Yearning
December 2025
Hello everyone!
Still very much in the editing cave! As 2025 draws to a close, I’m looking to the future…
The Projects In Progress
God Words is now at 78% in the first pass of edits, and the finish line is in sight! I am hoping to have this pass completed before the end of the year, but tiny humans on holidays may have other ideas.
Once this pass is done, I plan to have another read through, fix up a few things that I know still need work, and then send it to a few trusted people to take a looksie at (because I have read the same words so many times now they’re all starting to blur together).
After a bit more fixing up, I’ll be embarking upon the very scary and exciting Road to Publishing - a.k.a. getting God Words Book 1 into your hands!
In other news, the results of the Instagram Writer Awards are in, and I am pleased to report that God Words came in 3rd for Best World Building, and was in the top 5 for Most Anticipated WIP and Most Creative WIP!
I am so incredibly grateful to all of you who supported me and voted for me along the way. It has been such a surprise to see so many people interested in God Words, and I can’t wait to share more about it next year!
The Other Worlds I’ve Gotten Lost In Lately
This month I slacked off from reading a lot - most of my time has been focused on the edits until I have fallen into bed exhausted post-midnight.
I did begin reading Everyone in This Bank is a Thief by Benjamin Stevenson. I enjoyed his first two books in the Ernest Cunningham mysteries series (Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone and Everyone on this Train is a Suspect) and picked up this one recently.
Off On Tangents
What is it about the week between Christmas and New Year that feels like Groundhog Day? Is it the lack of routine? Leftovers eaten three days in a row? Pondering the year that has been and the year that might be?
Whatever it is, this week has always felt stagnant to me. Itchy, like a woollen jumper on a warm day. I always feel lethargic and yet unsettled. Tired yet unable to sleep. Not wholly ready for the year to end, but yearning for the year ahead.
If you, like me, have been suffering from a bout of the brain-itchies and can’t quite settle this week, know that I see you. I feel it, too. All we can do is be kind to ourselves, be as present as possible, and just take each day (and plate of leftovers) one at a time.
Bonus picture of the furry little potatoes that came into our lives this Christmas—Coconut and Nibbleton.
All of the best for the rest of 2025, and may great things happen for us all in 2026!
Ashley Marasco
If you’ve enjoyed reading this month’s wrap-up, make sure you’re subscribed to receive the next one as soon as it posts to your inbox!