Friendly Reminder
January 15, 2023 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as be kind, new year, reminders, writing
For me, January has always felt like a clean slate. An opportunity to psych myself up for the year ahead and think about all the things I hope to accomplish.
On the contrary, January is also a time when I think back on all of the things I wasn’t able to accomplish over the past year.
Did I reach my fitness goals? Nope.
Did I tackle that home improvement project? Nope.
Did I publish my next children’s book? Nope.
I find that I always need that friendly reminder to focus more on what I did accomplish, and less on what I didn’t.
Did I make sure my children knew they were loved? Yes.
Did I keep things like family dinners despite our crazy activity schedule? Yes.
Did I raise a puppy? Yes.
Did I volunteer my time to important causes? Yes.
Did I take outdoor walks when my schedule/the weather allowed? Yes.
Did I tackle massive projects at work? Yes.
Did I start contributing to a new blog? Yes!!!
Did I write my first romance novel? Yes!
Focusing more on what I did accomplish, helps better prepare me for what I hope to accomplish in the New Year.
How can I build upon the things I that I was successful at? How will that help me accomplish the things I haven’t been successful with in the past?
Please remember to be kind to yourself. You’re doing great things and you are enough just as you are. Everything else is a bonus. 🙂
I Have a Secret to Confess…
October 15, 2022 by Renae Wrich in category Writing with Renae Wrich tagged as #Romance, #writingI have a secret to confess…
While I’m grateful to this community for allowing me to talk about my work as a children’s book author over the last few months, the real reason I’m here is because I’m also an aspiring romance writer!!
Yes, I’m fully aware that children’s literature and romance are two entirely different genres. In fact, I can’t really think of two genres that could be any further apart from each other.
While my foray into children’s literature came rather easily, my journey with writing romance has been a different story (pun absolutely intended).
Romance is definitely my favorite genre to read. I love me a good HEA with swoon-worthy heroes and relatable heroines. I love the recipe of romance, the build-up, the steamy moments, and the heart-bursting grand gestures.
I’m a total sucker for the stuff.
For me, writing romance all started with a cabin getaway on a beautiful lake in Minnesota. In the midst of consuming my second romance novel of the trip, a dangerous thought crossed my mind…could I write romance?
I challenged myself to try it!
Side note- Describing the process of giving myself a writing challenge in the middle of Halloween season is giving me total Mary Shelley vibes. #goals
I am now in the process of finishing the first draft of my very first romance novel. The best part is that since I’ve started, several voices and characters have emerged and I find myself plotting the outlines for at least three additional stories.
It’s been challenging and draining (peep my post last month), but holy macaroni, it’s so fun!
I can’t wait to share more about it soon.
0 2 Read moreWriting Batteries
September 15, 2022 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as writerslife, writingI published my very first book, Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please, in July of 2020. While there are obvious downsides to accomplishing this milestone in the middle of a pandemic, in some ways I think the pandemic made it possible for me to focus on making this dream a reality.
I should preface this blog post by saying that I know my experience certainly wasn’t the same experience that everyone had in 2020. My day job was by no means considered “essential work”, and I will always have a deep appreciation for all of the people who were essential throughout the pandemic.
My job on the other hand, slowed down. Like way down. While other parts of my life got more complicated, like distanced learning for my kiddos, writing somehow became less complicated. I found myself with more time to focus on it, and my proverbial writing batteries were still fully charged at the end of the workday.
The pandemic also served as a grim and constant reminder that this life is short. I found myself no longer caring about the reception others might have to my writing and I just bleeping did it.
Fast-forward two years and thankfully my attitude hasn’t wavered much, but I find those writing batteries have a very small charge by the end of the day.
I appreciate this community and I enjoy hearing all your stories on perseverance in writing, rewriting, finding consistency, and keeping those batteries charged. Thank you!
A Book About Macaroni and Cheese
August 15, 2022 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as ChildrensLit, MacaroniAndCheese, OriginStory, writerslife, writing inspirationSo, I wrote a book about macaroni and cheese. It wasn’t something I ever planned to do, but like all happy accidents in life, I sure am glad it happened the way it did.
While writing has always been a passion of mine, and a muscle that I frequently flex during my day job, it wasn’t until a daycare pick-up one fateful afternoon in 2019 that propelled me on the path of writing a children’s book.
One sunny afternoon, I picked the kiddos up from school and asked them what sounded good for dinner. They immediately responded with what I already knew they would say, “Mac and cheese, please, please, please”. I turned the words over in my head the whole seven-minutes it took for us to get home.
I decided to give into their demands that day and make a box of macaroni and cheese, because it had been AT LEAST three days since they’d last had it [Insert parenting eye-roll].
I kid you not… In the time it took me to make a box of macaroni and cheese, I had scribbled out a children’s book.
I can still picture it in all its felt-tip marker and wide ruled notebook glory. I read it to my kids while they shoveled the orange noodles into their mouths; giving me nods of approval.
It didn’t come as a total surprise that a random lightening bolt of inspiration had struck me. After all, I’d been creative writing and plotting storylines on paper and in my head for years. I just had never guessed that it would come in the form of a children’s book, much less a children’s book about macaroni and cheese. Yet, here we are!
That’s the origin story of my book, which just celebrated its two-year birthday last month.
The absolute best part of having a book about macaroni and cheese is when I get a picture or Snapchat from my little Mac and Cheese Army out there. I had a friend reach out and tell me that her three-year-old accurately explained that they were having “elbow noodles” for dinner. These moments always serve as a good reminder to listen to those random lightening bolts of inspiration, especially since my little Mac and Cheese Army demands more.
Hello, Slice of Orange!
July 15, 2022 by Renae Wrich in category Writing tagged as Children's stories, Puppy Love, TravelHello, Slice of Orange! I’m new here. My name is Renae Wrich and I am a children’s book author and an aspiring writer of romance. I hail from the “Land of 10,000 Lakes”, more commonly known as Minnesota.
Minnesota had an especially brutal spring season this year. To put it in perspective, in April there were only five days of sunshine (FIVE!) and the average daytime temperature for the month was a whopping 44 degrees. This miserable weather was only compounded by the fact that my family welcomed an adorable eight-week old whoodle puppy into our home in March.
Shivering outside at all hours of the day willing our whoodle to do her business, was enough to put my husband and I on a plane headed to the desert in May. So we dropped off our puppy and kids with the Grandparents and hightailed it to Sedona, Arizona.
Sedona had been on our bucket list for a while and this year felt like the perfect time to go. In addition to escaping the “sprinter” (spring + winter) weather, we also had the perfect excuse of celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary.
Let me tell you, Sedona did not disappoint. There’s so much to do and seriously not enough vacation days to do it all – Mystical vortexes, pink jeeps, prickly pear margaritas, art galleries, plus all the adventure and hiking your glutes can handle. Don’t worry, we also treated ourselves to plenty of R&R time at the pool.
It was on our last full day in Sedona, as I was wading through the pool, that I noticed a woman with a hat that had the word “Writer” printed across the front.
I don’t know if it was the buzz of vortex energy, the poolside margarita, or sheer excitement, but I immediately swam up to her and introduced myself.
My mysterious pool writer turned out to be none other than Rebecca Forster!! As you can imagine, Rebecca was incredibly kind and easy to talk to. We found ourselves lost in conversation about the world of writing and publishing. I probably could have stayed in that pool and talked with her all night, but for the sake of our pruned fingers and deserted spouses, we finally exited the pool and exchanged information.
It was a no-brainer when Rebecca asked me to fill in for her on Slice of Orange while she’s away. I am grateful to her and for opportunity to be a part of this incredible community.
If you have any littles in your life who are obsessed with macaroni and cheese, or any Grandmas who always save the day, please check out my book, Mac and Cheese, Please, Please, Please. It is available on Amazon.
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