Sharon Wray's Blog

The world would have us all believe that since it’s December 1, we’re already behind. That if we haven’t purchased and wrapped our gifts, sent out our cards, planned our holiday meals, and cleaned our homes, there’s no time to catch up. But the truth is, the holidays aren’t a race. They’re a season meant to be savored. The magic of December isn’t in checking off a to-do list at lightning speed. It’s in slowing down, connecting with loved ones, and creating memories that last far longer than the perfectly frosted cookies or color-coded gift tags.

Planning ahead doesn’t have to feel like adding another chore. It can actually be the secret to enjoying the season more fully. When you take a moment to map out what matters most, you can focus on the traditions, people, and experiences that truly bring joy. That means prioritizing the meaningful over the mandatory, and letting go of the pressure to do everything. A little intentional planning gives you space to breathe, to savor the smells, tastes, and sounds of the season without feeling rushed or overwhelmed.

That’s where tools like holiday planners or checklists come in. By organizing your shopping, meals, parties, and personal downtime, you create a roadmap that lets you navigate the month with ease. You’ll know what needs your attention and what can wait, which frees you from the mental clutter that often turns December into a frenzy. Planning isn’t about rigidity. It’s about clarity. With a clear picture of your priorities, you can say yes to what truly matters and confidently say no to what doesn’t.

So before the hustle takes over, practice some deep breathing and make a plan. Decide which traditions light you up, which gatherings bring joy, and which tasks can be simplified or skipped. This holiday season, let your planning serve as a gentle guide, helping you move through December with purpose, calm, and—most importantly—joy.

But for those who do like to plan ahead, below is a Holiday Planning Schedule that you can adapt and use however you wish for whatever holiday(s) you celebrate. I’m also including my Holiday Dinner Portion Planner printable. It will work for any large meal, just keep in mind that the portions for turkey work well for all poultry, meat, and fish. If you are a super-perfectionist, reduce the portions by 2 ounces for beef and increase the portion size by 2 ounces for fish. But, honestly, the turkey portion size is a good average for all meat, poultry, and fish servings. 

And a huge thanks to my grandmother’s vintage Good Housekeeping cookbooks for helping me figure out the portions. I truly believe that my grandmother did, indeed, know best! 

FREE HOLIDAY PRINTABLESHoliday Planning ScheduleHoliday Dinner Portion Planner

I’m not going to ask you if you hit your Rough Draft November goals because it doesn’t matter. Rough Draft November, like NaNo 2.0, is an event that spurs your creativity and offers community to encourage writers to get their words down. It’s also a great way to build a writing habit alongside your peers. As a professional writer, I know how hard the fight is to get new words on the page.

But Rough Draft November isn’t simply a month-long writing party. It’s a way to change the mindset, for the better, of writers who struggle, including all writers who write for a living and those who write as a hobby. It also helps those who scratch words in the dark to keep themselves sane. 

What I love about this event is the preparatory work in October that helps me focus on a new story or a story I’m currently working on. I also love the camaraderie in sprint groups on Facebook and Discord servers. I have hit my goals in the past and there have been some years that I’ve been editing a book and I didn’t add a single word. Yet the word count doesn’t matter. The most important thing this event does is validate the act of writing itself. Rough Draft November reminds us that writers can change how people think about the world around them. It reminds us that writers can change the world. But there’s a caveat–Rough Draft November reminds us that writers can only do those things if they actually commit the words to paper.

As for my check-in, I worked on a 75,000 word novel for my agent, twenty blog posts, and added words to another WIP, my next Deadly Force novel A Promise at Midnight. I also had three different novellas in three different anthologies come out this month. While I have no idea how many words I changed, cut, edited, and rewrote on my WIP, I was able to move forward with my plot. And, to me, that’s more important than word count. For the month of November, I reminded myself that my words count and the stories in my head will one day sit in the hands of readers. For the month of November, I reminded myself that writing is what I’m meant to do with my life. For the month of November, I reminded myself that, despite the difficulty in getting words down, I am not alone.

Rough Draft November ends on Sunday, but the act of writing down words continues because our words matter. Our words can affect lives. Our words can change the world.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are enjoying the holiday weekend. Just in case you’re looking for new leftover feast recipes, today I have one I just tried and it’s delicious. These waffles are made with leftover stuffing and can be served with all the other leftovers on top (like extra turkey bits, gravy, sweet potato casserole, cranberry sauce, etc.) I hope you’re all having a restful day. For me, I’ll be going to tea with the women in my family and watching Hallmark Christmas movies.

[image error] PrintLeftover Stuffing WafflesThis recipe works best with crumbled stuffing that does not have large pieces of meat (sausage, ham, etc) and veggies (onions, celery, etc.) If there are lumpy bits in the stuffing the waffle maker can't close all the way and the waffle may not cook all the way through. Also, make sure to cook the waffles long enough for the eggs to cook fully. I love these waffles with leftover gravy, cranberry sauce, and bits of leftover Turkey on top.Course Side DishPrep Time 5 minutes minutesCook Time 20 minutes minutesServings 2Calories 775kcalIngredients4 cups crumbled leftover stuffing2 large eggs lightly beaten with a forkChicken broth or turkey stock as neededLeftover cranberry sauce for servingLeftover gravy for servingInstructionsPreheat your waffle maker, spraying it with your favorite oil if necessary.Using a large bowl, mix the leftover stuffing with the eggs. Then stir in 1/4 cup of chicken broth (adding more if necessary) until the stuffing begins to stick together. You want the stuffing to be moistened but not too wet. Spread half of the stuffing in the waffle maker maker. Spread it evenly as it will not spread on its own. Close the lid and bake until the waffle is lightly browned and you're sure that the egg is thoroughly cooked. If it ends up being too dry, that's okay–you can smother it with gravy later.Pop the cooked waffle out and make another one with the last half of the stuffing mix. Serve the cooked waffles with reheated gravy and leftover cranberry sauce.

Since yesterday was Thanksgiving and the holiday season has officially started, I’m so happy to announce that The Christmas Lily is now on sale for .99, along with 950 other romance novels. You can find the full list of books on sale for .99 at the Romance Book Blast site!

The Christmas Lily is a short story that takes place before Every Deep Desire, book 1 in the Deadly Force series. And it gives you all a chance to see Rafe and Juliet (the hero and heroine in Every Deep Desire) before their lives shattered in so many pieces that it took me 135,000 words in Every Deep Desire to bring them back together. So up until Christmas, this e-book is on sale for .99 (from $3.99). I hope you love it as much as I loved writing it.

The Christmas Lily On sale now for .99!

Is Christmas Magic worth risking everything for… including the love of those they care about most?

Juliet Capel, from a remote southern sea isle shrouded in history and secrets, has never truly belonged anywhere. But now that she’s married to the man she’s always loved, she’s determined to share her dream of the perfect Christmas with her new family and the people of the Isle of Grace who’ve never accepted her. Except her dream falls apart on Christmas Eve when a rare snowstorm hits the isle, her father disappears, and Father Thomas threatens to cancel Midnight Mass. 

Green Beret Rafe Montfort will do anything for his new wife, even if that means hunting down everyone on the godforsaken Isle of Grace and forcing them to attend Midnight Mass. Although he doesn’t understand why his beautiful bride needs the acceptance of the people of the isle–especially those who treated her terribly during her poverty-stricken childhood–he knows this perfect Christmas is important to her. But what he’s willing to do for her could threaten everyone’s Christmas… along with their future happiness.

Buy for .99!

The first frost always takes me by surprise. One morning the world looks the same — soft, weary, late-autumn golds — and the next, everything has turned silver. The air sharpens. The last of the garden bows its head. Even the wind sounds different, carrying the first hint of winter. And, inevitably, I forget to bring in my bay laurel plant and it dies and I have to scramble to find a replacement for the spring (bay laurel plants are actually hard to find!).

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Frost is both beautiful and cruel. It kills what cannot withstand the cold, but it also preserves what might otherwise decay. Apples sweeten in its touch. Seeds harden for the long sleep ahead. In the hush after the first frost, there’s both loss and protection, an ending and a promise.

The Frost in Creativity

For writers and artists, the first frost can feel familiar. It’s that moment when the rush of autumn inspiration begins to fade, and the quiet work of reflection begins. The creative fire cools, the pace slows, and something in us wants to rest. It’s tempting to see this as failure — as if we’ve lost our spark — but frost is not an ending. This is especially true during a Rough Draft Challenge or NaNo 2.0 event.

Late autumn is a season of preservation. When life demands care, stillness, or silence, our creative selves are not gone. They’re waiting, preserved beneath the surface, gathering strength for spring. The frost teaches patience. It teaches us to trust that stories, like seeds, survive the winter.

The Frost in Love

Romance, too, has its seasons. There’s the summer of wild bloom, with new love, heat, and motion, and then the cooling. The first frost comes to every love story, even the lasting ones. It’s the moment we stop trying to stay in the first flush of warmth and learn instead to tend what endures. Frost reveals what’s strong enough to survive. Love deepens not in endless summer, but in the quiet understanding that even in cold, we hold each other close.

The Gift of Thanksgiving

That’s what Thanksgiving feels like to me, a celebration in the frost. A feast of gratitude in the fading light. A reminder that even as the world stills, beauty remains: in the food we share, in the hands we hold, in the stories we tell by the fire. First frost reminds us that endings are never final. Endings are pauses, thresholds, and transformations. It’s the season that teaches us how to love gently, create bravely, and rest without fear.

So this Thanksgiving, when you see the frost on the grass, take a breath. Feel the world slowing down. Remember that what the frost touches, it also protects. And that, too, is a kind of grace.

This is an edited repost from the archives.

I love short stories during the holidays and the tales listed below are some of my favorite to read to the kids (and dogs) around Thanksgiving.

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All of the stories I chose for this list are in the public domain and are written by some of my favorite authors such as O’Henry, LM Montgomery, and Louisa May Alcott. They all deal with topics like humility, gratitude, and love, and each one has a happily ever after. Although a few of them (like the O’Henry story) have some great twists at the end. Reading these stories aloud is a perfect way to end a busy day of cooking and feasting and spending time outside in the last, lovely days before winter. I hope you enjoy them!

“The Night Before Thanksgiving” by Sarah Orne Jewett About a woman who finds herself desperately in need of help and receives it in an unexpected way.“Captain Christy’s Thanksgiving” by Carolyn Sherwin BaileyAfter a man risks his life to save others, young children decide to show their gratitude with a charming, unforgettable act of kindness. “Bert’s Thanksgiving” by J. T. TrowbridgeTwo men seek approval and acceptance from each other with a humble, heart-warming twist of fate.“Why He Carried the Turkey” by James Baldwin A lovely story about humility and the true meaning of gratitude.“Aunt Susanna’s Thanksgiving Dinner” by Lucy Maud MontgomeryAfter the death of their parents, two young women attempt to please their only living relative–an ornery, hard-to-love aunt.“Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen” by O. HenryAn O’Henry classic about two men who meet once year on Thanksgiving Day with a twist that will melt your heart. “An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving” by Louisa May Alcott A classic Thanksgiving story about a group of children who attempt to make their own family Thanksgiving feast.

It’s finally hot chocolate season! And one my new favorite recipes is this spiced hot chocolate with ashwagandha root powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Loaded with antioxidants and herbs that can lower inflammation and anxiety, this is a perfect drink to sip in front of the fire while reading your favorite novel. (Maybe a romance novel anthology like Snowed In With You!). While I can get the milk at my grocery store, I prefer to purchase my organic and natural herbs from and Mountain Rose Herbs. I’ve used lots of different types of milk in this recipe (whole milk, almond milk, oat milk, etc) and they all work well.

For those of you new to this series, Sarah Munro, the heroine in ONE DARK WISH, the second book in the Deadly Force series, is an 18th century historian who inherited a collection of colonial-era herbal and homeopathic remedies. And, in this blog space, I’ve been sharing her recipes with you all. I’m adding this recipe to her collection because ashwagandha (also known as Indian Ginseng) has been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-anxiety, and cardioprotective qualities. Cinnamon and nutmeg have been shown to have antioxidant properties as well as the ability to help regulate blood sugar. And honey is rich in antioxidants that can help aid digestion, soothe coughs, and lower inflammation.

Note: I am not an affiliate of Mountain Rose Herbs. I just love their website and buy most of my herbs and other special ingredients from them.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons cocoa powder1 teaspoon Ashwagandha root powder1/4 tsp cinnamondash of freshly grated Nutmeg8 oz. milk of choiceHoney, to tasteDirections for Spiced Hot ChocolateThis recipe makes on mug of hot chocolate for one serving. In a small saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat. Slowly whisk in the cocoa powder, ashwagandha powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Lower the heat and keep warming the milk–slowly–until it’s hot enough to drink but not too hot. Pour the hot chocolate into a mug and add honey, if you want it a bit sweeter. Enjoy! IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER ABOUT WILD PLANTS, FORAGING , AND MAKING HERBAL REMEDIES:

I am not a medical professional and nothing written on this blog is medical advice. None of my statements have been evaluated by the FDA (I am legally required to give you this disclaimer).

It is important to do your due diligence before foraging, harvesting, and/or consuming any type of medicinal plant.

If you are taking any medications, talk to your doctor about any potential drug interactions.If you are allergic to anything, make sure whatever you are foraging is not in the same family. Example: While dandelions are typically considered safe, those who are allergic to ragweed, latex, daisies, or any other plants in the same or similar families, may not be able to consume dandelion.

Always research potential side effects, dosage recommendations, and how to properly prepare and consume each medicinal plant.

Always make sure you are foraging what you believe to be. Fully prepare and study the anatomy before harvesting wild plants.

Always make sure your kitchen/work area is clean and that all materials are sterilized.

Do not forage plants from areas that have been sprayed within the past 2 years at the very least.

I am not legally or morally responsible for the health of any of my readers. Please do your own research!

This is the fifth in a series about Pennhurst Asylum in Spring City, PA.Part 5: When Ruin Becomes Attraction

Pennhurst today wears many faces: it is an abandoned institution, a historical landmark, a haunted attraction, and now—on the cusp of a new identity—it may become a modern industrial campus. How do we use places of tragedy without erasing their memory? How do we honor what happened and still allow for change?

Ghost tours and “Halloween Haunts” attractions are familiar to places like this. They draw visitors, money, attention. They convert decay into spectacle, daylight into horror. Yet they are also sometimes the only reason a site remains accessible rather than bulldozed. Some argue that such tours keep the stories alive, and I know that’s the case at Pennhurst. In fact, Pennhurst Asylum hires actors with disabilities as way to offset some of the past horrors. Yet others say these attractions commodify pain and reduce suffering to cheap thrills. In the case of Pennhurst, the tension between “memory” and “use” has never felt more acute.

The Contested Future of Pennhurst

In recent months, the site has become the subject of intense debate.

The Pennhurst property in East Vincent Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania is being considered for redevelopment as a large-scale data center campus: five two-story buildings, possibly a sixth, together exceeding 1.3 million square feet, plus substation and solar field.The land is zoned “Mixed Use Industrial,” which means a data center is technically allowed under current zoning rules.Local residents, preservation groups, and community organizations are mobilizing with petitions, public meetings, heated debates about water, power, traffic, aesthetic and ecological impact.Township officials are drafting new ordinances aiming to regulate data center development with height limits, buffer zones, tree-cutting limits, lighting, noise, water usage.

This isn’t rumor. The possibility of Pennhurst being torn down to build data centers is very real. While no final plan appears to be fully approved as of yet, the scope and scale are already frightening to many who see the site as sacred memory, not industrial canvas.

Why This Matters

For a place like Pennhurst—sites steeped in trauma, neglect, institutional memory—the shift from asylum to tourist attraction to potential data center feels loaded. It forces questions such as:

What do we owe the past?When is transformation respect, and when is erasure?When does “reuse” become “overwrite”?

When you picture a massive data-center campus, you imagine vast cooling systems, heavy power infrastructure, lots of parking, perhaps sprawling new buildings with little direct visual connection to what stood before. The haunting gothic corridors, the peeling plaster, the stories of institutionalized people all could be swallowed. And yet land is expensive, infrastructure tempting, development inevitable in many places. The pull is strong.

Walking Pennhurst recently, I felt conflicting impulses. Part of me wanted the buildings preserved with windows intact, bricks un-cleaned, stories honored in museum form. Part of me accepted the logic of change. The site cannot remain entirely static forever. But I came away insisting on a condition: reuse with memory, not erasure. If Pennhurst is to live again in a new form, that form must carry the weight of what happened there… not wipe it away.

When sites like Pennhurst are “re-developed,” what happens to their stories? Are the wards converted into offices without a memorial plaque? Are past residents reduced to historical footnotes while the shiny new campus takes their place? When a community loses its physical marker of memory, it often loses something deeper: the capacity to ask, “What happened here?” and “Why?”

So I urge you to watch Pennhurst’s story unfold. Because it may be emblematic of many such sites across the country. Places of trauma–U.N Sites of Conscience such as Pennhurst–will be wiped onto industrial grid. The question isn’t just what becomes of Pennhurst physically, it’s what becomes of its memory. Pennhurst is watching us, asking us to remember and tell its stories. But if we do forget, if places like this do disappear, I guess the question becomes “Will we let what happened at Pennhurst (or any other U.N Site of Conscience) happen again?”

How to thrive during November’s Rough Draft Challenge.

Thanksgiving is almost here, and we have about one more week before November–and November’s Rough Draft Challenge–ends. This week is one of the toughest for most writers trying to finish a draft in a month (for me as well!) so today I wanted to offer a few tips and tricks to keep you motivated. Because your stories matter and I want all of us, on November 30th, to type The End.

Drafting a novel in November is not an easy thing to do. It’s always a wild ride with equal parts inspiration and exhaustion, even when not under the wordcount pressure this event brings. But with a flexible plan, a few writerly comforts, and the reminder that you’re not alone, you can survive (and thrive) in the heat of creation. So grab your favorite hot drink, open your draft, and write on.

November Rough Draft Survival Guide1. Set a Flexible Word Count Goal

Never forget that you get to make the rules and decide on your goals. So choose a goal that challenges you and fits your life. Try:

500 words a day5K over the holiday weekendWrite one scene per writing session

Tip: Focus on consistency over volume. A little progress each day adds up fast.

2. Make a November Writing Kit

Stay prepared, hydrated, and inspired by putting together a few writerly survival essentials:

Your favorite notebook or writing appA reusable water bottle or pot full of your favorite hot teaAn autumn-inspired soundtrack or ambient background noiseColorful sticky notes for mid-draft ideas you don’t want to chase yetA backup battery or shady spot if you write outside in front of a bonfire3. Create a Cozy Writing Ritual

When the weather and your brain feel anxious, try a calming pre-writing routine:

Set a timer for 10 minutes of journaling or warm-up writingLight a seasonal candle (pumpkin, leaves, or bonfire scents)Read a page from a favorite bookTry a 5-minute writing sprint to beat the heat and the blank page4. Build a Moodboard

Keep your creativity front and center by surrounding yourself with the vibe of your project:

Pinterest boards, mood playlists, or seasonal photosUse Canva and PowerPoint to build a slide show about your story and/or series.A quick walk in the cold morning air, or raking up some leaves to immerse yourself in autumn imageryUse sensory prompts: What does your setting smell, sound, and feel like in autumn and winter? Or the season in which your book is set?5. Don’t Go It Alone

Even if you’re skipping the formal Rough Draft November or NaNo 2.0 events, writing is always better with a little support:

Check in with a writing buddy or accountability groupShare daily progress on social (or in your journal)Celebrate small wins—scene finished, word count hit, plot twist landed6. Permission to Be Messy

Rough drafts are supposed to be rough. The goal is to get the story down, not perfect it. Your November challenge is to show up, tell the story, and save revisions for a later day.

7. Other Resources

Since I’m also a librarian, here is a list of other blog posts I’ve written with resources including prep materials, meal plans, and writing tools, etc.

Revising in NovemberSelf Care During Rough Draft NovemberRough Draft November Meal Planning IdeasRough Draft November ResourcesWriting Short Resource ListWriting Craft Bibliography

I can’t believe I’m already prepping for Thanksgiving! I’m buying new towels for guests and trying out new recipes just for fun. And this is one I’m really excited about. It’s a recipe for a pecan pie that doesn’t require corn syrup. It’s just as easy to make and it’s not quite as “thick” but it’s delicious and tastes like the pecan pies I used to have when I was a kid celebrating Thanksgiving on Cape Cod. I like to serve this pie with a side of sweetened whipped cream and I also make my own pie crust. If you need an easy pie crust recipe, I have one here for you to try. It’s fool-proof! I hope you all have a wonderful fall weekend.

[image error] PrintSyrup-less Pecan PieThis pie is a nice alternative to those which require corn syrup. It's still sweet, but it's not quite as thick. I like to serve it with a side of sweetened whipped cream. Course DessertKeyword PiesPrep Time 20 minutes minutesCook Time 40 minutes minutesServings 8Ingredients2 large eggs at room temperature1 cup light brown sugar½ cup unsalted butter melted and cooled¼ cup white sugar1 Tablespoon flour1 Tablespoon whole milk1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract1 cup chopped pecans1 9-inch unbaked pie crust1 cup pecan halvesInstructionsPreheat the oven to 400℉. Place the crust in the pie plate and flute the edges and then set aside.In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs until they are blended and begin to foam. Then whisk in the melted butter, brown sugar, white sugar, and flour. Do not over beat, but mix the batter until well blended and a bit foamy. Stir in the milk, vanilla, and chopped pecans until well blended. Pour the batter into the pie shell and top with the pecan halves.Bake for ten minutes and then reduce the heat to 350℉. Bake at the lower temperature for another 30-40 minutes or until the pie is set and the pecans on top are golden brown and fragrant. Be care not to over bake as the pie will be touch and the pecans will scorch. Remove from the oven and cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.