I know it’s that time of the year for my hate list, but I just can’t get it up. For one, there is just too much to be terrified about with the new administration coming in and all the vulnerable, brave people who will be at even greater risk. And second, I’m filled with gratitude this year. I’ve had the most incredible experience connecting with people over Shred Sisters and felt completely supported by my publisher. I’ve worked with authors for 35 years and I’ve never been part of a happier collaboration. Do I hate the term “holding space?” YES. Do I hate Nicole Kidman’s wigs. YES. Do I still hate myself and wish I could lose weight, of course Boo Boo.
What’s your new year writing resolution. Do it here. Do it now. Love you, Betsy
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Betsy Lerner 
Oh, Betsy!
I love that your collaboration was a happy one and that the experience is blocking out a lot of the crappy stuff this year. I loved your book, by the way and I hate that I wasn’t able to attend the book club.
My biggest hate this year is that I hate watching my husband’s world shrinking away with each thing that he is no longer able to do. Taking care of him makes it hard to commit to anything else.
I want to write more this year. My counselor asked me to write about my feelings every night but my exhaustion usually wins out. Sometime mid-2024 I resolved to worry only about the day I’m living and be thankful that we made it through another one alive!
On that note, my writing goal for the new year is to make my counselor happy and start journaling my feelings, even on the days I only have one.
I’m so glad things are going well for you. No one deserves it more! You’re a rock star in the book world. Keep that shit up!
I’d like to tell you not to hate yourself, but I guess it’s ok because we all love you enough to put you over the top in the love department!
My wish for you is that 2025 exceeds any expectations you might have regarding what a really great year could look like!
You’re the best!
I do not wish to remain anonymous. It’s me, Carol Horton! ❤
I hate the term “bucket list”. I’m intrigued with the word pentimento & though weight is my #1 issue I have decided to eat more cake & take more hikes.
Thanks for writing a great book & happy my friend who gifted it to me knew I’d like it.
Happy New Year, Donna Kane
First I loved “Shred Sisters” and I’m happy for you that the process has been a great experience.
As for myself I would be so happy if 2025 could be the year I find the structure for the book I have the material for, and have been longing to put together for many years, but have either been too busy, too afraid, or too full of self doubt to totally commit body, heart, and soul. Starting to feel it’s now or never. May it be now.
Loved Shred Sisters. I have someone in my family like this, no sisters.
On Nicole’s hair, are you sure it’s not a straigtening blow dry?
Hi Betsy, so happy the good things this year have been felt so strongly. I still enjoy seeing your posts and appreciate the way you keep checking in.
I had a weird thing happen with my writing in the fall: a cheap and cheerful writing retreat that was particularly unproductive, to the point I think I’ve been traumatized (obviously exaggerating to make the point). So my resolution is to muster up the courage to return to the writing and be radical. This could mean trashing stuff, revamping it and/or trying to wrIte a wee bit (and I mean wee) every day to feel like a writer again. Maybe I’ll work towards a collection instead of rejoining the submission circus because really, who cares?
Happy 2025. Here’s to bracing ourselves for perpetual impact and WTFery while finding moments of joy.
This is Dorli from Switzerland, sorry about not logging in!
Congratulations, Betsy. You’ve had a hell of a year.
“What’s your new year writing resolution.”
To keep on keeping on.
It’s been quite a year all the way around. I’m finding myself hating social media – don’t we all to some degree? If I could dump it, and only participate as I choose (like coming out here to this blog and writing comments) then I’d be a happy camper. IDK. I think I’m burned out.
On the other hand, you TikTok rockstar, you. You landed on both feet on that platform because you had something that was REAL to offer, vs. the silly or staid stuff that oftentimes (I’m guilty!) gets put up. What dedication you had with your journaling, and the wisdom you share when you choose a particularly vulnerable passage has resonated profoundly with so many young folks.
The Shred Sisters was SO FREAKING GOOD! I blitzed through it and wished it didn’t have to end! There’s a common question that gets asked about books – which one do you wish you hadn’t read, so you could read it all over again? That’s definitely one for me!
The writing – I’m working on a new project that is SO SLOW in coming along. For one, my brain is still wrapped around our two new family members, Daphne and Chloe – seven months old as of yesterday. Since getting them, (Aug 5th) I think I’ve dropped like 10 lbs. Maybe more. So – it’s true what “they” say! If you want to lose weight, get a dog – or two! The second problem – that’s standing out at the moment – is the dialect, which is Smoky Mountain/Elizabethean/and rather curious. I don’t want to be heavy-handed, but I also want it to “sound” authentic as it’s read. Tough to do.
Happy New Year’s Eve to all!
You are a constant inspiration to me, another self deprecator. Though green with envy, I admire your success with “Sisters” and found it amazing in every way.
My new year’s resolutions are:
To write in the morning (2 hours) and afternoon even for 1/2 an hour (after a nap and health club); to go to the pool 3x a week for my bones; to walk 20-30 minutes when I don’t go to the pool. Beyond that I recommend and continue to read a few entries a day from The Work of Art by Adam Moss, a remarkable, inspiring book (But, warning, do not read the intro or you will not read what’s really fascinating, the book itself.)
John C. Krieg
No New Year’s writing resolution(s) – just the same agonizing commitment to write everyday – the embodiment of my self-flagellating motto of, “A writer writes.”
Yes, I too worry about conservatism gone awry and that corporate douche-baggery will rule the roost for at least the next four years, but the design of our government helps to keep things in check under “normal” circumstances. I know, I know… the current fear is that all branches will shortly be thoroughly corrupted, so the design just doesn’t matter, but oh does it ever. There are still a few honest politicians left in America. What worries me more is all the book banning’s. Sometimes it keeps me up at night. I am determined to write something of significance in the next month concerning the importance of free speech, while I still have it. For research I’ve been reading Yuval Noah Harari’s “Nexus (2024)” and it is absolutely terrifying, but also a necessary warning siren.
I am glad that you feel totally supported by your publisher, and I must admit that, to date, I have not had remotely the same experience. Mostly my fault because I live by another one of my personal mottos which is, “Great writing transcends all obstacles,” and that pretty much lets me know where I stand. I got laughed out of my writing group over a year ago over that one, but who needs a bunch of crybabies, anyway?
As for personal challenges, Ms. Lerner, can I suggest that you look to your first love of poetry? Put me down for a preorder if you do.
Happy New Year!
You are a true inspiration for me. I wasn’t going to make any new year resolutions because I get so tired of disappointing myself… however, I have decided to go with the flow, at least for my writing.
I have a novel I MUST finish editing, and I need to complete the memoir I have started, it’s about the murder of my grandson and the role my daughter played in that tragedy. It’s gut wrenching and the hardest thing I have ever done, but I think, if I can get it done and out there, it truly may help someone.
Anyhoo, that’s me 🙂 Press on, my friends, and find your joy where you may!!
Your memoir sounds devastating, but if you can tough your way through it, I do feel that it would most definitely help your audience. It took a lot of guts to even mention it, and I wish you nothing but the best. Forge on.
Hi Betsy – I’m a little late to this party, but it was hard to think/write about hate when I was in the middle of holiday joy.
But, I’m now back to my default mode of hating. Mostly, I hate anything “fake”: made-up-news, Artificial Intelligence, Trump (especially Trump), “influencers”, social media, fake boobs/lips/cheeks, lying contractors (those who fake me out by saying they’ll show up, and then don’t)… I could go on and on…
What I didn’t hate was Shred Sisters! Couldn’t put it down. Oddly, it felt much like the next memoir that’s been brewing in my head where I expound on the incredible disconnect and dysfunction between me and my own sister. As I wrote in my reviews of Shred Sisters, your fiction felt much like my reality!
Happy New Year!
Not sure why my comment comes up as “Anonymous” but the last one was from Emily Coffin 🙂
Hi, Betsy–I’m visiting your website for the first time moments after finishing Shred Sisters, which I blew through, which is saying a lot, because I’m a slow reader. Congratulations! I appreciate many things about the book, but top of mind for me are the depictions of sisterhood (I’m the older of two sisters, identifying more closely with Amy) and of grief (about which I spend a lot of time thinking). I look forward to reflecting on Shred Sisters in the coming days, weeks, and months as it marinates in me…and to checking out your other writing.
Since you’ve invited us to share our writing goals for the year, I’ll share mine along with my reading goals. First, the latter: As a person who loves to read but has not prioritized it for far too long, I’ve resolved to read more this year, and Shred Sisters is the first book I’ve finished toward my goal! Second, my writing goals are: To complete the feature screenplay I’m currently writing, to write the short film I recently conceived, to complete and submit a book proposal for the nonfiction book I conceived a while ago and began developing, and to make writing a daily practice. I suppose that’s roughly in order of biggest to most achievable, and–come to think of it–that’s a lot of writing goals. But I dare not edit them down so early in the year.
Congratulations, again, and thanks for the great read! Wishing you a wonderful year, as well as joy, hope, creativity and strength in this tumultuous time we’ve entered as a country.
Best,
Priya Sircar
J