Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stow

Between managing the horrific process of moving from Australia and returning home to Canada, I have been fine-tooth combing through two of seven novels in preparation for publishing. The niggling and nagging from inside my head, and ears from those wonderful supporters around me, succeeded in convincing me to step off the ledge. The accusations of being a coward to the nth degree hit home.

Hence, I’ve invested months in the final draft of The Beekeeper’s Wife and Blackdog Howls. The wall I’m now hitting is transposing those stories into a novel format. Initially, Reedsy was great for separating chapters and enabling quick navigation between them, while ProWritingAid provided instant awareness of basic writing errors. But neither tool produced a satisfactory final product.

Setting those chapters into a book format should be a piece of cake, right? Hell no, it has been an even more denigrating process than writing. Microsoft Word and I were coming to blows over the apparently simple task of adding page numbers. Yup, inserting page numbers in word documment for my proofreader has sent me to the bottle a couple of times. The tutorials on managing the problems I had were unhelpful. And I gave up trying.

However, the pitbull in me persevered in finding a way around my problems through researching book formatting programs. Atticus was the winner throughout the final editing stages of my novels. Beyond it providing clearly organized chapters, it allowed for easy editing and I could view my work in book form. Once again, I struggled with adjusting the formatting.

I used a Derek Murphy’s book template from http://www.creativindie.com. The template did all the behind-the-scenes formatting. Now I must transfer the chapters by performing a whack of copy and paste procedures. Fifty-one chapters worth for The Beekeeper’s Wife. It has been a slow and tedious process, but I am seeing progress and getting a glimpse of my work as a professionally formatted novel.

Success is not the absence of failure; it’s the persistence through failure. Aisha Tyler

During those times of writer’s fatigue, I ventured into designing covers. I see why hiring a professional is recommended. The task easily became a blackhole sucking up precious time. Canva was helpful with that project. There are numerous examples of covers available to tweak to create a worthy cover. BUT … finding a cover picture and the perfect genre design was a headache. I had several conceptions in my mind but struggled to execute them in a satisfactory manner.

Sixteen attempts later, no snarky remarks over my ineptness required, I engaged the Microsoft Bing AI image generator program to turn a picture in my head into a reality. It was an amazing process of collaboration between Canva, AI, and SI (Stephanie’s Intelligence). The fine-tuning process required a tricky communication style between the program’s mind and mine. I was perplexed when several attempts were blocked because my image was regarded as disturbing or harmful to a viewer, but I eventually produced an effect I liked.

Through all of the chaos I’ve navigated over the past three months, a new sense of resolve has emerged. My writing life is important. It the place where I’ve always taken refuge when the world weighed too heavily on my shoulders. It was worth the investment of time and a few dollars to ease the process. The roadblocks I navigated in 2024 and 2025 are no longer an issue. A new year ripe with new possibilities approaches. In its closing, my Christmas gift to myself is the fulfilment of an overdue dedication to what makes my mind and heart sing. Writing.

So, my final words for 2025 are wishing a Merry Christmas to everyone in the WordPress community. May 2026 be filled with the joy of bringing your writing dreams to fruition.