Category: Writing

Blogging, Books, Writing

Embracing Change: My Journey to Substack

Mona Alvarado Frazier

While I haven’t left WordPress, I no longer blog here, but I send a monthly newsletter on Substack.

Here’s the link to subscribe: Mona’s Substack. I’d love for you to join me there. It’s free to subscribe.

Why the change? I encountered some issues with Mailchimp distributing my monthly newsletter, and Substack makes it easier to connect directly with you.

My intention on Substack:

Where life’s challenges meet creativity and culture. A space for encouragement and finding beauty in every chapter.

Recent posts on my Substack have explored the joy of traditions. One example is “Tamale Making Time: It’s That Time of Year.” They also delve into the challenges we all face, as seen in “Balancing Creativity with Responsibility: Acknowledge the Struggle.”

I also explore the power of community in Thankful for the Power of Community: Family, Readers, Writers and finding resilience in Finding Strength in Every Step: Moving Forward.

Thank you for being a part of my journey. I’m grateful for your support and our shared love of creativity and connection.

Looks like my newly adopted cat, Selena.

Happy New Year!

Creativity, writer burnout, Writing

Why Success Doesn’t Always Fuel Creativity

Mona Alvarado Frazier

Sometimes, it fuels a Netflix binge

July Substack Post:

Revisions and rewrites. I’m sick of it. I have a complete manuscript that I keep messing with after several rewrites and I’m stuck on how the first chapter reads. Do I start here or in chapter three? Maybe I’m listening too much to my critique partners, but what if I’m not listening enough to them? Could the current state of political affairs in the US have me discombobulated?

For two weeks, I have gone through the same thing. I light my candle each morning, sip strong coffee, and reread my opening pages. I make a few strikethroughs, make a few editions, delete, and redo. It’s like being on an exercise bike; I’m cycling and getting nowhere, not even expending calories. I’m stuck, which translates into closing out the manuscript file. Again.

That in-between state of ‘start here or there’ leaves me adrift, and I don’t like it. I wonder what other writers call this stage of floundering with their manuscripts—maybe floundering, :). The bottom line is that I do not like not writing and finishing a manuscript. I’m out of sorts.

I’ve consoled myself and been momentarily excited about other positive news in my writing life:

Read the rest here