Tag: The Writing Life With Jason Liegois

The Writing Life, 5 April 2025: The Yank Striker 2 gets its official name

Hello and Some Quick Housekeeping Items

Hello and welcome back to my modest little Substack here on the interwebs but produced in southeast Iowa.

For those just joining me here or those who have been away for a while, my publishing schedule has slightly changed.

  1. What you are reading now, The Writing Life, is my official newsletter, where I talk about my upcoming writing projects, promotional events, some personal news, and some odds and ends. It runs on the first weekend of the month, usually (not always) Saturday.
  2. Second weekend of the month is Prose Night. This is where I post an original piece of prose writing. It could be an excerpt of a larger work in progress, an original essay, such as my A Writer’s Biography posts looking back at my life and path as a writer, or the occasional short story.
  3. Third weekend of the month will be The Writing Lab. This will cover advice about writing to readers, as well as glances at issues I’ve faced myself as a writer. Hopefully, it can be useful to those who want to improve their own work. For the first of those last month, I ran a live Substack Chat for anyone wanting to get advice or feedback on writing. That didn’t get much response, so I might try a Substack Note instead. I’ll let you know what I decide.
  4. Fourth weekend of the month is Poetry Night. You get a couple of fresh new poems from me, and likely some random exposition as to why I might have written them. It’s been a good challenge for me to be more productive with my poems, and I’m surprised at how much I’ve grown as a poetry writer in the process.
  5. If there is a fifth weekend in the month, I either take the weekend off or we do a Hodgepodge Night. It could be anything – fiction, non-fiction, poetry, advice – shoot, maybe even a video or podcast if I get crazy.

Anyway, I’ll try not to repeat this list in my later Writing Life newsletters, or I’ll figure out another way to get the schedule out there without clogging up the newsletter.

What I’ve Been Writing

  1. The Yank Striker’s Journey (Previously referred to as The Yank Striker 2): the sequel to my book The Yank Striker: A Footballer’s Beginning. The Yank Striker series follows the exploits of a prospective American soccer player who leaves his family behind to try his fortune with an English Premier League team in the East End of London. The Yank Striker’s Journey focuses on what my main character, Daniel John “DJ” Ryan has to face now he is trying to establish himself as a footballer in England, both as an American in a strange land and someone whose sexual orientation brings extra scrutiny.

I’ve now finished the second draft and have gotten feedback from the majority of my beta readers. I’ve now begun the second of three planned revisions after a first one in February. My plan is to finish this and the third revision by the end of April. In May, I am planning to have a final editing and proofreading session, and this needs to get wrapped up by around Memorial Day. If all goes well, I am hoping for a June release, although I do not have an exact date yet.

  1. The Untitled Pro Wrestling Fiction Project: I’ve been making more progress on this. Over the past year and a half, this story about a family of pro wrestlers from Texas and a young man’s determination to understand what it all means has been at the head of my creative interests for a while, with the exception of The Yank Striker’s Journey. Currently, I’m at more than 36,000 words on the project.
    However, over the past few months, I’ve had the great opportunity to share the rough draft with two different writing groups. In getting feedback from members of those groups, I’ve come to the conclusion my rough draft starts off at a leisurely pace and it’s not clear enough what the main conflict of the main character is. In 21st century fiction, you just can’t spend the first several pages of a book wandering around the story rather than getting to it.
    I’m going to continue to make progress on the rough draft, even though every instinct in my head is telling me to go back and rewrite the beginning of the book. It will be an experience, I am sure.
  2. The Heart Project: This is the name of the… let’s call it speculative/fantasy/soft sci-fi story I have in mind informed by our troubled times.
    This involves four one-time friends, a high school reunion, and a microcosm of a larger sense of chaos.
    With The Yank Striker’s Journey on my radar, this has been put on the back burner, in all honesty. But I haven’t forgotten about it.
  3. Poetry: No word on whether I swept the Lyrical Iowa 2025 Contest awards, but I’m glad I entered it. Otherwise, I keep trying to produce some more works.
  4. I didn’t win or place in this year’s Iron Pen Contest sponsored by the Midwest Writing Center, but it was a heck of a ride as always. Looking forward to next year’s contest.

In total, however, my writing output over the past two weeks especially has gone down the toilet as I have been spending much time on reviewing revisions for The Yank Striker’s Journey. I want to pick up the pace, especially if I am hoping to write at least 225,000 words written for 2025, which would be a new yearly record for me if I make it. I just need to refocus myself and realize I have to keep producing stuff. I need to realize the rough draft stuff doesn’t have to be perfect.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

I’ve continued to participate in different writer’s groups in the area. I attend one sponsored by the Fort Madison Area Art Association two Tuesdays a week, and I do a virtual meeting with the Midwest Writing Center’s group usually every first and third Saturday, and a live meeting with the Society of Great River Poets in Burlington the same days. Those days get pretty hectic when I make it to both meetings, but I truly get some great feedback and advice from them. I credit the writing groups I previously belonged to, the active Writers on the Avenue in Muscatine and the defunct Iowa Writers’ Corner in Des Moines, with helping me on the path to publishing my past two books.

I absolutely enjoyed my time at the DSM Book Festival last month in Des Moines, hosted by Beaverdale Books in town. I let them know I would absolutely be interested in making a return trip there next year.

Here’s a couple others:

  • I will be at the the Badger Public Library book fair between around 8 a.m. until noon on Saturday, 17 May, at the Badger Public Library, 211 1st Ave SE, Badger, Iowa. They were one of the first places ever to participate in a book fair and I absolutely enjoyed the experience.
  • I will be at the 10th anniversary celebration of the Indie Author Book Expo from 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 21, at the Valley Junction Activity Center, 217 Fifth St., West Des Moines. I did this show a couple of times these past few years and it didn’t run last year, but I’ll be back at it in June.

I know I need to get some appearances and other things going to promote the book, and get in contact with some media as well. I think this is the appropriate time to say if any podcasters or bloggers are interested in new fiction, if you are interested in stories based in the world of 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.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week:

This in particular seems to be good advice for many writers, including my own students.

Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.”

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

This next quote reminds me I want to put out as much writing and creativity as I can in the time I have left because I spent a lot of time not doing it. I’m trying to make up for lost time, but then again that’s something everyone does when you get down to it.

The second thing you have to do to be a writer is to keep on writing. Don’t listen to people who tell you that very few people get published and you won’t be one of them. Don’t listen to your friend who says you are better that Tolkien and don’t have to try any more. Keep writing, keep faith in the idea that you have unique stories to tell, and tell them. I meet far too many people who are going to be writers ‘someday.’ When they are out of high school, when they’ve finished college, after the wedding, when the kids are older, after I retire . . . That is such a trap You will never have any more free time than you do right now. So, whether you are 12 or 70, you should sit down today and start being a writer if that is what you want to do. You might have to write on a notebook while your kids are playing on the swings or write in your car on your coffee break. That’s okay. I think we’ve all ‘been there, done that.’ It all starts with the writing. ”
― Robin Hobb

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. There’s where you can find out about my first book, the journalism thriller The Holy Fool: A Journalist’s Revolt, as well as the first book in my The Yank Striker series, The Yank Striker: a Footballer’s Beginning.

If you go follow the links above, 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 probably find them on the first page of search results.

If you happen to visit these fine independent book stores in Iowa, you can find my books there:

  • Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
  • Green Point Mercantile, 214 Chestnut St., Muscatine.
  • Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.

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.

My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point and Burlington By the Book, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. I’ve set up a new online store for copies of my chapbook on my WordPress site, Liegois Media. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click on the link below.

The Flow and the Journey

The Flow and the Journey

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

$6.00
Shop now

If you want to support me but can’t quite afford a full subscription, I am now on Venmo. You can just send whatever you can afford. Just click the button below; anything you can provide helps me keep things going.

Buy me a cup of coffee, if you could 😊

Final Thoughts

It’s going to be a hectic few months for me coming up. All you writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

-30-

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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.

The Writing Life, 1 March 2025: The Yank Striker 2 revisions and a quick format change

Good to welcome you all to my neck of the Internet. It was a bit warmer, but I am not exactly wishing for June temperatures even though I’m starting to think of my summer break increasingly.

Let’s get into some talk about what’s going on with me and with writing. Turns out there’s a bit going on.

What I’ve Been Writing

  1. The Yank Striker 2: the sequel to my book The Yank Striker: A Footballer’s Beginning. The Yank Striker series follows the exploits of a prospective American soccer player who leaves his family behind to try his fortune with an English Premier League team in the East End of London. Book two focuses on what my main character, Daniel John “DJ” Ryan has to face now he is trying to establish himself as a footballer in England, both as an American in a strange land and someone whose sexual orientation brings extra scrutiny.

I’ve now finished the second draft (2.0 or 2.1 depending on how you define it). This is my schedule for the rest of the process.

  1. Beta reads – – Now beginning at the start of March and completed by the end of March.
  2. Two more rounds of revisions in April.
  3. Final editing and proofreading in May and concluding by the end of May.

Speaking of Those Beta Readers…

Even though I will be reaching out to friends and family, I am sincerely looking for beta readers for The Yank Striker 2. If anyone out there on the Internets or on Substack is interested in becoming beta readers for this project and completing your work in a timely fashion, I would be willing to reward you for your hard work.

Anyone interested in serving as beta readers for the project will get a complimentary paid subscription for this site lasting at least one year. I will sort it out for you. Depending on your services, I might also throw in another freebee or two.

If you are interested, chirp back to me in the comments of this post or in DMs. Thank you for your service ahead of time.

Now, on with the other projects.

  1. The Untitled Pro Wrestling Fiction Project: I’ve been making more progress on this. Over the past year and a half, this story about a family of pro wrestlers from Texas and a young man’s determination to understand what it all means has been at the head of my creative interests for a while, with the exception of The Yank Striker 2. Currently, I’m at 32,000-plus words on the project and have continued to make progress on it.
  2. Poetry: Just entered the Lyrical Iowa 2025 Contest at the last minute. I’ll be interested to see if anything comes of it. I’m glad I’m starting to do things like this and the poetry slam contest the Iowa Poetry Association sponsored.
  3. The Heart Project: This is the name of the… let’s call it speculative/fantasy/soft sci-fi story I have in mind informed by our troubled times. I’m just starting some initial notes on the project.
    I’m going to keep this very vague right now, but it involves four one-time friends, a high school reunion, and a microcosm of a larger sense of chaos.
    I think it’s going to take me a while to pull this story together in my head, so I’m going to be coy about the whole thing in the meantime. I might start letting some rough excerpts escape into a Prose Night post one of these nights.
  4. Oh, and I’m trying to participate in this year’s Iron Pen Contest sponsored by the Midwest Writing Center. Trying to get a short story and poem sorted out in 24 hours or less, heh heh. I’ll let you know if anything comes of it.

A Slight Change in Programming (A Revamp of my Posts)

I want to make sure I am trying to provide some value to my readers, both old and new. For the first several months of this format, I was doing a newsletter every week, and it wound up getting pretty repetitive. For those not aware, I went to producing the newsletter (The Writing Life) every first and third weekend of the month rather than every week. That’s why you are seeing this now, on the first Saturday of March.

Now, I’m beginning to think that might be a bit too much. So, I am going to change gears and try and provide some more value for your read. This is going to be my publishing schedule going forward. There’s not a massive amount of change from my previous schedule, but I will point it out as I lay it out here.

  • First weekend1 of the month: The newsletter (The Writing Life). This is where I keep everyone updated on what I’ve been writing, what is upcoming for me, just to say hello.
  • Second weekend of the month: Prose Night. I produce an original piece of prose writing for reading here. Sometimes it will be an excerpt of a larger work in progress. Sometimes it will be an original essay, usually tied in some fashion to writing or myself. For example, I’ve been writing these posts off and on throughout the years entitled A Writer’s Biography, where I look back on my life through a writer’s lens to see how my passion influenced my interests, my path in life, and how it made me into who I am right now. I might even do an occasional short story here, perhaps. It’ll be brand new stuff.
  • Third weekend of the month: [LOOK OUT, HERE IS WHERE THE PROGRAMMING CHANGE IS.] The Writing Lab. These posts might be slightly shorter than the first two types; we will have to see. I’ve been inconsistent with providing advice and insight into writing for readers. I want to address that with The Writing Lab.
    Sometimes the post will be a straight piece of writing advice. (I’m going to make an effort to keep track of all these topics to make sure I’m not repeating myself too often.) Often, I’ll take you into my prime writing spot, my writing nook, as I review or reflect on writing difficulties I have faced or am facing, and how I try to deal with them.
The main writing nook. It’s a bit more crowded now. 🙂
  • In addition, in conjunction with this new feature, I am going to make more use of the Substack Chat feature. Every weekend I post The Writing Lab, I will post an open chat which will be Ask Me Anything About Writing (AMAAW). The times and exact dates of these chats might vary, but I will post on Substack Notes when I have them set. Any questions you have on writing and fiction, or any feedback you want on your own writing, I will be open for business. I would love to see this take off and be successful.
    I’m scheduling the first of these Writing Labs for March 15. Looking forward to it.
  • Fourth weekend of the month: Poetry Night. You get a couple of fresh new poems from me on Poetry Night, as well as some nonsense exposition as to why I might have written them. Ever since I started this, I have to say I’ve been much more productive with poetry than I’ve ever been in my life. I’ve written six poems this year so far, which is an unheard pace for me, who never really concentrated on putting out a large amount of poems. I may be talking too soon, but I think the quality of what I’ve been producing has grown. At least, I think it’s become easier for me.
  • If there is a fifth weekend in the month, I either plan to take that weekend off or we do a Hodgepodge Night. That’s means it could be anything – fiction, non-fiction, poetry – shoot, maybe even a video or podcast if I get crazy. We’ll just have to see, won’t we?


Anyway, that’s my schedule for now. Hope it might shake things up a bit.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

This week, I attended my first meeting of a new writer’s group here in Fort Madison sponsored by the Fort Madison Area Art Association. I was really happy to go to a writer’s group meeting locally. While I do have a couple of groups I attend on a regular basis, those are virtual and/or out of town, so it’s nice to have an in-town option. Looking forward to getting and receiving some good feedback on my work.

The Dude in Purple. A bit of a reference to a personage in my hometown. Read up on it if you want.

I have more than a few plans for book fair appearances in the coming months. Recently, I have managed to confirm these, so I will list them here.

  • From 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, 22 March, I will be attending the DSM Book Festival at the Franklin Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave, Des Moines. This will be the first year of this festival co-sponsored by one of my favorite independent bookstores in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books. Can’t wait to be part of this.
  • I will be at the the Badger Public Library book fair (Time TBD) on Saturday, 17 May, at the Badger Public Library, 211 1st Ave SE, Badger, Iowa. They were one of the first places ever to participate in a book fair and I absolutely enjoyed the experience.

If there are other events coming up, I’ll let you know. I’m hoping for some more events, especially to promote what I hope will be The Yank Striker 2 this summer. I’ll keep you in the loop.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week:

Charles Bukowski is one of those poets I just seemed to respond to.

the writing of some
men
is like a vast bridge
that carries you
over
the many things
that claw and tear.

The Wine of Forever


― Charles Bukowski, Love Is a Dog from Hell

The following is quite true this spring especially with The Yank Striker 2 in revisions. 🙂

A good book isn’t written, it’s rewritten.


― Phyllis A. Whitney, Guide to Fiction Writing

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. There’s where you can find out about my first book, the journalism thriller The Holy Fool: A Journalist’s Revolt, as well as the first book in my The Yank Striker series, The Yank Striker: a Footballer’s Beginning.

If you go follow the links above, 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 probably find them on the first page of search results.

If you happen to visit these fine independent book stores in Iowa, you can find my books there:

  • Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
  • Green Point Mercantile, 214 Chestnut St., Muscatine.
  • Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.

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.

My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point and Burlington By the Book, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. I’ve set up a new online store for copies of my chapbook on my WordPress site, Liegois Media. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click on the link below.

The Flow and the Journey

The Flow and the Journey

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

$6.00
Shop now

If you want to support me but can’t quite afford a full subscription, I am now on Venmo. You can just send whatever you can afford. Just click the button below; anything you can provide helps me keep things going.

Buy me a cup of coffee, if you could 😊

Final Thoughts

That’s where I’m at for now. As I often say, all you writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

-30-

Advertisements

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 (and the other regular posts) will run on Saturdays at about 5 p.m. Central time unless circumstances out of (or in) my control dictate otherwise. ↩︎

The Writing Life, 15 February 2025: Getting going on The Yank Striker 2 revisions

To both regular readers and any random online wanderers coming upon this page, welcome.

It’s honestly wild that we are now in the middle of February. Time is moving fast and I’m all right with that for the moment. Many people I’m around in Iowa are getting tired of the cold (but not much snow), but I’m happy not dealing with 98 degree weather we had to deal with from July to almost October last year.

I’m not going to be happy with 1.5 Celsius temperature rise myself. At this point I might ask my wife if we could retire on the shores of Hudson Bay or Svalbard.

Been working on at least a couple projects in various stages of production. I’ll talk about those things and some updated information about where I’ll be during the next few months. I’ll either keep it interesting or to the point – whichever one works lol.

The Home Front

Since today is my mother’s birthday, I’ll take a moment to wish her happy birthday. We’re not in the same town, but we’re planning on getting together to celebrate sometime in the next couple weeks or so.

My son just passed his certification test to get his heating and air conditioning (HVAC) journeyman’s certification. It’s been a long road for him, especially after recovering from the head injury he got on the job about a year ago in Des Moines. But this is a big step in his career. I’m very proud of the progress he’s made.

And I’m looking forward to the long weekend this weekend. Happy President’s Day and all that.

What I’ve Been Writing

  1. The Yank Striker 2: the sequel to my book The Yank Striker: A Footballer’s Beginning. The Yank Striker series follows the exploits of a prospective American soccer player who leaves his family behind to try his fortune with an English Premier League team in the East End of London. Book two focuses on what my main character, Daniel John “DJ” Ryan has to face now he is trying to establish himself as a footballer in England, both as an American in a strange land and someone who identifies as bisexual and the scrutiny it brings.

As of this moment, this will be the schedule for The Yank Striker 2:

  1. Second draft – begun on 8 February and completed by the end of the month at the latest.
  2. Beta reads – these hopefully will begin at the start of March and completed by the end of March.
  3. Two more rounds of revisions in April.
  4. Final editing and proofreading in May and concluding by the end of May.

Speaking of Those Beta Readers…

Even though I will be reaching out to friends and family, I am sincerely looking for beta readers for The Yank Striker 2. If anyone out there on the Internets or on Substack is interested in becoming beta readers for this project and completing your work in a timely fashion, I would be willing to reward you for your hard work.

Anyone interested in serving as beta readers for the project will get a complimentary paid subscription for this site lasting at least one year. I will sort it out for you. Depending on your services, I might also throw in another freebee or two.

If you are interested, chirp back to me in the comments of this post or in DMs. Thank you for your service ahead of time.

Now, on with the other projects.

  1. The Untitled Pro Wrestling Fiction Project: While waiting for my plans on The Yank Striker 2, this has been dominating my thoughts more and more. Over the past year and a half, this story about a family of pro wrestlers from Texas and a young man’s determination to understand what it all means has been at the head of my creative interests for a while, with the exception of The Yank Striker 2.
    I’ve continued to make progress on the rough draft of this story. I’m within reach of 30,000 words so far, and I think I should add around 50,000 words to make it about right as far as size. I don’t think I’d want to go further than this, because the project will be part of an eventual trilogy I have in mind. The trilogy also has different timelines to deal with, with a “modern” timeline of fall 2017 to spring 2019, and a flashback timeline spanning from 1953 to roughly 2009, I think.
  2. Poetry: I managed to self-publish my own chapbook of poetry at the end of 2024. A second one is not a massive priority now, but I’d 100 percent be open to doing another one in the near future. I am continuing to produce more poetry, some of which shows up here on the fourth weekend (usually Saturday) of every month. Now, I want to try and save some poems up, in the event I want to submit them to places that insist they want to have the right of first publication. Apparently, if I publish them in Substack that means they’re published. Good to know.
  3. Then there’s this third idea I have for a book. It’s one slightly based on the current situation in America but I’m going to play with the setting slightly.
    I’m also a bit nervous about releasing a title for the book when it is this early in the writing process. At this point there’s just been notes and speculation in my head, nothing more. To be slightly close to the spirit of the novel I want to create and yet be a bit obscure and non-spoilerish, I’m going to call it the Heart project at the moment.
    For now, I want to sketch out a better idea of the story I want to write. I have persons and concepts and angles now, not necessarily on paper, but I need to get names and plot lines moving as well. I’ll mention this again in more detail when I have more detail to give.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

The Dude in Purple. A bit of a reference to a personage in my hometown. Read up on it if you want.

I have more than a few plans for book fair appearances in the coming months. Recently, I have managed to confirm these, so I will list them here.

  • I will be appearing from 1-4 p.m. Next Saturday, 22 February at the Johnstown Public Library, 6700 Merle Hay Rd, Johnston, IA. I had a great time at this event two years ago and I am honored to be returning there.
  • From 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, 22 March, I will be attending the DSM Book Festival at the Franklin Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave, Des Moines. This will be the first year of this festival co-sponsored by one of my favorite independent bookstores in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books. Can’t wait to be part of this.
  • Finally, I will be at the the Badger Public Library book fair (Time TBD) on Saturday, 17 May, at the Badger Public Library, 211 1st Ave SE, Badger, Iowa. They were one of the first places ever to participate in a book fair and I absolutely enjoyed the experience.

If there are other events coming up, I’ll let you know. I’m hoping for some more events, especially to promote what I hope will be The Yank Striker 2 this summer. I’ll keep you in the loop.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week:

This is quite relevant as I start revising The Yank Striker 2.

The first draft is just you telling yourself the story.

  • Sir Terry Pratchett

Never heard of Robin Hobb before running across this quote. The quote makes me curious about the speculative fiction she writes, because this is some good advice.

The second thing you have to do to be a writer is to keep on writing. Don’t listen to people who tell you that very few people get published and you won’t be one of them. Don’t listen to your friend who says you are better that Tolkien and don’t have to try any more. Keep writing, keep faith in the idea that you have unique stories to tell, and tell them. I meet far too many people who are going to be writers ‘someday.’ When they are out of high school, when they’ve finished college, after the wedding, when the kids are older, after I retire . . . That is such a trap You will never have any more free time than you do right now. So, whether you are 12 or 70, you should sit down today and start being a writer if that is what you want to do. You might have to write on a notebook while your kids are playing on the swings or write in your car on your coffee break. That’s okay. I think we’ve all ‘been there, done that.’ It all starts with the writing.

  • Robin Hobb

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. There’s where you can find out about my first book, the journalism thriller The Holy Fool: A Journalist’s Revolt, as well as the first book in my The Yank Striker series, The Yank Striker: a Footballer’s Beginning.

If you go follow the links above, 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 probably find them on the first page of search results.

If you happen to visit these fine independent book stores in Iowa, you can find my books there:

  • Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St. Fort Madison.
  • Green Point Mercantile, 214 Chestnut St., Muscatine.
  • Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines.
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.

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.

My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is available at Bent Oak, Green Point and Burlington By the Book, but it is also available online but not on Amazon. I’ve set up a new online store for copies of my chapbook on my WordPress site, Liegois Media. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click on the link below.

The Flow and the Journey

The Flow and the Journey

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

$6.00
Shop now

On the subject of Substack, it’s fantastic if you are signed up for my free subscription, but I would love it if you signed up for a paid one. The monthly rate is the lowest I can put it ($5 per month) but my yearly rate of $35 is a steal at less than three/fifths the monthly rate.

If you want to support me but can’t quite afford a full subscription, I am now on Venmo. You can just send whatever you can afford. Just click the button below; anything you can provide helps me keep things going.

Buy me a cup of coffee, if you could 😊

Final Thoughts

That’s where I’m at for now. As I often say, all you writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

-30-

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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.

The Writing Life, 4 January 2025: Reviewing 2024 (and 2025’s) goals

Well, I hope everyone is getting off on the right foot for the upcoming year 2025. As for me, I decided to use the first newsletter of the year to look back on my old goals for the year just passed.

I had considered maybe doing a separate post about all those goals and the numbers I did (or didn’t reach) this year. However, the whole point – or, at least, one of the main points of this newsletter – is to discuss my writing experiences, projects, and related work. It wouldn’t make sense not to talk about goals here, even though I’ll try not to get to numbers-heavy here.

So, let’s talk writing goals past and present. I’m not a fan of the word “resolutions” when it comes to setting goals for the year, are you?

The Home Front

Not too much to discuss here. I got to see my family over the holidays, in some cases more than once. I think I did have time to relax, even though I’m going to be jumping into the teaching mess once again starting next week. However, depending on the drop in temperatures and the increase in precipitation, exactly when we get back off break might vary.

Writing Goals 2024

During the past few years, I’ve had a good handle on my writing goals for the upcoming year right from the beginning. This year was no different.

For those who didn’t want to bother clicking on the link, here were some of those goals.

  1. I wanted to write a minimum of 200,000 words for 2024. Since I’ve gotten at least that much written three out of the previous four years, I figured that was a good minimum quota, similar to how I want to write either at least 500 words per day or spend at least 30 minutes revising or planning my work. In addition, I wanted to meet my daily minimum writing goals at least 75 percent of the time.
    Later in the year, I also decided later I wanted to at least try to exceed my personal best yearly total, which was 215,152.
  2. I wanted to finish the rough draft of The Yank Striker 2 (working title of my second book in The Yank Striker series) this year. I had optimistically thought I might have it done by the summer of 2024, but I more realistically figured it might be more like the end of the year before it was completed. Later in the year, I decided to try and keep it somewhere around 75,000 words in its rough draft form.
  3. Finally, I thought it might be cool to not only write some more poetry, but eventually maybe collect it into a chapbook format or get it published somewhere.

So…, how did I do on them?

Better than I expected, actually.

  1. I reached 200,000 words by Black Friday of November. Shortly before I headed off to holiday break, I got past last year’s total. And by the end of 2024, I had written 224,606 words. It was 9,454 words above last year’s total and less than 400 words short of 225,000.
    I also ended up meeting my daily writing quotas 84 percent of the time, only one percent less than last year. Although I ended up spending several hundred minutes less revising and planning than I did before, I still think this was still overall the most productive writing year I ever had.
  2. I was so close to getting the rough draft of The Yank Striker 2, everyone. As of the end of 2024, I have a rough draft of 74,059 words. As far as word count goes, I fell just short. In my heart, I think I have maybe four or so scenes I’ve got to finish up before I feel secure in calling it a complete rough draft.
    Considering my first two books took (depending on how I look at the process), 4-5 years to complete, the fact I started last year with a manuscript of about 25,000 words and I’m nearly finished with the rough draft is at least a partial victory – a result, as the announcers call a draw in the English Premier League.
  3. Well, right at the end of 2024, I produced my first ever collection of poetry, The Flow and the Journey, a collection of 19 poems with river and travel themes. Check out my recent post on it for more information (and where you can find it).

Writing Goals 2025

With what has happened in 2024, I have decided to set out my goals for the upcoming year in this space. I recognize I might modify or add to these goals as I did last year, but such is life, so they say.

  1. Write a minimum 200,000 words, but I would love to crack the 225,000 mark this year if at all possible. And with my results during the past two years, I should be able to make my daily minimum writing goals at least 80 percent of the time.
    Whether I will manage to do this or not is an interesting question. I imagine I will be spending much more time with revisions this year than the previous year due to finishing revisions for The Yank Striker 2.
  2. I should be able to get the rough draft of The Yank Striker 2 done by the end of the month. However, this means a big turnaround of having a final draft ready for publication. If I was going to have my preference, I would want to have it ready for release either late May or early June, which means I should try and get a rough draft stitched together by mid-January. I’d like to let it sit for about four weeks, and then it would give me a solid three months to finish revisions. It would be a tight turnaround, but I don’t think it would be impossible.
  3. Currently, I have 24,004 words written on The Untitled Pro Wrestling Project, which I’ve mentioned her previously. I would like to make similar progress on this manuscript over the course of this year. It would be fantastic if I had a full rough draft on my hands, but I’m not quite committed to the idea – yet.
  4. As far as my poetry goes, I would like to continue to add to my collection of original work. Whether I want to put together another chapbook this year might be an open question. I would like to get my poems published in an outside publication, whether it be a poetry periodical or something regional. I have no acquaintance with this whole process, so I am sure this will be a full learning experience.

So for right now, I have two hard goals and two soft goals. I’m hoping I make progress on them throughout the year.

Writing Quote(s) of the Week:

I’ll start off with Toni Morrison explaining something important about writing and identity.

I never asked Tolstoy to write for me, a little colored girl in Lorain, Ohio. I never asked [James] Joyce not to mention Catholicism or the world of Dublin. Never. And I don’t know why I should be asked to explain your life to you. We have splendid writers to do that, but I am not one of them. It is that business of being universal, a word hopelessly stripped of meaning for me. Faulkner wrote what I suppose could be called regional literature and had it published all over the world. That’s what I wish to do. If I tried to write a universal novel, it would be water. Behind this question is the suggestion that to write for black people is somehow to diminish the writing. From my perspective there are only black people. When I say ‘people,’ that’s what I mean.

  • Toni Morrison

And for the first time ever, I am including a quote about writing suggested by one of my subscribers, Gesene Oaks, which I was happy to see.

Deadliest words to writers of poetry and short fiction: I don’t get it.

  • Gesene Oaks

What I’m Doing Having to Do With Writing

This week, I stopped by Green Point Mercantile, my old hometown of Muscatine’s newest independent bookstore. It’s located at 214 Chestnut St., right in the old downtown district.

I had the chance to meet with the owner, Candy Fuegen, an old classmate of mine, and we talked books and the new location. She now has copies of my books, including The Holy Fool, The Yank Striker, and my chapbook The Flow and the Journey.

It’s been way too long since Muscatine had an independent bookstore, so I was delighted to hear of Green Point’s opening just this fall. I would highly recommend checking them out if you are ever in Muscatine. Click on the button below to check them out on Instagram.

Check out Green Point Mercantile, it’s a cool little bookstore.

How to support me😊.

Go to the links on the side if you are reading this on a desktop/laptop or the links on my profile to check out some of my other links. For example, in those places, you can find out about my first book, the journalism thriller The Holy Fool: A Journalist’s Revolt, as well as the first book in my The Yank Striker series, The Yank Striker: a Footballer’s Beginning.

If you go follow the links above, you will be able to buy both the paperback and ebook versions of my books on Amazon. Again, if you just put “Jason Liegois” in Google you’ll probably find them on the first page of search results.

If you happen to visit these fine independent book stores in Iowa, you can find my books there:

  • [NEWEST LOCATION] Green Point Mercantile, 214 Chestnut St., Muscatine.
  • Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • Bent Oak Books, 619 7th St., in my new hometown of Fort Madison.
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
  • The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.

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.

My poetry book The Flow and the Journey is going to be available at the first two bookstores above (and hopefully more down the road), but it is also available online but not on Amazon. I’ve set up a new online store for copies of my chapbook here on, Liegois Media. If you want to get a physical copy, go ahead and click on the button below.

The Flow and the Journey

The Flow and the Journey

The first collection of poetry from author Jason Liegois.

$6.00
Shop now

On the subject of Substack, I’m grateful if you are signed up for my free subscription, but I would love it if you signed up for a paid one. The monthly rate is the lowest I can put it ($5 per month) but my yearly rate of $35 is a steal at less than three/fifths the monthly rate.

Now, if you are interested in supporting me but can’t quite afford a full subscription, I am now on Venmo. If you are interested in a donation of whatever you can provide, you can just send whatever you can afford. Just click the button below; anything you can provide helps me keep things going.

Hey pal, mind buying me a cup of coffee?

Final Thoughts

Not much more for this week. Hope the snow doesn’t muck things up for us too much in Iowa. Best wishes to everyone.

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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.

The Writing Life, 5 October 2024: Still hoping for fall

We are officially into the start of autumn since the equinox happened, but despite a cruel tease of such weather, we here in eastern Iowa have not been getting consistent fall weather. I am going to insist on decorating my blogs with autumn imagery until it actually looks and feels like these pictures in the outside. That’s just the way it has to be for a while, folks.

But we’ve got writing and new events to talk about, so let’s get into it.

The Home Front

The transition between old residence and new residence for Laura (my wife) and myself continues.

Painting in our home had been completed, and the removal of our carpet is all but done. We also did some trimming up on the tree in our front yard that was a bit overdue. Now will come the process of treating the hardwood floors, moving all the items now in storage into the storage of our new house, installing new lighting and ceiling fans, and carting away some of the resulting detritus. Soon enough, our modest apartment will have to be packed up and ready for shipping, either by us or the movers.

Thankfully, unlike our last move, this is a move within our current city and will not need to be finished immediately. I am somewhat selfishly looking forward to my new writing space and how I will eventually get it set up.

Of course, not even this move will be the end of moving and changes for us. My son is moving closer to buying his own home, and we will be happy to provide any assistance for his own move in Des Moines. Thankfully, he does not have as much possessions as we do and his is also a move within a city.

What I’m Writing

I’ve been quite busy this week and last with my ongoing projects.

  • The Yank Striker 2, the sequel for The Yank Striker: I am now at 52,000 words for the first draft of the book. I am currently shooting for 75,000 words as a new target for the end of the year. If I average about 250 words on it for the remainder of the year, I should be able to get to 75,000 by 31 December 2024.
    At this point, I think it is doable. I will concentrate on this for my short-term goal, and then work toward getting it publication-ready for summer 2025.
  • The Untitled Pro Wrestling Family Drama project: Made a big jump in progress on this project. As of this writing, I’m beginning to wrap up the critical scene where my main character makes the fateful decision to look into his family’s history of professional wrestling although he has been at least on a surface level avoiding this world for all his life. I’m going to write just what I consider to be the essential scenes until I get to something approaching a full rough draft. This will be interesting because the story will eventually bounce between the late 2010’s and 1954-1974. It’s the first time I’ve dealt with different time periods in one of my stories, and I’m looking forward to the challenge.
  • The Untitled Liegois Poetry Chapbook: I have actually made more progress on this project this week. I’ve finished revisions on the poems, and finished arranging them in order in the chapbook. Again, I think my revisions have significantly tightened up those poems and given them more impact.I am not sure when I will have this ready for sale when I’m out and about, so to speak. I have to add in some author’s notes and acknowledgements, consider whether some more photos might be called for, and some other design issues. Plus, I have to start figuring out how to print the thing. However, I’m inching closer to being a self-published poet.

What I’m Doing Having to Do With Writing

(AKA personal appearances)

I (also sometimes known as The Dude In Purple) still have a few events coming up for this fall and some others I’m tentatively adding to the schedule. All these events will be me appearing live and with my books, The Holy Fool and The Yank Striker.

Here are my current events1:

  • I’m headed back to the Des Moines area from 12-6 p.m. Sunday, 6 October [THAT’S TOMORROW], for the Windsor Heights Book Fair. This will take place at the Agora Events Center, 7692 Hickman Road, Des Moines. This will be the second year I’ll have participated in this event, and I’m eager to return.
  • I’ll be participating in the Local Writers’ Book Fair, which will be part of the 2024 Iowa City Book Festival. It will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. This is again my second year of participating, and I am looking forward to being back in Iowa City.
  • I’m planning to attend the Fort Madison Area Art Association’s Meet the Author Book Signing event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, November 30, at the FMAAA’s center at 825 Avenue G, Fort Madison. This would be my first author’s event in my new home of Fort Madison, and I am overjoyed to be part of this gathering.
  • I’m hoping to be part of the DSM Book Festival at the at Franklin Junior High Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave., Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, 22 March 2025. This is being sponsored by one of my favorite independent book stores in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books. I’ll provide more information, hopefully, as the event approaches.

    I’ll be looking to add some more dates on the appearance calendar as time goes on. Hope to see you at one of those places.

Writing Quote of the Week:

I agree with Eudora’s words here, although I’m more certain of the sentiments.

Indeed, learning to write may be part of learning to read. For all I know, writing comes out of a superior devotion to reading.

  • Eudora Welty, On Writing

A Few Links About My Books and Where to Find Them

(Feel free to ignore this bit if you’ve read it before)

Currently, I have the mighty total of TWO novels which make up my official backlist2.

My first book is a journalism thriller set in Chicago during the turbulent days of the 2008 election and the start of the Great Recession. Check out more about it here.

You can get the paperback version of this book on Amazon here and the ebook version of it here.

A fellow Iowa writer and organizer of the Windsor Heights Book Fair, Tyler Granger, recently did a review of my book: you can find it here3.

My second book, the first in the The Yank Striker series, is a soccer drama telling the story of the beginning of a young American’s career as a player. There’s more about it here.

The paperback version of this book can be found on Amazon and the site of my publisher, Biblio Publishing. It is also available in ebook format on Amazon here.

John Buzbee of The Culture Buzz radio show in Des Moines (KFMG FM) interviewed me about the Yank Striker: You can catch it here.

For full links to these and other helpful places having to do with me and my writing, you can go to this page on my WordPress site, Liegois Media.

You can also get my books in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:

  • NEW: Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
  • The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.

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.

Final Thoughts

All the writers keep writing and everyone keep safe, especially those who are continuing to deal with the effects of Hurricane Helene passing through the southeastern US over the past week. Best wishes.

-30-

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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 promotional images courtesy of their respective organizations. ↩︎
  2. Don’t worry, I won’t include this bit in the next regular newsletter in two weeks to give you a break, lol 👍🏻. ↩︎
  3. If anyone does any reviews of my work, I’d love to post some links to them. Send it to me in the DM’s or comments. ↩︎

The Writing Life, 21 September 2024: Hoping for fall

We are getting deeper into fall in Iowa, but sadly not yet not deep into proper autumn weather. It is more like the weather at the beginning of a school year where you walk to school wearing a proper fall coat in the morning and yet it gets so hot by mid-afternoon you’re forced to walk home with the coat tied around your waist. Such is life in Iowa, but at least it’s not Kansas, which is flatter, doesn’t have as many good rivers as Iowa, and is at least ten degrees hotter1.

The Home Front

Not much here in recent weeks.

It’s part of a slow process, but we are starting to get things sorted out with our new home in Fort Madison. Most of it involves removing carpet, which both my wife and I always thought seemed strange to put over perfectly good hardwood floors, and cleaning things up.

Once the move gets done, we’ll be hopeful not to move again anytime soon. Seems like the past few years has been a constant move for both my wife and I and now our kids, who are in their own apartments or in the process of hunting for their own homes. Besides, Fort Madison is a nice little river town to get settled in.

I am hoping beyond hope this Friday will be the very last 80-degree-plus day in the state of Iowa for 2024. The stinking heat we have to deal with every afternoon after I get out of work can’t go away soon enough. Bring on actual fall weather and even winter at this point.

What I’m Writing

Time for an update on what I’m writing.

  • The Yank Striker 22, the sequel for The Yank Striker: I am now at the 50,000-word mark for the first draft of the book, which is a bit amazing thinking back to how blocked I was on the project in late spring and early summer of this year. I’ve got around nine chapters I’m thinking about adding onto the story, but not all of those are going to be of any considerable length. There’s at least 5,000 of the words in my first draft I know are going onto the discard pile whenever I start revisions. 80,000 words is going to be my absolute limit on the word count for the first draft, and I would prefer to have a final draft of somewhere around 70,000 words, especially since this will be a series and I’ve got a lot more story to tell down the road.
    With the regular progress I’ve been making on the first draft over the course of last month, I’m now feeling quietly confident I might have the first draft wrapped up by the end of the year. That’s going to require considerable focus on my part. From some back of the envelope calculations I just made this week, if I manage to get maybe 300 words on the project written every day, I should have my first draft done and ready to revise by the end of 2024.
    I would love to try and produce a book every year if possible. Getting a book done in two years (as The Yank Striker 2 looks to be at this point) is still the fastest I’ve ever written anything up to this point. If I’m writing this much, I want to be producing books and releasing them. The larger backlist I have, the better in my opinion, and I want to have whatever time I have left to write and produce as much as I can. Also since I am actively working on one series (and have a second in mind), I don’t have the feeling I am going to run out of things to write anytime soon.
  • The Untitled Pro Wrestling Family Drama project: I’ve had some time to work on this project last week, not so much this week. I’m getting close to the point in a typical story, if you are using a Hero’s Journey or a Steal the Cat-type outline, where the main character gets a challenge to go on a quest or a challenge.

[MINOR SPOILER ALERT:3]

I decided the impetus for such a call to action was a mini-family reunion in the scenic location of northeastern Minnesota, and it involves a glance into a family past my main character has avoided for years. But when he gets a glimpse of his past from an entirely unexpected source, that past comes rushing back, prompting him to find out the truth about it.
Pro wrestling is also involved.

[END OF SPOILERS]

The Untitled Liegois Poetry Chapbook: Not much work on this one this week. I think I’ve sorted out which poems I want in the book and have taken a shot at revising them. I’m quite satisfied with the results of the revisions, making what I’ve created more compact, more impactful.
Whether I get them done or not in time for some of my more recent outings is a totally different story, but it still seems closer to being done than it was when I was just talking about the idea a year or so ago.

What I’m Doing Having to Do With Writing

(AKA where I might be appearing soon, among other things)

I (also sometimes known as The Dude In Purple) still have a few events coming up for this fall and some others I’m tentatively adding to the schedule. All these events will be me appearing live and with my books, The Holy Fool and The Yank Striker.

Here are my current events4:

  • I’m headed back to the Des Moines area from 12-6 p.m. Sunday, 6 October, for the Windsor Heights Book Fair. This will take place at the Agora Events Center, 7692 Hickman Road, Des Moines. This will be the second year I’ll have participated in this event, and I’m eager to return.
  • I’ll be participating in the Local Writers’ Book Fair, which will be part of the 2024 Iowa City Book Festival. It will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. This is again my second year of participating, and I am looking forward to being back in Iowa City.
  • I’m tentatively planning to attend the Fort Madison Area Art Association’s Meet the Author Book Signing event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, November 30, at the FMAAA’s center at 825 Avenue G, Fort Madison. This would be my first author’s event in my new home of Fort Madison, and I am overjoyed to be part of this gathering.
  • I’m hoping to be part of the DSM Book Festival at the at Franklin Junior High Event Center, 4801 Franklin Ave., Des Moines, Iowa, on Saturday, 22 March 2025. This is being sponsored by one of my favorite independent book stores in Des Moines, Beaverdale Books. I’ll provide more information, hopefully, as the event approaches.

    I’ll be looking to add some more dates on the appearance calendar as time goes on. Hope to see you at one of those places.

Writing Quote of the Week:

Good words from the King about one important requirement for a writer.

You cannot hope to sweep someone else away by the force of your writing until it has been done to you.

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

A Few Links About My Books and Where to Find Them

(Feel free to ignore this bit if you’ve read it before)

Currently, I have the mighty total of TWO novels which make up my official backlist.

My first book is a journalism thriller set in Chicago during the turbulent days of the 2008 election and the start of the Great Recession. Check out more about it here.

You can get the paperback version of this book on Amazon here and the ebook version of it here.

A fellow Iowa writer and organizer of the Windsor Heights Book Fair, Tyler Granger, recently did a review of my book: you can find it here5.

My second book, the first in the The Yank Striker series, is a soccer drama telling the story of the beginning of a young American’s career as a player. There’s more about it here.

The paperback version of this book can be found on Amazon and the site of my publisher, Biblio Publishing. It is also available in ebook format on Amazon here.

John Buzbee of The Culture Buzz radio show in Des Moines (KFMG FM) interviewed me about the Yank Striker: You can catch it here.

For full links to these and other helpful places having to do with me and my writing, you can go to this page on my WordPress site, Liegois Media.

You can also get my books in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:

  • NEW: Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington.
  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
  • The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.

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.

Final Thoughts

That’s about it for now. All the writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

-30-

  1. I do not mean to insult any Kansas residents or those who like living there. It’s just my taste to live somewhere near a big river and have it be relatively cool for most of the year if I can help it. ↩︎
  2. All of the following titles are working titles. I’m going to wait to release what I think should be the real titles when these projects are closer to publication. ↩︎
  3. Then again, isn’t this the point of this whole newsletter in part, to let you know what I’m working on? ↩︎
  4. All promotional images courtesy of their respective organizations. ↩︎
  5. If anyone does any reviews of my work, I’d love to post some links to them. Send it to me in the DM’s or comments. ↩︎

The Writing Life, 7 September 2024: Feeling optimistic despite the time crunch

The school year has well and truly started as the final third of 2024 is now underway. As we get into the final stretch, I’m finding myself becoming cautiously optimistic about writing and a couple of other things.

The Home Front

I’m now about two weeks or so into my stint at my new teaching position. As usual, I don’t get too much into this part of my life (due to privacy issues and my own personal preferences), but I will say it’s been a welcoming and positive environment, and I’m looking forward to continuing to settle in and be part of the learning community.

Pretty soon, my wife and I are hoping to move into a new house here in Fort Madison in the next couple months. Again, not to get into too many details, but my wife Laura is missing being able to have her own porch and some other conveniences we’ll have once again. (Once everything happens, I’ll at least show you what my new writing space looks like.)

My kids continue to keep building their own homes now they’re on their own in the work force. I’m definitely proud of both of them, even though they work in totally different industries and different personalities. I love them both to bits.

What I’m Writing

And what about my writing, then?

  • The Yank Striker 2, the sequel for The Yank Striker: I’ve made steady and consistent progress on this, maybe more consistent than I have been at any point in its creation. As the home stretch of the story is coming into more focus for me than any of the “side quests,” so to speak, I’m going to get the basics down on my document/electronic paper/etc. Whether I have a finished book ready for publication by the beginning of Summer 2025 is open for debate, but the idea I might have a really rough draft of the book finished by the end of 2024 seems slightly better than even odds for the first time in a while.
  • The Untitled Pro Wrestling Family Drama project: Not much progress recently on this project, but I am preparing to get into a new scene here whenever I get a moment. In case you are curious, this would involve the main character returning home and, in the words of those who believe in the Hero’s Journey, it becomes the time when he answers the call, so to speak. That’s one part of the story I’m looking forward to telling.
  • The Untitled Liegois Poetry Chapbook: This is coming along quicker than I expected. I think I have pretty much all of the poems I want to include in the collection, but I still would like to try and do some revisions on the ones I selected. When I first started experimenting with poetry, I think I wound up being too wordy, too much like prose, and I have too much of a tendency to add additional cluttering words to my prose, anyway. Imagine how it would work in a poetry situation! Most of the revisions have involved cutting words, and I feel quite confident I’ve not trimmed away any needed words in the process.

    In poetry, what I’ve learned from those who write it is every single word counts. Every word needs to hold it’s own weight, and what I really enjoy about the whole poetry process is how much more I have to learn, how much more I have to grow in this journey.

Not to get too bogged down into writing statistics, but I’m about 9,000 words ahead of my pace to get at least 200,000 words written this year. However, considering I knocked out about 215,000 words last year, I’m hoping to pick up the pace even though I won’t have as much free time as I did from May to the middle of August. I’m hoping I use my time more efficiently.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

Last weekend I posted a big promo post (it was the Labor Day weekend and I didn’t have much else scheduled) about some of the events I had coming up, information about my current books, and where to find them.

One of the events I wrote about (the one in Burlington) already occurred this week, and I really enjoyed the experience. Burlington By The Book is one of the great independent bookstores in Iowa, and I’d absolutely recommend you head down there at 301 Jefferson Street in Burlington and pick out a book. And guess what, you can now find both my books there as well.

The other announcements and posts are up to date. If you’re interested, you can read the post here.

Writing Quote(s) for the Week

I’ve got two quotes for the week this week. This first one seems to fit my efforts to revise some of my past poetry (lol).

Poems are never finished – just abandoned.

  • Paul Valery

I like the optimism of this thought from an author of my generation who’s had better literary luck than I have, but I’m glad for his success nonetheless1.

With writing, we have second chances.

  • Jonathan Safran Foer

Final Thoughts

That’s all the words there is to write about me and writing for now. I might be tempted to share some rough draft scenes from one of my works in progress here on Prose Night, but I’ve also been reading an interesting nonfiction book that might be worth a review. We’ll see what gets finished first.

Writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

-30-

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  1. Then again, when Joyce Carol Oates is your freshman creative writing teacher and she gets wowed by your prowess, you’ve got some luck on your side as well as the talent and willingness to develop it. ↩︎

The Writing Life, 17 August 2024: School year incoming

Back to work next week, and that’s just one of the transitions to look forward to as the month of August winds down. We’ll talk about that as well as what I’ve been writing.

The Home Front

This was my last week of summer break, although I did go into the new school for two days for new teacher orientation. It was great to learn more about the new place (Central Lee High School).

As before, I’m going to not get into too much detail about my teaching work, but I am looking forward to getting started. This will be the sixth school district I’ll have worked in during my career, which has mainly to do with budget cuts and moving for my wife’s work. You never know what will happen with a job, but it would be nice to settle into a district for a while.

I’m going to not get too much into all the stuff I write with my students, but it will be interesting to see if they find out about my blogging and writing all on their own. I remember hearing from some seventh-grade students at my last school district who had found my work online on their own. (My name tends to be Google-friendly as long as it’s spelled properly.)

Within the next few months, my wife and I will be working through closing on a new house and moving there. However, since the move’s only crosstown and I’ll be closer to my school district than I have with my past jobs, I’m feeling good about the time to come. (Once we get the place and I settle in to my new writing space, I’ll give you a look at the place.)

What I’m Writing

Now, onto the writing.

  • The Yank Striker 2, the sequel for The Yank Striker:
    I’m nearly finished with a scene that was giving me trouble. There have been too many times that I’m wanting to get a story done so nice and together and then I remember it’s just the first draft and I’m an idiot for even thinking it should be close to being good.
    I’d currently consider my plan to have a first draft of the book done by the end of the year are probably even odds (50 percent) at the current time. Good can’t become the enemy of completed
  • The Untitled Pro Wrestling Family Drama project:
    Previously, I’ve been writing scenes as they came up and not in a coherent order. I’ve now put together a first draft of a single document and starting to add in the pieces of the story. Not all of them are going into the first draft, especially as I refine the storyline of the book.
    My writing groups have been quite helpful to me as I continue to do the draft. Hopefully I continue to get good feedback.
  • The Untitled Liegois Poetry Chapbook:I’ve actually worked out a rough draft of this, although I’ve not totally formalized my formatting yet. The chances I get this done within the next fortnight are even at best, I think.

Of course, with school coming around, there will be less time for me to waste time and just write. Then again, maybe I do better with a deadline. It’s an old journalism thing.

Only time will tell if my writing productivity is affected by the new job and the move. I usually find time to write quite a bit, so I’m not worried.

What I’m Doing Having to do With Writing

After a relatively quiet couple of months, I will be making some in-person appearances in September and October. I’ll go ahead and list them here.

  • From 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, 5 September, I’ll be out at Burlington By The Book, 301 Jefferson St, Burlington, Iowa. I’ll have some copies of my books The Yank Striker and The Holy Fool available for purchase and/or signing as part of the farmer’s market event there. It’ll be my first appearance here and I’m really looking forward to it.
  • I’m headed back to the Des Moines area from 12-6 p.m. Sunday, 6 October, for the Windsor Heights Book Fair. This will take place at the Agora Events Center, 7692 Hickman Road, Des Moines. This will be the second year I’ll have participated in this event, and I’m eager to return.
  • Finally, I’ll be participating in the Local Writers’ Book Fair, which will be part of the 2024 Iowa City Book Festival. It will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at MERGE, 136 S. Dubuque St., Iowa City. This is again my second year of participating, and I am looking forward to being back in Iowa City.

Hope to see you around.

Writing Quote for the Week

Once again, the King gets to the heart of the matter.

So okay― there you are in your room with the shade down and the door shut and the plug pulled out of the base of the telephone. You’ve blown up your TV and committed yourself to a thousand words a day, come hell or high water. Now comes the big question: What are you going to write about? And the equally big answer: Anything you damn well want.

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

Final Thoughts

That’s it for now. Should have a new poem the next time I post here. For you poetry fans.

Writers keep writing and everyone keep safe.

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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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The Writing Life, 3 August 2024: Quiet week

The Home Front

Like I mentioned last time, I’m now entering the last phase of my summer vacation, where the break time can be measured in weeks rather than months. I won’t regurgitate the phases here, but you can go back and see them if you’re really curious.

I’ve had my first outing with some of my new work colleagues during a recent workshop, and it was great experience. Of course, I would not say I am totally prepared for the school year to come and how to organize for it, but I have faith it will go forward just fine in the end. It always does one way or the other.

Also, it looks like we’ll be finding a new permanent residence here in Fort Madison. Apartment life has been interesting, but my wife Laura has missed having a back yard and back patio, and we are in the process of securing a new house. It will be a couple of months before we close on the place and a bit longer before we fully move in, but it has begun.

What I’m Writing

Progress report time!

  • The Yank Striker 2, the sequel for The Yank Striker. Progress on this is still slow. I’m hoping actually to get some more work done on a new scene coming up.
    Since I’ve had a chance to sketch out a revised outline for the book, I’m thinking if I am not at the halfway point of the book, I’m getting close to it. I’m still hoping to wrap up a first draft of the book by the end of the year, but it’s a tough slog. I think I’ll use something I saw today as my writing quote for the week which might fit this well (see below).
  • The Untitled Pro Wrestling Family Drama project I first got the idea for more than a year ago. I’ve finished a scene where I’m portraying a writer’s workshop and I’m hoping to present it to my writer’s group to see if it make sense. It’s a very meta situation. At least some of them have gone through MFA programs so I might have some expert advice on hand.
  • I’m planning this month to put together my first book of poems, even if it’s a tiny chapbook and I do the whole thing myself. If I want to claim to be a poet, I think I have to have a physical copy of my work on hand, even if it is a chapbook. I’ll let you know how that goes, heh-heh.

Of course, with school coming around, there will be less time for me to waste time and just write. Then again, maybe I do better with a deadline. It’s an old journalism thing.

Writing Quote for the Week

One of my more recent favorite authors is a pioneer of what might be classified as urban fantasy, Laurell K. Hamilton. Her recent description of one of her works in progress hit close to home for me. (Hint: it’s the bit about trench warfare.)

Some books flow like the muses are showering you with rose petals. Other books seem to fight you every step of the way like trench warfare. This book is unfortunately the latter, not the former. I am thinking longingly of when I can be back to a sane world & type, The End.

  • Laurell K. Hamilton

Author’s Note: The following material is some basic information about my sites and my books.

If you’re a returning reader and have already read about them, clicked on the links, or even subscribed to the site and maybe bought a book or two, feel free to skip until the end.

For those of you coming here for the first time, you might find what’s below useful.

By the way, I will only be posting the following information from here on out on my first newsletter of the month, and not both of them. I want to make sure I’m not being too repetitive with these posts.

A Few Links About My Books and Where to Find Them

My first book is a journalism thriller set in Chicago during the turbulent days of the 2008 election and the start of the Great Recession. Check out more about it here.

You can get the paperback version of this book on Amazon here and the ebook version of it here.

A fellow Iowa writer and organizer of the Windsor Heights Book Fair, Tyler Granger, recently did a review of my book: you can find it here.

My second book, the first in the The Yank Striker series, is a soccer drama telling the story of the beginning of a young American’s career as a player. There’s more about it here.

The paperback version of this book can be found on Amazon and the site of my publisher, Biblio Publishing. It is also available in ebook format on Amazon here.

For full links to these and other helpful places having to do with me and my writing, you can go to this page on my WordPress site, Liegois Media.

You can also get my books in person at these fine Iowa bookstores:

  • Beaverdale Books, 2629 Beaver Ave. # S1, Des Moines
  • Pella Books, 824 Franklin St, Pella.
  • The Book Vault, 105 S Market St, Oskaloosa.

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

Final Thoughts

Like I said, short and sweet. Either I’ll try and come up with some new stuff in a fortnight or the newsletter then will be really short, lol.

Take care, 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.

Poetry Night at the Writing Life, 27 July 2024: Trying something new

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