perseverance in my younger days to put something together like those stories, to put them on the page. I started and then stopped, like the more than a dozen or so hand-written pages of a long-forgotten story my father found in my parents’ home and returned to me.

In those years I was a younger man, I called myself a writer but did little to forward that vision. This does not mean I didn’t utilize my writing talents, however. I first turned to journalism to make a living with the skills I had, using it to inform my community about what they needed to know. Over time, when the work was fewer and farther between, I entered the education profession and utilized my writing (and other) skills that way. In both professions, I felt I had value, that I had purpose. Away from all of that, I helped build a family, a home. It was a good life. (It still is now, too.)

Then, fifteen years ago, I began to wonder if I couldn’t do something more, whether I could become something more than what I had tried to be before.

It didn’t start immediately. As I have told several of my students, if you don’t consistently dedicate yourself to your goals, there’s no way you will be able to switch on. It took me a while to decide what I wanted to write about, and then to see who might be interested in helping me bring it to life. I also wanted to share what I came up with, so I started to meet with and network with these people. Some good friendships and good advice came from that networking and writing groups.

Finally, in 2019, my first book, The Holy Fool came out. I had no idea what I was doing, and I don’t claim to know everything about what I’m doing now. I know a little bit more, now.

I would love to tell you I never let myself distracted anymore, that I’m just a writing machine. That wouldn’t be totally accurate. I’ve written at least 200,000 words a year for the past four years. I’ve only kept track of my word counts with a good amount of accuracy ever since 2018, but I’m guessing when I got started back into writing earlier in the decade, I was only writing around 50,000-120,000 words per year – pretty pitiful compared to my current output. Setting word count and project goals at the beginning of the year has helped me to achieve something more than I ever expected out of myself.

I think my current attitude about how much time I have left is symbolized by me checking out Bowker Publishing Services. They’re the people where you can buy ISBN numbers from, the numbers used to identify books.

I’m beginning to wonder if 10 or 20 ISBN numbers are going to be enough for everything else I’m planning to write. Probably not more than 20. Well, I’ll make them good ones, then.

-30-

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.
  1. I’m not necessarily trying to be progressive or cute with pronouns here; my intention is to maintain confidentiality. ↩︎

Writing Journal 4 March 2026: …and February wasn’t good lol

Another short one.

All I can say about last week is that it wasn’t as bad as my worst week of the month. And this past month was bad. I mean, bad, nowhere near what I’m expecting of myself.

Here they are:

Writing statistics for the week ending 28 February 2026:
Words: 2,973
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 1 of 7 for 120 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for February 2026:
Words: 12,089
Revise/planning: 270 minutes.
DWGM: 64%

Whelp, nearly 10,000 words less than last month. And I missed my daily goals more than one out of every three days. In short: total absolute rubbish. I have been fighting against my old friend of procrastination, that hangs out and temps me into distraction.

I’m also in a situation where I realize I’m in something of a … I won’t say rut, but I’m feeling like I’m doing a lot of background setting and not enough tension and dread for what should be a sci-fi environmental horror project. This I’ve given the working title of The Land, The River, and The Waste, (I am so superstitious about revealing a real title until I am closer to publishing), set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I’m getting the feeling of more sightseeing and not enough horror. I always loved how Stephen King would slowly turn up the temperature of his stories ever so slowly until you found yourself as a reader in the maelstrom of chaos he’d create.

So: more chaos, less sightseeing. Plus, I have Spring Break this month so I should have a bit more time to write this month, I believe. Back to the 20,000-word mark, hopefully.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.

Writing Journal 25 February 2026: February is not going to be good

This will be short.

I’ve had some rough weeks that have been under-productive, to say the least. It’s just been me stubbornly staring at the screen and expecting the words just to fly onto the screen.

The numbers:

Writing statistics for the week ending 21 February 2026:
Words: 3,128
Days writing: 6 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 4 of 7 days.

Too many distractions is all I can say. I need to break the streak I’ve been running nearly this entire month. Somehow I get the feeling the month of February is a slump month for me, and I have to keep this in mind for next year and beyond.

The project I call (for now; I’m so superstitious of working titles) The Land, The River, and The Waste, an environmental horror tale set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, is my main fiction focus. I need to stop screwing around and get the action going in this story; there seems to be a few too much talk talk and not enough go go to it. If I want to have a rough draft by Halloween 2026… you know.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.

Writing Journal 18 February 2026: Not good, but better than last week so I’ll take it

I’ve only got two weeks to turn around what is turning out to be not so good of a month as January was. Writing a book is an accomplishment, but it’s always easier to have a rough draft in your hands rather than trying to write it.

And cell phones are the devil, kids. Take my word for it.

The numbers:

Writing statistics for the week ending 14 February 2026:
Words: 3,293
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 3 of 7 for 90 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

If you want to compare last week to the previous week, I’m ahead by every measurable criteria, which is objectively a good thing.

I often talk about the esoteric reasons why I didn’t write as much as I wanted to, but the past two weeks can be narrowed down to one thing: I get too damn distracted by my cell phone and the things I can see and play on it, if I am to be perfectly honest. Only when I have it plugged in is when I could write a whole bunch and not scroll idly on YouTube, Tubi, Substack, Medium, Facebook, and Universe knows what else. Procrastination and distraction are my devil.

The project I’m calling (for now; I’m so superstitious of working titles) The Land, The River, and The Waste, an environmental horror tale set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, is my main fiction focus, but I didn’t make a massive amount of progress on it last week. I only increased the rough manuscript from 31,000 to more than 32,000, which is not a lot for a week’s work. If I want to have a rough draft by Halloween 2026, I need to get the bloody show on the road.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.

February Newsletter, Liegois Media

Welcome, everyone. This is my monthly newsletter about a teacher, ex-journalist, and part-time novelist from eastern Iowa (me, Jason Liegois) and what’s been going on with me, especially when it comes to my writing and myself.

Let’s get started.

What I’m Writing Right Now

[NOTE: For more detailed summaries/synopses of the works in progress I discuss below, go to this link.
Also note, all titles except those of my series are working titles. This is the reason for that.]

The Land, The River, and The Waste

This is my environmental sci-fi horror tale situated in the type of quiet Mississippi River town in Iowa I’ve grown up and lived in most of my life. In a state where agricultural pollution and its effects on the people and environment are a big deal, I thought a horror story might be appropriate for the times. Also, as a writer from Iowa, I wanted to finally set one of my stories in a familiar setting.

Status: Right now this is the top creative priority for me. I got started on it on Halloween Night of last year and I’m already at 31,000 words for the rough draft. One of my goals is to have at least the rough draft wrapped up by Halloween of next year. I have no idea of how it’s getting published or where it’s coming out, but I believe in this story. It’s coming out, one way or another.

The Fool 2

This is the sequel to my first book, The Holy Fool. It follows the adventures of ex-Chicago newspaper columnist turned independent blogger journalist Sam “Sonny” Turner, as he and his correspondents struggle to get the news out about America during troubled times.

Status: This is the number two priority for me right now. I am in the strange situation of writing a historical novel, so to speak, in real time. I am picturing a book beginning in November 2024 and ending in November 2026, so I feel the need to observe what is happening before I wrap up the story. 4 July 2026 will be an important date to observe as well, because this will be Sonny Turner’s 50th birthday1. There’s no projected date.

The Yank Striker 3

This is the third in a series about DJ Ryan, a one-time high school and college football star turned prospective pro soccer player for the underdog Donford FC of London. After facing a setback in his climb to success, he’s relentless in seeking an opportunity to get back on the winning road.

Status: I still believe in this project, but I don’t want to have three/fourths of my books to be The Yank Striker series. I want to make sure I have some other back catalogue (so to speak) before putting another Yank Striker book out there. Not that I don’t believe in the series, but I want to be more than that. I’m guessing the story won’t be coming out until at least 2027 at this point2.

Kayfabe Stories Part 1

The first in a series of stories featuring Robbie Traynor, a creative writing grad student at the University of Iowa. His thesis project is a novel about a young man seeking to reconnect with his father, a professional wrestler. Robbie himself is from a family of pro wrestlers, but has had little connection with the art – until his research for the novel pulls him closer to a life that horrifies and fascinates him all at once.

Status: Not actively adding to this project, but I am revising it based on the feedback I have been receiving from my writing groups (especially the Midwest Writing Center, shout out to them). With more than 50,000 words into the rough draft, there’s no way I’m abandoning this project, even if I have to self-publish it on Ingram Sparks or whatever.

I’m thinking at least a trilogy and two spin-off novels spanning from 1954 to 2019. Can’t wait to share them with you.

Me hanging out at the Burlington, Iowa, public library, 7 February 2025. One of my favorite libraries to be honest.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

For once, I have some new events to announce.

  • This week, at 11 AM Saturday, Feb 21, I’ll be making my first appearance at The Corner, Mediapolis’ new indie bookstore right on 703 Main St. It’ll be my first appearance there, although they already have my books.
  • On Saturday Feb. 28, I’ll be back at @beaverdalebooks , one of my favorite indie bookstores in Iowa, for their local author fair. That’ll run between 1-3 PM. I’m looking forward to being back there in Des Moines once again, and am looking forward to the DSM Bookfair as well. See you there!

The Home Front

Not too much to say.

My wife is trying to sort out her mother’s home now that she’s passed. Whenever people die, there’s always circumstances which have to get sorted out. People who have passed on have a certain momentum, if you will.

My son’s going to get married this July. His future bride is a good girl, and I hope he has as much happiness as I’ve had with his mother and my wife.

For those complaining about the weather: it’s a hell of a lot better than 100 degree days in the summer.

All the rest of it I’ll keep to myself for now.

Writing Quote(s) of the Month:

This first one is from one of my favorite writers (and creators) in the realm of film.

To be an artist means never to avert one’s eyes.

― Akira Kurosawa

I haven’t read any of his works, but I think his philosophy on writing style approaches my own philosophy.

People often ask me why my style is so simple. It is, in fact, deceptively simple, for no two sentences are alike. It is clarity that I am striving to attain, not simplicity.

Of course, some people want literature to be difficult and there are writers who like to make their readers toil and sweat. They hope to be taken more seriously that way. I have always tried to achieve a prose that is easy and conversational. And those who think this is simple should try it for themselves.

― Ruskin Bond, Best Of Ruskin Bond

When and What I Post

Check this out for when and what I post on a regular basis.

How to support me😊.

As always, go to the links on the side if you are reading this on a desktop/laptop or the links on my profile on mobile. If you follow the links, you will be able to buy both the paperback and ebook versions of my books on Amazon. If you just put “Jason Liegois” in Google. you’ll find them on the first page of search results.

I have quite a few places that now carry at least some of my books, some of the many great and fantastic independent bookstores in Iowa and the Midwest.
These are the bookstores you’ll find at least some of my work3:

  • Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
  • Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • The Corner and More, 703 Main St., Mediapolis.
  • Green Point Mercantile, 217 E. 2nd St., Muscatine.
  • The Brewed Book, 1524 Harrison St., Davenport.
  • The Black Rose, 116 W. Main St., West Branch
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
  • The Atlas Collective, 1801 5th Ave, Moline, Illinois.

I’m always looking for some new places to place my books, so feel free to hit me up in the comments if you have a suggestion.

For those who are budget conscious among all of you, my books are part of the collections of the Fort Madison, Burlington, and eventually at the Musser (Muscatine) public libraries.

My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point, Burlington By the Book, and The Corner and More, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. See below.

The Flow and the Journey

The Flow and the Journey

$6.00

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

Category:
Tags: , ,

Final Thoughts:

Take care and see you around, everyone.

-30-

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.
  1. This does mean Sonny Turner was born 4 July 1976. And yes, there’s a thematic reason for this; you’re welcome. ↩︎
  2. For subsequent updates, I may not discuss other what I might call “inactive” projects every month. So, news on these projects might be more few and far between. ↩︎
  3. All Iowa locations unless otherwise noted. ↩︎

Writing Journal 11 February 2026: Pretty much rubbish

heavy equipments on landfill

I had a good last month and a decent week before last week … but this weekend was pretty much rubbish. Hence the photo with this story. Before I was inconsistent but at least produced some work; this previous week I was inconsistent and unproductive.

The numbers:

Writing statistics for the week ending 7 February 2026:
Words: 2,695
Days writing: 4 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 1 of 7 for 60 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 4 of 7 days.

As for why I’m dawdling, I think it’s because I’ve let distractions get over on me and I’m trying to distract myself when I don’t necessarily need to. I feel much better about myself if I remain productive.

The project I started this last Halloween I’m calling (for now; I’m so superstitious of working titles) The Land, The River, and The Waste, an environmental horror tale set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa.

On that project, I’m now past the 31,000 word mark. Halloween 2026 would be a good, solid deadline for the first draft to be ready, but maybe I can get it done even earlier.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.

Writing Journal 4 February 2026: Finished slow, but not a bad January

Last week, again, was not a massive success, as I was not keeping up the pace I wanted to hit to keep up my pace to his this year’s productivity numbers. However, this month was a fantastic start for my year, so I’m balancing the bad with the good and hoping I can have some more consistent production for the rest of the year. However, if every month winds up being what this one was… I’m likely to more than meet my goals as a result.

Here are my totals for both the previous week and the previous month:

Writing statistics for the week ending 31 January 2026:
Words: 4,223
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 0 of 7 for 0 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Writing statistics for January 2026:
Words: 21,205
Revising or planning: 90 minutes.
DWGM: 74%.

This week’s numbers are a bit low for what I’m trying to average during a week, but only by less than 200 words. Consistency has been my biggest issue this month, which means I’ve had days when I’ve done absolutely nothing and days I’ve written 2,000 words, which is a bit much.

Right now I have a “soft goal” of 230,000 words for 2026. I think it is absolutely doable, considering I wrote only 4,000 or so less words last year. I need to write a little more than 19,000 words per month to reach that goal, but every little bit helps. For example, if I write 20,000 words per month for the next 11 months, I’ll easily hit 240,000 words instead. That’s the equivalent of at least three novel-sized manuscripts, which is a bit eye-opening to me.

project I started this last Halloween I’m calling (for now; I’m so superstitious of working titles) The Land, The River, and The Waste, an environmental horror tale set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa.

On that project, I’m now past the 30,000 word mark. Halloween 2026 would be a good, solid deadline for the first draft to be ready, but maybe I can get it done even earlier.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.

Writing Journal 28 January 2026: Picking up a little…

Although last week was not a massive success, it did barely meet what I am trying to do as far as writing productivity, so I felt good about those results… and what might be upcoming. More in a bit on that.

First, let’s get into the numbers for last week.

Writing statistics for the week ending 24 January 2026:
Words: 4,503
Days writing: 5 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 2 of 7 for 90 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 5 of 7 days.

Although the consistency of my production was not quite up to the previous week’s level (6 out of 7 days meeting daily goals), in every other measurement I was keeping busier than before.

My “soft goal” of 230,000 words for 2026 is ambitious, but I think it’s doable considering I wrote only 4,000 or so less words last year and 4,000 words is a subpar week for me nowadays. At some point I’m going to write fewer words than I did the previous year, but the last time it happened was four years ago, and I’ve been on an upward trend since then. Having set a yearly goal ahead of time rather than after the fact has been a benefit for me.

This year, I decided to figure out some monthly and weekly averages I want to reach if I wanted to reach 230,000 words for the year. Figuring the averages, this would mean I’d need to write 630 words daily, 4,423 words weekly, and 19,167 per month. So, any totals over those in the weeks and months to come will be fantastic.

As of right now, I’m at 16,980 words as of the end of last week. Starting the year off with a 20,000-plus word January would be a big boost to start the year.

Speed and productivity are the watchwords for this year. I want to get this project I started this last Halloween I’m calling (for now; I’m so superstitious of working titles) The Land, The River, and The Waste, an environmental horror tale set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa. I said last week To raise the stakes, get a dog involved. I just started the scene a few days ago, and some pet owners might not be happy with me, but I think I had to do it this way.

On that project, I’m now over 27,000 words and think I’ll need at least 50,000 more to give me a decent-sized first-draft novel. If I could have the first draft wrapped up by this Halloween, that might be the fastest turnaround I’ve ever had on a novel.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing.

If you don’t have the budget for a paid subscription, feel free to just send me a one-time payment of whatever you have the budget for.

Buy me a cup of coffee! 🙂 (please)

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

Subscribe to my Substack here.