#IWSG October 2025: Huge Update & Favorite Written Words

Purpose: To share and encourage. Writers can express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. Those who have been through the fire can offer assistance and guidance. It’s a safe haven for insecure writers of all kinds! Posting: The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Post your thoughts on your own blog. Talk about your doubts and the fears you have conquered. Discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writer - aim for a dozen new people each time - and return comments. This group is all about connecting! Let’s rock the neurotic writing world! Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG.

The awesome co-hosts for the October 1 posting of the IWSG are Beth Camp, Crystal Collier, and Cathrina Constantine!

The following link will allow you to peruse everyone in the Blog Hop.

Link | IWSG Blog Hop Participants 

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October 1 question - What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

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Hello, friends!

I have a hard time remembering these when they're literally the first of the month, so this one is posting a little later in the day than usual, but I didn't forget!

September was a wild month, and I have updates on a lot of things I mentioned in last month's post. So many cool things happened, I don't know where to start!

First, I mentioned something short story acceptance shaped in the previous post. Well, I can talk about it now! My short horror story Under the Surface appeared on The NoSleep Podcast Season 23 Episode 12 on September 21st!

Unfortunately, it was aired on the premium version of the episode so you can't just go listen to it, but if you're not a subscriber and are a huge fan of horror and really want to have a listen, shoot me an email on the contact form, and I'll see what I can do. The voice actors, producer, composer and entire team did such an amazing job with the production. It was so surreal to hear my words in an audio drama style. Made me think of what it might've been like to have heard HG Wells on the radio! This may be the closest I ever get to having my words performed (I mean, sure, I'd love to have a movie some day, but not going to hold my breath) so it really was a pinnacle.

The story is set in the very real place of Centralia, PA, where a coal mine fire has been raging underground since the 1960s and researchers Mel, David, and Adrienne are sent from the state to perform some research on the local ecology. What they find under the surface more than they can handle.

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Switching gears, some of you may remember that I was heading to the Georgia Romance Writers Moonlight and Magnolias conference at the end of September where I was up for an award for unpublished (they call it PrePublished) authors.

Well...

DRUMROLL PLEASE

I won!

I'm a recipient of the Maggie Award for Excellence in PrePublished Contemporary Romance.

I was shocked. I still can't believe it. I won an award! I never win anything. But it was really validating after nearly a year on submission to get this little push that I just might yet be able to get a publishing deal. It may not be with the holiday romance I have on submission, and it may be with this sports romance, but it gave me a little burst of hope at least. The finalist judge was an editor from Harlequin, so that in itself is validating.

I just rewrote these winning opening chapters, and now I'm rethinking that decision (although I do think it's for the best for the overall story structure).

While I was at the conference, I also received a full request from an editor I pitched to, so fingers crossed for that!

It was a great conference. I met some wonderful romance writers and learned some great craft and business things.

So, what's next? Aside from working on edits of my sports romance, I don't get to slow down yet. In just a few weeks, I'll be back in Atlanta (I just want to move there, anyone hiring? lol) for Mutliverse Con! Technically, it's a bit farther south in Peachtree City, but it's easier to say Atlanta when talking to a broader audience.

I am a bit nervouse to be serving as a Co-Director for the WRITE Track at Multiverse Con for the first time, but my fellow co-director, Kyoko M. and I are so looking forward to welcoming writers to Multiverse. There's still time to decide to join us there, and there will be day passes at the door if you're local to the area and can't make the whole Con, although we'd love to have you there for all of it! Come join us!

Also, mark your calendars, I'll be appearing on my friend David Payne's Twitch Channel to talk about writing and Multiverse! Join us Monday, October 6th at 7pm Eastern.

Link || TelinArtho on Twitch

October Question

Today's question asks: - What is the most favorite thing you have written, published or not? And why?

Oooo. This is a hard one. The very first full manuscript I ever wrote "the end" on (as an adult, not counting my childhood scifi Animorphs/Star Wars knockoffs--TANGENT, did you see they're re-releasing the first three Animorphs books with new covers? So excited.) holds a very special place in my heart. It's a spy thriller, set up to be a trilogy, and I love the characters and the arc and the story. I hope one day I'm able to rewrite it. I haven't decided if I want to rewrite it as a straight up modern day spy thriller, or put a speculative fiction spin on it and set it on a futuristic Earth or in a secondary world or something. The writing is bad. I finished it about 15 years ago at this point, but I'm always going to want to rewrite this book and tell this story.

Aside from that, more recently, my sports romance is up there in my favorites, and not just because it won me an award. I really do love this book and these characters, even more than my book I have on submission right now. And I hope one day an editor falls in love with it too and wants to put it on shelves so I can share it with everyone. Why do I love it? I feel really close to the characters and the storyline. Sure, I wrote them, of course I'm close to them, but I mean it in a way that it feels personal. There's an arts vs sports/commerce angle, and as a musician/writer and former music teacher, that "arts losing funding for sports programs (or other things)" storyline is a common thread that I've had personal experience with and have very strong feelings about, so it is a story of my heart. I can't wait to one day share it with everyone!

So I supposed if I had to choose then those are the ones I'd choose, but really I love all the things I've written for different reasons, and it's hard to choose a favorite.

Thanks for stopping by!

Let me know how you're going to gear up for spooky season, and what you're working on or your thoughts on this month's question.

Looking forward to traversing the blog hop.

Be sure to see my links for other places to keep up with me online and sign-up for my newsletter! I promise I won't spam you. I don't even have an onboarding auto-welcome post set up yet, but I am working on getting that going sometime before the end of the year.

For now,

Rosie J.

Link | Linktree

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