I'm writing so much more, thanks to this simple goal

And The French Honeymoon paperback is out today!

Hi friends,

We had quite a bit of snow over the weekend in NYC, but none of the major storm that we feared might happen. It’s so pretty, but also logistically challenging with a toddler. In a year or two, we might be sledding in Central Park, but we’re not quite there yet. Like many French kids of my generation, I grew up skiing in the Alps¹ and my memories of it are vastly traumatic, which means I have mixed feelings about most snow activities. No surprise that I married an Australian guy who, like me, is happiest in water. Warm and turquoise, strongly preferred.

Still swooning over the amazing blurbs we got for TFH, this one by Ashley Winstead.

The French Honeymoon is out in paperback today!

I have to lead with my news² of the day, which is that The French Honeymoon, my debut thriller about a Paris honeymoon gone horribly wrong, is out in paperback today, and available wherever you like to buy books³. I’m so excited to see it in stores in this new format. And if you’ve already bought it, I would be so grateful if you could leave a review on the usual sites: Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

Another amazing blurb, by Kimberly McCreight. I’d share them all here, but this post is long enough!

A writing goal that works (so far)

Okay, now to the topic that’s been buzzing around in my head for weeks. I have a brand new (to me) writing goal for the year and it’s been amazing so far. I wanted to wait to share an update because we’re still in January (how can this be?) but maybe I’ll use this post as accountability and will do an update later in the year.

A little background first:

Most years, my goal is pretty much the same: write a book, sell a book. Not necessarily the same book, mind you. So far, I’ve gotten two-book deals, so French Kissing in New York and We Would Never Tell were already sold/contracted when I wrote them.

The challenge with that goal was that it’s very much a black-and-white situation. I either finished an out-of-contract manuscript or didn’t. I either got a new book deal or didn’t.

I spent a good chunk of last year making various attempts at Thriller #3 (in addition to finishing We Would Never Tell). But I didn’t complete that manuscript, so my goal . . . unmet. Despite the 70K+ words written on that book alone. And tens of thousands on other projects.

My other issue is that I’ve been getting frustrated with all the book ideas piling up in my head, that I can’t find the time to write.

So I made a decision.

In 2026, I’m going to write a lot.

[Enter laughter here]

Yes, I’m a full-time writer. I write a lot all the time. But this year, I want to write a lot, a lot. Scenes that pop up in my head. Synopses for books I want to write. I’m itching to push my creativity further, and to free myself of the boundary of finishing one manuscript so that I have something to sell.

To be clear, this isn’t a vague goal. I’m working toward a number (more on that in a minute) and there are specific projects that I am (and will be) working on. I very much hope to finish one full manuscript this year, and I’m definitely aiming for two (based on what I started last year).

But this is what’s different:

• I have a word count goal for the whole year. Not for one manuscript or project. The primary goal is to be creative, to write for the sake of writing, and to enjoy it as much as possible.

• I’m including all fiction words written. In the past, I’ve thought of a 5,000 word synopsis as something I have to do before I start writing the book. But you know what, the synopsis is writing the book. It’s essential (to me at least). So now it counts as writing accomplished, even if no one outside of my agent and editor will read it.

• If I cut 20,000 words from a work in progress, it will still count toward my goal, and I hope I’ll feel like these words were worth being written. Back to my point above, The work is all of the work, not just a finished manuscript.

• This new goal is giving me hope that I can finally dive into a novel that’s been nagging at me for a while, hopefully in the second half of the year. There are so many ideas I want to explore and the only way I’m going to do that is by getting to them faster.

• I’m working toward a word count, but I’m not too fussed about reaching this actual number. I don’t want this goal to result in a “yes or no” achievement.

So what’s the number?

Here’s how I came up with it:

• I took into consideration the time I’ll be taking off this year, especially around summer and the holidays. This goal is not about being crazy productive and taking fewer breaks.

• I’ll spend a good chunk of the year in revisions (as always). In fact, I spent half of this month revising pages I wrote last year.

• I guesstimated the days I will be writing new words in 2026 and gave myself a reasonable daily word count. Most writing days, I have a goal of 1,500-2,000 words, but sometimes (often) it just doesn’t happen.

The number I arrived at is 220,000 words for the whole of 2026. I’m sure it will seem low to very prolific writers, and high to others, but that’s really besides the point. I’m not competing with anyone. This is just for me.

In January, I worked on two different books, and these words also include a synopsis and words added in revision. The far right column is the number of words I need to reach each day to keep up the pace. I only include days during which I wrote new words.

And so far, it’s working. I’m loving it and having fun. In addition to my trusty Pacemaker tracker,⁴ I created a Google Sheets (above) where I track my progress. 220,000 words over the year is 603 words a day, or 880 words every business day (substracting weekends and public holidays).

A great writing hack

I’ve also come up with a new solo sprinting system that is getting me great results so far. It all started with a simple realization: I’m slow to warm up. For anything. When I go to a fitness class, I’ll sometimes be tempted to give up and walk away within the first ten minutes. And then the halfway point comes and I’ve found my groove. It’s the same with writing.

The solution: Build up my writing muscle throughout the day. I’ll start with a five-minute sprint, then another one. Next is a ten-minute sprint, times two, and so on. Many days this month, I’ve reached 2,000 words by only going up to a twenty-minute sprint. It’s much easier for me to get into my writing day. I just have to do five minutes! And then I’m warmed up for the rest.

An example of one day in January. I refuse to put the month before the date unless I have to. It’s nonsense, and you know it.

Thank you for reading! Do you have a writing goal for the year? Tell me about it in the comments.

1. I swear it’s not as fancy as it sounds. Also, my parents lived rent-free for twenty years, which is probably how we could afford to take one winter and one summer trip a year, in France.

2. I wish this was THE news of the day, instead of the torrent of horrors unleashed by this administration. I’ve been an immigrant for 22 years, I’m a naturalized American citizen with dual citizenship, and I’m truly horrified by and heartbroken over the inhumane immigration raids and awful crimes being perpetuated against so many people across this country. If you’re not revolted by this, you truly don’t understand the first thing about immigration.

3. It’s also still available to borrow from libraries all over the country.

4. I’ve used it for every project since maybe 2017. For someone who is not great with numbers, there are many involved in my writing process.