What One Year of The Chic Crone Taught Me

Reflections on writing, resilience, and what it really takes to keep going

A year ago, The Chic Crone went out into the world.

At the time, it felt like an ending. Or at least a milestone I could point to and say—there, I did it.

Of course, it wasn’t an ending at all. It was the beginning of a much longer, messier, more interesting road.

Because what I’ve learned over the past year has very little to do with launches, rankings, or marketing strategies—and everything to do with what it takes to keep going.

I’ve learned that I can learn new things.
A lot of new things. Often all at once. And still keep writing. Next was Crone of Flames followed by Steeped in Suspicion and The Glamour Game.

I’ve learned that I can make mistakes—some small, some expensive, some mildly mortifying—and survive them.

I’ve learned that discouragement isn’t a sign to stop. It’s a phase. An unpleasant one, to be sure, but not a permanent state. Understanding what James Clear calls the Plateau of Latent Potential helped. So did the decision to fail forward.

I’ve learned that there are always better ways of doing things… and that I will usually discover them after I’ve done them the hard way first.

And perhaps most importantly, I’ve learned that I can keep building something meaningful—slowly, imperfectly, persistently—even in the face of external pressures, distractions, and what I can only describe as galloping ADHD.

That last one matters more than I expected.

Because writing a book is one thing.

Building a body of work—while learning, adapting, and continuing to show up—is something else entirely.

It requires a different kind of steadiness. Not rigid discipline, but a willingness to return. Again and again.

To the page.
To the work.
To the intention behind it.

A year in, I don’t feel like I have everything figured out.

If anything, I can see more clearly just how much there is still to learn.

But I also know this:

I can keep going.

Because a year ago, The Chic Crone began this journey—and I’m still here, still writing, still building what comes next.

And for now, that’s enough.