September Newsletter: Liegois Media

sailboat in front of picturesque lighthouse landscape

Hey, everyone,

Ooh, it’s been a hot minute, hasn’t it? We’ll let’s not worry about August and head straight into September, all things considered. Sorry about that.

Let’s get started.

The Home Front

I am, reluctantly, going to be relatively tight-lipped about the reason or reasons why I suddenly stopped dead in the middle of summer and just stared at the screen for a couple months. While I’m not one of those fans of “vaguebooking” or “vaguejournaling,” I do think you have to be discrete in my position as an educator and now is one of those times.

What I will say is this. my health is overall well; all is well with my wife, kids, and immediate family. Essentially, I had a personal revelation about myself that has to do with how I think about things and process information. It was something that manifested itself (well, it was manifesting itself for a long time; I just realized it was actually manifesting in the way it was until now.

I also will say the main way this manifested myself into my writing is that I came to realize, as I was reviewing my recent work (see below), that I was paying so much attention to details, worldbuilding, and with the little details in the story I almost was ignoring the main plotline in my works and developing characters and their motivation. In some ways, I became more aware of how my main characters might think and react to things in a way I wouldn’t have been aware of before.

So, this realization was a bit of a shock to me.

I spent pretty much all of my summer staring at screens and second-guessing everything I wrote. Not that I had doubts about my writing skills, but I was seeing how I had developed blind spots in my creative life, and I couldn’t just ignore the situation.

This realization I just had likely has some other implications for me, but for now I will set those aside as not being something I want to get into here. The overall message is, I had a sudden realization about the way I think and who I am that startled me a bit.

What does this mean for me, moving forward with the writing?

I have to say that with the past two weeks, which have coincided with the beginning of the school year, I have started to regather myself toward writing. Frankly, I’ve not been eager to write anything, whether it’s Substack blurbs or fiction. I do know I want to pick up my pace, even though I might not be announcing my word count on a regular basis for the remainder of the year. And I do have one or two goals for the remainder of this year that might not necessarily fit onto a data spreadsheet.

Now, enough of the personal mumbo-jumbo; time to discuss what I have (or have not) gotten accomplished.

What I’m Writing Now

A sunset over the Mississippi River, with vibrant orange and red hues, featuring a silouetted street lamp and trees, along with the title 'Shadows on the Mississippi' and the author's name 'By Jason Liegois'.

What is it? An environmental sci-fi horror tale 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: As of now, this novel is, I am certain, the main project and focus of my fiction efforts.

This story has dominated my thoughts. Many of the issues Iowa face now are going to pop up in this book. It doesn’t take too much imagination to consider how such issues could blow up into far wilder situations.

I’m currently over 47,000 words on this project after I’ve done some severe carving to the first three chapters and some more on later ones. Looking at the calendar, it might be a bit ambitious to finish the first draft by this Halloween, the first anniversary of when I began my work.

Prediction: Rough draft hopefully completed by the end of this year. Stay tuned.

Currently Untitled Anthology Submission

What is it?

A short story about a man who gets in trouble for speaking the truth… and then decides to see if he can make a run for the line.

Status:

This is a short speculative fiction story with a border or line theme. I just submitted it for a local fiction anthology, although I think it will be a few months before I learn of its publication status.

I ended up writing about 10,000 words, so I hope it didn’t end up rambling. This main character might have ended up being a lot like me. I’ll look forward to all of you reading it one way or the other.

[NOTE: For more detailed summaries/synopses of other projects of mine in various states, as well as my initial plans for the year, check out this link.]

Writing Quote(S) of the Month:

As it is in art, it is in writing.

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

― Akira Kurosawa

When and What I Post

I once posted here about when or what I post on a regular basis. I should say I have not been keeping this schedule regularly, but I’ll see if I can’t pick up the pace.

And Now … 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. [SPECIAL EDITORS NOTE: Green Point Mercantile is temporarily relocated to Salon Incognito, located at 216 E. Second St., due to building issues. Please check them out there or on Instagram – it’s a great store and Candy (the owner) is a fantastic person.]
  • 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. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click below:

  • The Flow and the Journey
The Flow and the Journey - Image 1

The Flow and the Journey

$6.00

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

Category:
Tags: , ,

This is my obligatory announcement that if any podcasters or bloggers are interested in new fiction, if you are interested in stories based in the worlds of journalism and soccer, or if you are interested in featuring writers from Iowa or the Midwest, I would absolutely be open for a feature or interview. Get in touch here or at jasonliegois@liegois.media.

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.

Button with a coffee cup icon and the text 'Buy me a coffee' on a yellow background

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. ↩︎

Apologies

sticky note with apology

This is just me saying sorry to everyone.

I’ve probably been hanging out on Substack more than here, and my posts show it.

Basically, ever since the end of May I’ve been something on a personal self-improvement run, particular concentrating on my mental health and processes. I want to emphasize that I’m doing well, but given how I tend to have to keep things quiet and confidential in my line of work, on some of these things I have to say relatively vague. I will say I’ve learned a bit more about myself and my past than I ever anticipated.

So, I’ve been horrible about posting (or reposting) on here. I will get caught up slightly this week, or soon. I’m finding it more time-consuming and labor-intensive trying to cross-post on two blogging platforms. What that looks like going forward is an open question for me.

Anyway, I’ll post my newsletter next. Thanks for following if nothing else, especially those who have been doing so for a while.

I’ll try to explain more as we go along. I’ll see you soon.

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.

July Newsletter: Liegois Media

Hey, everyone,

I was a bit (more than a little bit) later with this than what I anticipated – so it might make this a short newsletter, but that’s all right. Might get into it if I can here.

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

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. The story below also contains some titles I have been working on but not at the level of the projects I’m discussing this month, so you can find out about them there.

Shadows on the Mississippi

What is it? An environmental sci-fi horror tale 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: See above in the “Meta-Commentary” section. I think I’m just about finished with the first round of revisions (call the draft SOM 1.5 for now). I’ve sorted out the first 50 pages and I’ve gotten some good initial feedback from writing ground members. Now I need to keep the action going.

Stay tuned.

Currently Untitled Anthology Submission

What is it?

A short story about a man who gets in trouble for a bit of dissent … and then decides to see if he can make a run for the line.

Status:

This is a short story I’m submitting for an anthology (I’ll go into more details if I get it). The collection is speculative fiction with a border or line theme. It has to be 4,000-12,000 words, so I have to get moving on this since it is due by 31 August of this year.

I had to fix things around since I realized right when I started things that I was revealing too much at the beginning. I think the result will keep readers guessing. I’ll let you know how it goes.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing Now

First of all, thanks to Jenn Thompson and the organizers of the Indie Author Book Expo for having me over at the 11th annual expo late last month. It was a fantastic experience as always.

All set for a day’s book signing and selling.

As I am working on my new work in progress, I want to try and concentrate on getting this closer to publication (whatever shape that takes) rather than promoting my past works, but I still am open to some possibilities if they come open, especially events closer to my home ground.

The Home Front

As I write this, the US Men’s National (Soccer/Football) Team is struggling against Belgium in the Round of 161. Admittedly, this has occupied much of my mental bandwidth, considering I was crazy enough to write a book series about what I thought the first US soccer superstar might look like.

Enough foolishness has been written and spoken about the given controversy over Flo Balogun, but what I will do here is list two quotes that summarize the sport I love so well2.

It’s the money, you morons.

– Giorgio Chinaglia, Italian philosopher and footballer, regarding the reason why events happen in football/soccer.

Football, bloody hell.

– Sir Alex Ferguson, Scottish football manager, Manchester United.

Feels like I have been at loose ends for a while for summer break 2026. I’ve been keeping to myself, trying to walk regularly, do things for my physical and mental health, not to get more specific than that.

As for the Fourth of July, it went all right for my family, even with all the attendant weirdness. I try not to get too far into the political weeds here on The Writing Life, but I admire and subscribe to Laura Jedeed on Substack, and she put together a good article on the Fourth of July celebrations in Washington, DC. Click here to check it out.

My son’s wedding is in two weeks. Looking forward to it.

Writing Quote(S) of the Month:

Maybe this explains last month 🤣:

Writing is thinking. To write well is to think clearly. That’s why it’s so hard.

― David McCullough

And one more quote from the King.

Writing is magic, as much the water of life as any other creative art. The water is free. So drink. Drink and be filled up.

― Stephen King

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. [SPECIAL EDITORS NOTE: Green Point Mercantile is temporarily relocated to Salon Incognito, located at 216 E. Second St., due to building issues. Please check them out there or on Instagram – it’s a great store and Candy (the owner) is a fantastic person.]
  • 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. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click below:

  • The Flow and the Journey
The Flow and the Journey - Image 1

The Flow and the Journey

$6.00

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

Category:
Tags: , ,

This is my obligatory announcement that if any podcasters or bloggers are interested in new fiction, if you are interested in stories based in the worlds of journalism and soccer, or if you are interested in featuring writers from Iowa or the Midwest, I would absolutely be open for a feature or interview. Get in touch here or at jasonliegois@liegois.media.

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.

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. Aaand we’re out. USA 1-4 BEL. The US boys played their hearts out. However, I might always believe a certain American put a curse on the team. #USMNT always. ↩︎
  2. Would anyone be interested in a short story regarding how my series main character, DJ Ryan, might have handled soccer and politics? Or maybe I’m the only one who’s interested in it, which might be par for the course lol. ↩︎
  3. All Iowa locations unless otherwise noted. ↩︎

Writing Journal 2 July 2026: Tough to write this or anything at the moment

photograph of crumpled paper near a pencil

Whelp, it’s been a bit, hasn’t it?

In all honesty, I’ve procrastinated about writing this post, or something like it, for the past several weeks. I always sort of understood why some of my students would rather repeat a grade rather than do an assignment they’d prefer not to do, but this past month or so has been an illustration of how it would actually work (lol).

I once had bold, gold aspirations to massive word counts for 2026. I had hoped to make it to 230,000 words this year and make my daily minimum writing quota (see below if you are not familiar with it) at least 85 percent of the time. Based on what I had written over the past couple of years, those goals appeared to be attainable.

Over the past eight weeks, however, my productivity has collapsed.

While I realize pure word count is not indicative, necessarily, of progress in your writing. And this year, I’ve come to the conclusion that completing one work in progress (WIP) has become the massive priority it has. I want to make sure this book gets finished, because in the personal inventory I’ve been doing on myself, I think it’s the key to where my head is at right now.

At this point, I’ve gotten so behind on writing new work it’s not funny. In all honesty, I think instead of putting all of those numbers up here, I will instead list my monthly totals for May and June 2026, as well a full stat recap for the first part of the year. I think these numbers should show the tale:

Writing statistics, May 2026:
Words: 11,363
Revising or planning:1,260 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met: 69 percent.

Writing statistics, June 2026:
Words: 2,431
Revising or planning:1,445 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met: 87 percent.

Writing Statistics, first half of 2026:
Words (total): 86,542
Words (avg.): 14,424
Revise/Plan (total): 3,335 min.
Revise/Plan (avg.): 556 min.
DWGM (avg.): 76%

Yes, absolutely horrific statistics for me considering the past several years of my work. How to explain this?

  1. My main focus right now is a work in progress (WIP) I started on Halloween last year, a sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, known as Shadows on the Mississippi.
    In the process of writing the book, I came to the realization that I have devoted far too much time to worldbuilding and minutiae and not enough on a propulsive story that might attract people.
    For the past several weeks, I have been performing major surgery on SOTM. I cut the first 57 pages down to a lean and mean 50-page, three-chapter opener I’m feeling much better about before. And I am now in the process of finishing up two things I think the rough draft (or SOTM 1.5, perhaps) require – a plausible threat that I won’t have to get into a massive amount of sci-fi research to pull off, and then taking a close look at the pacing of the book. If I want this to be a good horror, it needs to have good tension and pace.
  2. World Cup 2026. Obviously, this has distracted me. I have to watch from home because I’m not going to take out a loan to get one World Cup ticket and have to travel all the way over to the West Coast to watch the US Men’s National Team play (I don’t have too much interest in seeing the other teams live). I’ve been privileged to already watch the USMNT play in person before, so that’s already off my bucket list. I’m definitely distracted, especially with the US about to play Belgium this coming Monday.
  3. Some personal realizations about my writing in general are leading me to question not only how I put together my work, but how I deal with people generally. I should keep vague on this until I have some clarity on this, but rest assured I am not in danger or in any particular harm. In some ways, I have to learn how to write again, or concentrate on what I need to concentrate on.

Well, that’s about all I want to get into for now. This is the closest I’ve come to writing an Iowan Stephen King story. If I give it the attention it deserves, I won’t. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Have a good week everyone, and all you writers keep writing. Hopefully I show up next week as I normally schedule.

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.

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.

An Apology and Checking In

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

And those of you who were paying attention – no, I did not run an article last weekend, and no, this was not expected.

I couldn’t do this without citing one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite all-time writers. I should have known I’d relate to this too well.

I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.

– Douglas Adams, The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time

Why It Happened

I’d be at least slightly fibbing if part of the drop off hasn’t had at least a little to do with the World Cup, especially those of you who know my soccer obsessiveness up close.

It’s been good action and the US has been doing slightly better than I expected, as well as some other countries who are not traditional World Cup powers. I’m not intending to go to any of these games in person, not even the US ones, not even though the games will be in this country. It’ll just be too much hassle.

In short, tickets are too expensive and I’m not keen on dragging myself all to the West Coast to catch my team playing. Despite everything that would be cool about being there in person, I’m doing just fine watching it all from the couch.

But Really…

I’ve been pondering a few things.

One is, as I mentioned before, I was feeling very self-conscious about the direction of my fiction. In all honesty, I’m thinking that I’m writing my work way too much for my own amusement without giving any thought as to whether anyone might be interested in picking up my work.

As I’ve gotten into two works in progress (one of those being Shadows on the Mississippi), I’ve come to realize that I spend way too much time discussing my fictional worlds and the minutia of those worlds that my stories get lost. This realization has brought my work, for the last two weeks, more or less to a screeching halt.

Part of this is some issues that I believe do tie into this, but because I haven’t fully looks into the matter, I don’t want to get into it here at this time. Sufficient to say that there are ways I think about things that seem slightly different than others. However, I will say I suspect the two things are at least marginally connected. So, I’m investigating it, but be assured there is no life-threatening or other severe issue I’m dealing with. I’m just figuring out, over the course of decades, how my mind works best. If something important comes of it, I’ll let you know.

For now, here on WordPress I’m going to be working on my writing journal (detailing my lack of writing for the past couple of weeks (and then try to add on some others I haven’t posted here recently). See you around.

One Last Item:

And also…

Screenshot

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.

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.

Prose Night at The Writing Life, 9 August 2025: Why do I continue to write

A couple of days ago, I decided to put together a video with which I intended to both ask and offer some help to fellow writers as well. Promotion and marketing have been mysteries for me, although I’m making much more of an effort to do this than I ever had before.

So, I shot the video. I’m getting a bit more confident with editing skills and putting videos together. For example, as part of these experiences, I learned Instagram doesn’t use its algorithm to recommend videos, so stay away from those. Meanwhile, I learned Substack helps you generate shorter clips of videos to use as promo clips. So I can use the promo clips on Insta while referring the Insta viewers back to Substack for thew full video.

Well, the video is below. And it wound up being almost more of a soliloquy and reflection than a request to my audience.

I can’t approach writing as just another job. It’s something far more important to me, my identity. I want to tell the stories that are important to me, and if they aren’t as obviously commercial-ready as other authors, then so be it.

The irony is it was me getting interested in fan-fiction – an absolutely non-commercial enterprise – that got be reinvigorated in the process of fiction writing again. I think it’s about time for me to do another one of my An Author’s Biography pieces about the influence that experience has had on my work.

Until then, take care, everyone.

Writing Journal 27 May 2026: Didn’t even think of word count this week and maybe that was for the best

Told you last week I was nervous about not making my writing goal this year of 230,000 words in 2026.

This week … I’m not so nervous.

That’s because there’s times when pure word count is not indicative, necessarily, of progress in your writing. And there’s one thing now I want to do that goes beyond just writing random words – it’s finishing a certain book I’ve had nagging at me for a while. And I want to make sure this book gets finished, because I think it’s the key to where my head is at right now and, in more than a little way, where my home is at, as well.

So, the (pathetic, I know) numbers for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 23 May 2026:
Words: 715
Days writing: 2 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 7 of 7 for 480 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

So, a little more than a tenth of an expected 5,000 words a week is not good, data-wise. But, I have bigger fish than simply just writing.

My main focus right now is a work in progress (WIP) I started on Halloween last year, a sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, known as Shadows on the Mississippi.

I’ve been shaving that manuscript down, keeping it lean and mean, keeping the story humming along. I’m … not fully satisfied with my first 50 pages, but it feels tight enough to get attention from first-time readers … and that’s what I want. I want it to move and groove, and I think … it might be on it’s way. Not perfect, but closer to the honed and polished product.

The reason is, I’ve been thinking long and hard about worldbuilding and not getting into the action enough. And I had a bad feeling the action was dragging too much. I wanted the first 50 pages of my book to be moving and grooving. Have I gotten it there? Well, I think I got a lot closer to it, and I managed to fit the first three chapters into 50 pages rather than 57 pages, which I think is a massive improvement.

I want SOTM to grab the attention of readers, a real rush of a story that screws up some minds. I think my wavelength is on the right path. This is the closest I’ve come to writing an Iowan Stephen King story. I’f I give it the attention it deserves, I won’t. I’m having so much fun with this story, family. I can’t wait to share it with you.

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 20 May 2026: More words cut than written but I think it’s a success

For the first time this year, I’m facing the possibility that I might not make my writing goal this year.

And right now … I’m at peace with it. Not because I’m accepting failure, but I think it’s because my priorities have changed halfway through the year.

So, the numbers for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 16 May 2026:
Words: 2,887
Days writing: 7 of 7.
Days revising or planning: 5 of 7 for 450 minutes.
Daily Writing Goals Met (500+ words or 30 minutes of planning/revisions): 7 of 7 days.

Again, for someone who was hoping to get up to 5,000 words a week, that’s … weak. But I think I know why it’s been slow. It’s because I’ve been busy with revisions.

Those are related to my main work in progress (WIP) I started on Halloween last year, the sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, known as Shadows on the Mississippi.

When I started last week, I was over 50,000 words on the rough draft of the project. As I now write this, I’m back to 47,618 words, and I couldn’t be happier.

The reason is, I’ve been thinking long and hard about worldbuilding and not getting into the action enough. And I had a bad feeling the action was dragging too much. I wanted the first 50 pages of my book to be moving and grooving. Have I gotten it there? Well, I think I got a lot closer to it, and I managed to fit the first three chapters into 50 pages rather than 57 pages, which I think is a massive improvement.

I want SOTM to be something that’s going to grab the attention of readers, a real rush of a story. This is the closest I’ve come to writing an Iowan Stephen King story. I don’t want to screw it up. If I give it the attention it deserves, I won’t.

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 Quick Announcement: An attempt to refocus

mountain river through the lens

You ever get the feeling that what you’re trying isn’t quite working? This weekend, I started getting that feeling about my writing.

I’ve written three novels, in 2019, 2023, and 2025. I’m proud of each of them. I’ve gotten plenty of support for my work from fellow writers, independent book store owners, and others.

I think those books are a full reflection of the level of ability and effort I had. I know I gave everything I had to write those books. I think there’s interesting stories, characters, and worlds in those stories.

The problem is I’m not sure I ever considered who might be interested in reading them.

If I’m going to pinpoint what I didn’t get right the first time with my first three novels (and there might be more than a few things I didn’t get right), a major theme riding through at least the first two novels was a tendency to get too cute with how I created them.

I mean, take a gander at my first novel – The Holy Fool: A Journalist’s Revolt. Holy heck, doesn’t that just trip off the tongue? More like stumble and trip off it. And then The Yank Striker: A Footballer’s Beginning? A little better, but still clunky1. The Yank Striker’s Journey is a good one, though.

And another thing. The books I’ve written so far… they’ve got some pretty unique subject matter and themes, don’t they? I mean, not too many people are into journalism thrillers, even though in recent times I’ve had some renewed interest in The Holy Fool when I bring it to book shows. And a soccer drama series is extremely niche.

I have to admit I wrote my books because of my interest in the themes they discussed – the slow decline of American journalism and the culture of soccer. I didn’t write them necessarily thinking of who might be interested in them.

Last weekend at the DSM Book Festival, I was at a panel of Midwestern-based writers and I enjoyed their thoughts on fiction in our region. At one point, they discussed what their favorite Midwest writers and books were, such as Marilyn Robinson, Bill Bryson, and others. And I was sitting there thinking, Oh, shoot, I never got into any of those people. I was more into science fiction, fantasy, and Stephen King2, among others. But now, I think I’m finally about to write something that might be properly Midwest and properly horror. The more I talk about it to people, the more people are interested in it.

So, although I’m not going to by any means disavow my previous work, I do want to focus on the new work in progress, complete it, get it done right, and find the right publisher to take it on, even if that publisher in the end is me. I want this next book to get the attention of everyone who reads it, and I can’t wait to eventually share it with you.

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.

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  1. “What’s a Yank?” – one of my students who found my work online. ↩︎
  2. And Stephen is a Maine or New England regional writer, not a horror writer. Get that straight. 🤣 ↩︎

Writing Journal 13 May 2026: Had worse weeks but I’d like to be more consistent

Well, it wasn’t the worst week I ever had, but considering the pace I’m trying to set, it was nowhere near what I wanted it to be.

I’m getting into the strange section of my new work in progress (WIP), where I might need to start trimming words from it to speed up the action. Which might mean I have to get going on other projects as well to keep up my full productivity.

The numbers for last week:

Writing statistics for the week ending 9 May 2026:
Words: 3,846
Days writing: 7 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.

I thought I did a lot better until I totaled up the numbers, but to be fair there was a mini-slump during the first two days of last week that explains it. If I did just as well with the first two days as I did the last five, I might have been pushing 5,000 words for the week.

As I mentioned in my May newsletter here, I’ve now given the WIP I started on Halloween last year, the sci-fi environmental horror project set in a little Mississippi River town in Iowa, the official title of Shadows on the Mississippi.

Now that I’m over 50,000 words on the project, it has too much momentum to stop.

Since I was worried I spent so much time thinking about the setting and worldbuilding in the first run, I’m adding a new opening that I think moves the plot and characterization along at a bit brisker pace. I need to make the first 50 pages something that hooks in readers.

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

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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.