It’s 2026? It’s 2026! I felt like the end of the year kinda bled into the new one. But maybe that’s because I didn’t ring in the new year.
Confession: I couldn’t even muster the energy to watch the ball drop. I also didn’t make a resolution or write a one-word goal. But I actually do enjoy the idea of new beginnings. And, clearly, I’m happy that 2026 offered me a Lefty nomination (hurrah to all!).
Plus, a new year brings a new book. Yep, book three in my Magical Fortune Cookie series is dropping on January 27th. Tell-Tale Treats is for you if you want to see Mean Girls as adults, stuck together in a secluded inn.
It was a lot of fun to write. But in a bittersweet way since it’ll be the last in the series [cue crying]. My contract is ending, and I’ll be floating untethered for a bit.
But, bringing it back to 2026… While I didn’t have a resolution or a goal, one of my kids begged to do vision boards together. So I cobbled together something. This part represents my writing vision:
- Because I’m bookish at heart, I’ve always wanted a huge bookcase with a rolling ladder, space notwithstanding
- Peak—to go higher with my writing
- VOICE (not VOGUE, like my daughter first thought) to share my authentic, nuanced (see: lean into the layers) self
- Also, I added nods to waiting and not sweating during the long and bumpy process
Do you have something new happening (or that you’re envisioning for) this new year?
Chicks on the Case 
I accepted a promotion at work in late November. It offers me a chance to learn new things and bring my 27 years of accumulated knowledge to play in a different daily responsibility in my company. It will likely be the job I retire from in about 5 years, so I was glad to be approached to join the team.
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Congrats on your new promotion.
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Hurrah on your recent promotion! So glad they recognized your ability and that you get a chance to learn new stuff as well!
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Emily, congratulations! What great news!
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Nothing new, but excited to be attending reader/fan conventions as a retiree. Looking forward to LCC (Yay Nominated Chicks!), Malice, Bouchercon, and C3. I’m also thinking about cruising.
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Yay, Dru! We’re excited to see you at upcoming conferences!
And I think cruising will be a great opportunity; it’ll be a swap from watching ships in the past to being on ships in the present.
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Yay! You’ll have to tell us how it feels different from when you weren’t retired, lol.
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I think I’m finally going to get a chance to write the stand-alone/limited series starter book that has been in my head for a while this year.
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Wow, Liz–how exciting! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!
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Congratulations on the new book, Jen! That’s a fantastic cover with so much detail. Love the rolls!
2026 has the potential to be an exciting year for me. Elmo Simpson book 4 comes out 1/26 and book 5 later this year. The first two books in my Allie Cobb Mysteries come out in audio over the next couple of months. And, my first two Elmo books come out in mass market paperback in April.
Exciting times, provided the world doesn’t blow up.
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Ha! Thanks, JC! I feel like they always try to sneak in a skull in the cover art…
2026 holds loads of stuff for you! Congrats on the new books (two in a year!) & the extra versions in audio and mass market.
And I’m with you–let’s not make 2026 too exciting globally.
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At the end of 2025, I signed a contract with a small publishing house for my first cozy mystery, to be released in 2026 (in’shallah!). My first deadline is January 31st – I’m very excited to be starting the new year with a deadline!
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What wonderful news, Robin! And huzzah on your first deadline–with many more to come!
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Hope your 2026 brings some good news for you soon.
Me? I’m just flowing into the new year like I always do. We’ll see what the year brings. Not being one to like change, I’m not out there trying to push for it or lead it.
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Let’s see what the new year brings to you, Mark. Hoping it’s much happiness!
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I’m not one for new year’s resolutions, but I do have continual life resolutions: trying to write most days, trying to do some marketing/publicity most days (ugh), trying to do something fun most–no, ALL!–days, and making sure to spend time with family and/or friends every day.
And I too love your new book cover–it’s gorgeous! Looking forward to seeing you, and various Chicks, and Dru, and lots of other readers and writers at Left Coast Crime and Malice!
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Love the continual life goals, especially having fun every day! 🙂
And kudos on the beautiful cover of MURDER, LOCAL STYLE (coming in April)!
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Fun every day is very important! (And thanks!)
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Happy New Year! I once looked at an old house that had a library with a rolling ladder and man, that alone was enough to making me want to buy it! Happy new year and hears to your vision board coming true!
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Love your vision board, Jen. And boo to your publisher!
I’m envisioning an additional pickup of my Vintage Cookbook Mysteries (prayer emoji!) and if the Golden Motels are going to be a trilogy and not a series, then selling a new series to someone.
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Jennifer, I love the cover. It makes me smile and sad to hear it’s the last in the series. Know something better will come soon!
New Year = new opportunity!
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Staying alive so I can read more books, work more jigsaws, pet my dog more, be with my husband, and so many other things. I can’t believe that this series is ending. Too many of my favorites have gone that way. I have read all of your series. I just have the two standalones to read. I can’t believe that with your books winning book awards, they are letting them go. Any more LA Night Market ones?
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