Week of 12/22 - 12/29
Book Buddies: hello my favorites. Happy last day of Hanukkha to those who celebrate. The Solstice was yesterday - we made it out of the darkest day of the year alive, and onward we go to Christmas and New Years. Giddy-up, let’s go!
Despite all the holiday noise, we’ve got Gen writing both days like usual this week; but our feedback group schedule is disrupted. See what’s up with your group below.
Here’s what’s coming for us this week:
3 Spots Left in Person Retreat!
2026’s first retreat is January 10 at Cityspace in Easthampton as usual. This time I’m going 10-5 instead of 6. I think til 6 is sort of a long day. Book Buddies get a 10% off discount using the code BOOKBUDDY10 at checkout. You can add a half hour coaching session to the mix for $50 (make sure you do that at checkout as well). You can also come for a half day - 3 hours, for $55.
Link for full day registration is here.
January 29 Boston George Saunders Field Trip
This is coming up! If you would like to come, you can buy a ticket here! If you have purchased a ticket, can you send me an email to let me know you plan to come? I want to start a list and also plan a carpool from western MA. Thanks so much!
Book Club Help Requested:
I love book club so much. Thanks for making it so great. Last week I shared a google doc with a list of book suggestions which is right here. Thanks so much to those of you who have already contributed! It’s so helpful to me. If you see something already on there you want to read, please put a mark next to it. I’m more likely assign us books many of you are psyched about.
Our first book of 2026 if Rick Rubin’s “The Creative Act: A Way of Being.” Book Club will be Tuesday February 17 instead of Gen Writing that day. Open to all Book Buddies! I hope you can come!
Feedback Group Submission Schedules!
IRL Group Wednesdays @ beautyland 6:30-8:30: Next meeting is January 7. Aimee and Johanna have the floor with Rich as a back up. Pages are due January 2.
Noon Crew Thursdays 12pm - 1:30: Next Meeting is December 22 at noon (TODAY!) and Jill has the floor. Our next meeting is January 8. Ina will have the floor then and have pages due on January 2.
Weirdlings Thursdays 12pm - 1:30: The rescheduled New Years Day meeting will happen at noon on Wednesday December 31 and it’s Erika’s turn then. Erika will send pages sometime over the holiday weekend. The meeting after that is on January 15 and Elizabeth will have the floor. Pages are due January 8.
Kool Kids Thursdays at 7pm - 8:30: We meet again on January 15 when Kristin will have floor time. I forgot that I need to move our January 29 meeting because that is the night of the George Saunders field trip, so let’s make sure the schedule is all set next time we see each other.
OG Crew Thursdays at 7:30pm - 9: Next Meeting December 29. Tom will have floor time. The following meeting is January 8 and Garth and Maia are up for floor time.
Saturday besties 12:30pm - 2: Georgia and Helen will have pages due by December 29 and the following meeting will be on January 3.
12/23 and 12/27 Gen Writing Prompt
Neighbors
For the past ten years I’ve lived next door to a man obsessed with snow blowers and plowing. When it snows, he takes out his three snow blowers at midnight and just lets them all run for a few hours, occasionally using one to get at the sidewalk but from the sounds of it all it seems like he’s usually doing something with the shovel as well. In the summers he does a lot of banging on nails in the driveway, but never seems to be building anything. However, he’s very sweet to his border collie and sometimes I can see through my window that he is watching cartoons by himself late at night which is undeniably endearing.
Years ago, another neighbor left a note on my car because I was parked in a legal spot that happened to be near his walkway. In the note he told me that if a mail delivery person came they would be inconvenienced if they had to walk around my car. Not to mention if it was trash day! (It was not). He closed the note asking me to “have some common courtesy,” which is a phrase that’s made it into household lore.
Living in close proximity to someone is a unique relationship. It’s both intimate and not, and can create a fun dynamic to work with on the page so let’s so so what we can do with that.
Write a piece involving a neighbor:
Who has an unusual hobby that is disruptive to the neighborhood/apartment building
Who the rest of the neighborhood/residents suspects has a secret
Who has garnered themselves a position of power within the neighborhood/apartment building
Who is very annoying to neighbors, but then is revealed to be going through something wild
Who has a double identity
Who steals random innocuous things from other neighbors
Who has a dog with its own relationships and life outside of their home the neighbor doesn’t know about
Success Stories!
Keeping these up from last week, but if you’ve got news, please send it to me so I can put it in next week’s note!
Rebecca Tiger has a new piece out in Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine: The Woman of Your Life.
Genna Sarnak won the Phil Lit Journal 100 word Contest for Fall 2025. Read “Our Love” here.
Elizabeth Bayou-Grace Seiler has a new post in her Substack, Poetry is Politics, which if you have not subscribed, I urge you to get on that RIGHT NOW.
Got a success story? (publication, residency admittance, did you finish a draft of something that took half your lifetime to do?) Email me to tell me about it (include links where applicable) and I’ll post it here and on Substack.
Need Gift Ideas?
Still shopping (if you’re gift buying at all?) A short term book buddy membership could be a great Christmas gift for the writer in your life who already has too many notebooks. I designed some giftable packages in case you wanna hop on that band wagon. Here they are:
Three Months of Book Buddies Standard (Gen writing +feedback group): $500
Three Months of Book Buddies Basic (Gen Writing only): $350
One month of Gen Writing: $125
Seat in January 10 Retreat: $100/$150 with coaching sesh
Want a Book Buddy T-shirt or sweatshirt? Look out for an email later this week about Book Buddy merch! I know I said that last week, but truly, I’m doing it now :)
Also, don’t forget that if you refer a writer to me and they become a book buddy you get a free 1hr coaching sesh with me as a result!
That’s a wrap for this week!
Keep writing!
Your bestie -
Kate
