My Say What Blog Archives

Dec 31st Happy New Year, Welcome 2025!

From our house to yours, wishing and hoping that 2025 is a prosperous, healthy & Happy New Year year. One filled with love, laughter, and light!

Be sure and check out my Paranormal Mystery/Romances before moving on! Also check out whether or not New Year’s Resolutions are in my future.

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog, My Say What Blog and tagged 2025, Happy New Year, Paranormal Romance Tena Stetler, Tena Stetler by Tena Stetler with 1 comment.

Dec 29th New Year’s Resolutions…Yes or No!

Happy Almost New Year!! New Year’s Resolutions? This week we’ll forgo the Sunday Snippets. Next week, as with all things new in the new year, I’ll have a snippet from my new WIP. I’ve never done this before, so hold on to your hats. LOL

Now there’s a dilemma. At the end of 2023, I made what I thought were attainable New Year’s resolutions for 2024 as I normally do, even though my husband was retiring. I knew things would change. I had no idea how much. However, our RV Adventure of a life time started in August 2024, and completely discombobulated my goals, plans, and life in general. NO COMPLAINTS. We had a blast. Heck, I didn’t even try 50,000 words in November when we returned for Novel Writing Month. NaNoWriMo. for the first time in 14 years. I tried to muddle through making my word counts, deadlines, promo and projects as planned, but was thwarted at every crossroad. Our RV Adventure was a cross-country trip in our 38-foot RV to the East coast from Colorado. Never been to the East coast. Branson, MO was way too hot at 104 degrees. Turned south to Mississippi where some friends have a wonderful spread, including a pond stocked with mosquito larva eating fish. Sat on the back porch and sipped iced tea. Visited friends in Georgia. then on to a ChowChow reunion in North Carolina. Great fun with great people. Visits with more friends and family, in Delaware. Had the best Pizza ever at Mystic Pizza, in Mystic, CN. Spend a few days in Salem, Bar Harbor, Cape Cod, New York, and Niagara Falls, NY. Wow what a rush. Lots more to tell. Pictures to share. Check check out my Say What Blog, after the first of the year. You’ll be glad you did!

Back to New Year’s resolutions. I guess I’ve been lucky in that I am a planner and the plans I set in stone happen as expected. 2024 for the first time, I learned that setting long term plans and goals can be fraught with problems. Life throws curve balls that you cannot imagine until it happens.

Ever the optimist, I did make reservations for 2025 camping trips, with the knowledge that changing them is a possibility. The alternative of no camping reservations is unthinkable.

I have discovered that I don’t work well with the unknown. I like to have it nailed down and know where I’m going and how I’m going to get there. Which is probably why I’ve usually created my new year’s resolutions with an eye to my plans for the entire new year. Yeah, going to back that off a bit.

So here it goes. My 2025 resolutions:

Write 5,000 to 7,000 words each week.

Finish the draft of my first contemporary romance set on the beach that I’ve been working on for a while.

Finish a rough draft of my romantic suspense – book three of the Mountain Town Mysteries Series.

Finish the sequel to Mystic Maples, I’ve had in the pipeline for a while.

Clean up my writing cave. It’s a disaster! In fact, it my qualify for national disaster relief. LOL

Take more time for myself and my companion animals. I did pretty good on that goal last year since we all traveled together for the better part of three months.

Read and enjoy more books than last year.

Think before I blurt out statements that are better left unsaid, making me a kinder, gentler person.

Clean out the closets and give away the clothes we don’t wear anymore. It’s time. LOL

Spend more time actually talking to people rather than letting my fingers do the talking. (More verbal communication and less electronic) LOL

Exercise more! This is a tough one for me that’s why I’m not setting a specific goal trying for 3 times a week.

As always, I plan to open the front door at midnight on New Year’s Eve as is the Irish tradition to chase out the old year and welcome the new year.

How about you? What resolutions will you make for 2025? Did you make your 2024 goals? Or if you don’t make resolutions, why not. Leave your answers in the comments, please. Welcome to 2025, what I wild ride it may be!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog, My Say What Blog and tagged New Year, New Year Resolutions, RV travel, Tena Stetler, Traditions by Tena Stetler with no comments yet.

Nov 25th Thankful Author

Illustration of Happy Thanksgiving Turkey presenting

I have to admit that this year has been fantastic. We finally got to take the RV adventure that my husband and I have been planning for years. (Keep an eye on my facebook page for details of our three-month RV adventure). But when I sit down and think about it, I have many things to be thankful for. My husband finally retired allowing us to travel, when and as long as we want. The catastrophic softball-size hail storms missed us this year. Yippee!

My wonderful readers are fantastic and I am so thankful for them. I sincerely hope my tales of paranormal creatures help them forget their troubles and relax by slipping into worlds of magic fantasy & romance if only for a few hours.

I still wake up and pinch myself every morning, thankful to be living my dream of being published. A dream made possible by my supportive, extraordinary husband of many moons and The Wild Rose Press my amazing publisher. My editor, Diane, well, let’s just say…SHE ROCKS! I’m so thankful for her patience and understanding. (Discovering new and creative way to screw up seems to be my lot in life.) Yep, my face turns bright red every time I think about it. Oh, yeah, and I’m thankful for the helpful, supportive authors of The Wild Rose Press! They’re always willing to lend a hand.

When my characters run amuck, the story plot flows in ten different directions and none of them what I had in mind AND a deadline looms. (Yeah, I know you plotters never have that happen, but us pansters… well just saying.) Three little words, “You’ve got this” are music to my ears from my family and friends. I am eternally thankful for their encouragement and support.

I am thankful for the unconditional love of my chow dog, Mystic; spoiled parrot, Taco; and box turtle, Sammie. No matter how bad I feel or goof up, in their eyes, I’m darn near perfect. And I’m certainly not going to tell them any different!

Finally, a day never passes without my thanks to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces whose dedication keeps our great nation free. (I know you’ve heard me say this before, but I can’t help it. Comes from living in a military town all my life & marrying a soldier.) We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may not agree with me, but that’s what is great about this nation. You don’t have to. I’m entitled to my own opinion, as are you. I can write books on any topic I choose without fear of a midnight knock on my door or being carted away. Unless of course my characters come to life, then we’re all in trouble. <Giggle>

While I have a lot more to be thankful for, roof over my head, food in my house, etc., I’ve listed the biggies. I wish you all love, laughter and Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted in Authors' Secrets Blog, My Say What Blog and tagged author, Paranormal Romance/Mystery, Tena Stetler, Thankful Author, Thanksgiving by Tena Stetler with comments disabled.

Nov 11th Veterans Day – Thank a Veteran or Active Duty Member!

Veterans Day is more than just a holiday—it’s a celebration of resilience, camaraderie, and the indomitable spirit of those who have answered the call of duty. It’s a day to reflect on the freedoms we hold dear and the price paid for them.

But above all, Veterans Day is a day of celebration—a celebration of the triumph of the human spirit, of resilience in the face of adversity, and of the bonds of brotherhood and sisterhood forged in the crucible of service.

As we gather with family and friends to honor our veterans this Veterans Day, let’s take a moment to honor and express our gratitude to the brave individuals who served our nation in the armed forces. Veterans Day is a time to reflect on their unwavering commitment and the incredible courage shown in defending our freedoms by supporting and uplifting those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom.

This Veterans Day, let us celebrate the courage and sacrifice of our veterans and recommit ourselves to honoring their legacy by striving to build a better world for all.

Thank a veteran on Veterans Day—perhaps a neighbor or family member. Let them know that we deeply appreciate their dedication, sense of duty, and the service they have dedicated our country.

Finally, a day never passes without my thanks to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces whose dedication keeps our great nation free. (I know you’ve heard me say this before, but I can’t help it. Comes from living in a military town all my life & marrying a soldier.) We are one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may not agree with me, but that’s what is great about this nation. You don’t have to. I’m entitled to my own opinion, as are you.

Thank you to all who served!