It's October Finally!
I don't know about you all, but I am so happy that summer is finally over here in south central Kentucky. It was crazy hot for those last few weeks of summer. It's a little warm today, October 7, 2026, but nothing like it was the last couple of weeks of August and the first couple of weeks of September.
The picture above is from my hike at Mammoth Cave National Park last Sunday. The temperature was finally good for a hike. I only live about 45 minutes from the park, but I haven't been out there for a few years. In fact, the last time I was out there, it was raining, and I was drinking, so it's been more than 2 years for sure.
If you've been following me for the past couple of years, you know that I've gone through a lot of changes, including getting sober and two moves. I'm living in a small town in southwest central Kentucky now, and I love it. Yesterday, a flock of turkeys came into my front yard. They had wandered over from the farm across the street.
As a result of all the personal changes I've been through, I've struggled as a writer. I finally published a new story, Tornado, earlier this year. And I finally finished writing Ridgway Moon, a follow-up to my story, Learning to Love Again, but I'm not sure if I'm going to publish it.
My editor has worked on it and sent it back to me, and it just doesn't have any pizzazz, probably because I've not been feeling very excited about much of anything for a while, but that is changing. My hike was one of many changes I'm making in my life, but it's really hard to be a writer right now. There is so much competition and then you have people who are teaching none writers have to use AI to create stories just for the money.
I actually watched a webinar yesterday from this chick named Karla, and it was literally telling you that if you give them $3000, they will let you use their software to create a 50,000-word book in an hour. Of course, what they aren't telling you is how much it costs for editing and advertising if you want to put out a reasonably decent book. The bottom line is that there are a lot of people using programs like this to churn out AI books that are taking up our space and money on Amazon.
My sales for Tornado were not even 10% of what I have made on previous books. As of right now, I still haven't made back what I put out for editing and the book cover. I know a lot of authors, especially in the lesbian fiction genre, who are struggling with this same problem.
This picture above is from one of the more challenging parts of my hike Sunday. In fact, it was the point where I was wondering if I should turn back, but I didn't, and I'm not going to give up on my writing either. But I am rethinking my marketing plans and where I'm publishing my stories. I'm not in the writing business for the money, but it would be nice to make enough money to be able to write full-time. I don't foresee that happening for me, probably ever. I just want to write stories that people can enjoy.
Here is the determined and satisfied look on my face after I finished my hike.
This is a picture of how rocky the trail was for the more than a quarter mile. Altogether I hiked a mile and a half in a little over an hour, which is pretty good for an old woman who hasn't been hiking over hilly terrain like this in a long time.
Until then, I hope you keep reading lesbian fiction created by real authors. If you're not sure where to find your next story, check out I Heart Sapphfic's book finder page.
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