Dear Readers of the Blog:
It’s been so long that I almost forgot how to sign in. I miss you! I apologize! Anyone out there in the writing trenches still around? As you may know, I’ve drifted over to TikTok where I’ve been reading snippets of my diaries from my twenties. I’ve found a big audience of mostly twenty-somethings who relate to my ongoing quest for love, sex, poetry, identity and friendship. It’s been an incredible experience rereading them. One theme threaded throughout is trying to be a writer, a poet, part of some larger literary world. Followed always by lots of doubts about being a poseur, an imposter, just not being good enough. There are thirty diaries in total. I’m on #21 when I enter my MFA program and start spiraling big time. It’s really painful, but also sort of beautiful to see how forty years later, I’m still the same girl, or certainly can access her, but to also know that some of those dreams came true.
Sending lots of love and high hopes for the new year. FTF! Catch us up!
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Betsy Lerner 
Happy New Year, Betsy. I’ve avoiding Tik Tok, but now I must check it out.
Karen
Hmmmm, I’d had a gate up around Tik Tok, but maybe now I must reconsider! Regardless, getting your blog email in my inbox made my day, and your sustained, dogged/intrepid efforts and joy (at least my perception) at being a writer in the world with others keeps me going every time I see an example of it.
Not sure why it says anonymous – but my name is Jennifer Ruth Keller and I am subscribed to your newsletter (just so I’m not looking like a hidden voyeur.)
Hi Betsy, I have been missing your seeing your blog appear in my inbox.
I am continuing to work on my memoir and cut it down to a respectable 75K word document as you suggested. Just too hard to determine what to cut on my own so I have enlisted a wonderful experienced editor to help and progress is being made. As the scourge of gun violence continues in our country I want so badly for my story of the personal experience of gun violence to be shared with others.
Hi Betsy! Wishing you and everyone a joyful and fruitful 2026. Glad your diaries are connecting with a younger crowd. As for me, I hired a best selling historical fiction author from Reedsy (which I highly recommend) as a developmental editor for my novel Maimie Mimi Maimie: Girl Prostitute Reformer. That’s the working title. Rereading it, I discovered I started writing it in 2014!
Gail
Hi, Betsy. Good to see you again (as always). I drop by here every morning to see if you’ve come back by. It only takes a second to open the tab (between Krebs on Security and Bluesky) and take a look. Sometimes I see you on El Libro de la Cara and give you an upfist there. I don’t Tiktok, time is tight. HNY!
Oh how I miss you and the writing rabble here.
Regarding a catch-up, well not much at this end. I have just about tossed my Scrabble set of ideas, articles, op-eds and newspaper column pieces and have settled down to a writing world of manila folders filled with clips in a file cabinet. That this is the close to my writing dreams makes me sad but I am relieved beyond words. No more deadlines. I have written two novels. (unpublished). Some friends printed copies of one, had them spiral bound, passed them around and egged me on to pursue ‘the dream’ but…..though I occasionally take it out and continue final edits I am filled with the enormous responsibility of the task it takes to become traditionally published at my age. So, here I am catching up and letting go. Miss you all, especially you Betsy because within this huge world of words you are/were always the most honest among the rest.
Happy New Year writers and may your endeavors end up as big fucking successes 🙂
Carolynnwith@Ns
PS Hey, it wouldn’t be me if didn’t throw a “fuck” in there.
That was me Carolynnwith2Ns