Thankful for Dreams Coming True – November 2025 Wrap

I couldn’t feel more thankful right now. From signing with my dream agent and reaching my anthologies goal for 2025 to receiving so much love on my new Christmas song, November ended up being one of the best months ever. Grab a mug of hot chocolate, then read on for my marvelous highlights.

Signing with My Dream Agent

I couldn’t be happier to share that I’m now represented by my dream agent, Ciara Smith at Spencerhill Associates!

Obviously, I celebrated with the most delicious chocolate cake.

If you would like to read more about my journey to signing with Ciara, check out my How I Got My Agent post and QueryTracker success story interview.

I’m so lucky and grateful to be represented by Ciara. This new chapter of my publishing adventure is already golden, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

Character Art

Before I signed with Ciara, I commissioned character art for the first time. Isabelle Martinsen illustrated Alaina, the main character in A Flurry of Snow and Gemstones, and Ember, the main character in Sweeter Than Revenge.

Meet Alaina.

And meet Ember.

I have always wanted character art, and the timing of sharing my first two illustrations couldn’t be more perfect.

Revising Sweeter Than Revenge

At the beginning of November, I revised my young adult locked room thriller, Sweeter Than Revenge. I worked on edits every day from the first to the eighth, read the whole book on the ninth, and made final tweaks on the tenth.

To celebrate wrapping my first big revision, I’m over the moon to share the mood board that my friend, Aaliyah Paolucci, made for me.

Sweeter Than Revenge is the thriller of my heart, and I hope this book gets published someday.

News from Anthology Land

Several months ago, I set a goal for myself to have twenty total anthology acceptances by the end of the year. I officially reached that goal in November.

On November 21, I received the news that my new adult wintery meet-cute, “Sculpted Love in Watercolor,” got accepted for KissMet Quarterly’s winter anthology, I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm. After working so hard on my short stories this year, I’m so happy that “Sculpted Love in Watercolor” is my twentieth acceptance.

Next, I’m finally able to share my nineteenth acceptance because I signed the contract this month. “Silence Is Madness,” my reimagining of Poe’s fable “Silence,” found a home in Shadows in the Ravens Eye: A Reimagining of Poe’s Tales, an anthology by Zombie Works Publications. This is a special one because I absolutely love Poe. I’m honored to be in this anthology alongside other horror authors who are fans of his work, too.

Also, after working hard on my butterfly anthology, Kaleidoscopic Quill, for months, my part of the editing is done. Rereading the stories and poems brought me so much joy, and I loved working with the contributors on revisions. I have also finalized the order of the pieces in the book. This project means the world to me, and I can’t believe that it’s almost time for me to put the full manuscript together to send to Abby at Wild Ink Publishing.

It’s officially the holiday season, and I celebrated the publication of The Greatest Holiday Romance Stories Ever Written by KissMet Quarterly. This anthology features my young adult meet-cute, “Holly Berry,” and the lyrics for my song, “Meet Me At Christmas Time.” I wrote all about this super special publication in this blog post.

Even though I didn’t write any new short stories in November, I sent out three submissions, two stories I wrote earlier in the year that still need homes and a pitch for a fantasy anthology. My fingers are crossed for good news.

In December, I’ll celebrate my last two publications of the year, Seasons of Romantasy: Winter by Quill & Flame Publishing House and Holiday Spirit by Dragon Soul Press. Also, I’m hoping to write two new stories that are due in January, a spring meet-cute and folk horror.

November truly brought lots of anthology magic, and I’m so thankful.

Publishing Guest Appearances

In November, I had two amazing opportunities in the publishing industry.

First, I got interviewed on the Indie Side podcast to talk about my author journey, anthologies, editing, and the publishing industry as a whole. I can’t thank Ellie enough for having me. You can watch my interview on YouTube.

Second, I participated in RevPit’s editor Q&A panel for Fall Into Fiction, which you can watch on YouTube.

I absolutely love doing interviews and giving back to the writing community, so I enjoyed both these opportunities a ton and can’t wait to make more guest appearances soon.

Releasing “Don’t Let It Snow”

I released my seventh original Christmas single, “Don’t Let It Snow,” on November 7. This is a vulnerable country-pop love song that I wrote during Christmas last year.

You can listen to “Don’t Let It Snow” on all the major music platforms, including Spotify.

The love “Don’t Let It Snow” has received so far has warmed my heart. On Spotify in November, the song had 1,932 streams, 1637 listeners from 61 countries, and 446 playlist adds. I have no words. I’m so grateful listeners worldwide are making “Don’t Let It Snow” part of their holiday season.

I love writing my own Christmas music, and “Don’t Let It Snow” is very special to me. Thank you to all my Butterflies out there who have listened this month. I’m excited to keep watching this song soar as Christmas approaches.

Thankful for Music Awards Nominations

This month, the 11th Annual Josie Music Awards took place in Nashville, and the 4th Annual Holiday Music and Film Awards were held in Jacksonville. I was unable to attend, but I’m so thankful for all my nominations.

I wrote about my JMAs nominations in this blog post.

And I wrote about my HMFAs nominations in this blog post.

Thank you so much to both the JMAs and HMFAs for recognizing my music this year.

So, that’s a wrap on my incredible November. I have so much to be thankful for.

I can’t believe 2025 is almost over. This year has taken me on quite the roller coaster ride, but the holiday season is bringing me so much magic and joy. I’m ready to find out what December has waiting for me under the tree.