Jennifer Willis's Blog

For years — decades, really — Halloween has always crept up on me. No matter how far in advance I try to prepare, the holiday is upon us before I’m ready. And then gone again just as quickly. I’ve long wanted to savor this favorite holiday, which often feels like the culmination of my favorite […]

Sometime around late 1999 or early 2000, I experimented with an evening practice that quickly took root: each night while getting ready for bed, I counted off ten good things from that day. There were no rules about what could or couldn’t be included in the list, and nothing was too big or too small. […]

I’m not supposed to be knitting so much: doctor’s orders. I’ve aggravated the arthritis in my hands and developed tendonitis in my left thumb. I have at least slowed down and taken time off from knitting when my joints need to rest. But there aren’t many things I can do, physically, to protest the travesties […]

Not everyone is able to show up in person to protest. The will is there—along with the outrage, the idealism, and all of it—but physical circumstances and disabilities can make it difficult and dangerous to go to marches and rallies, or even to appear at a senator’s or congressperson’s field office. There are other ways […]

I’m getting this one in before the New Year! Hooray! Every time I put together one of these round-ups, I feel pride in my work , the inevitable regret that I couldn’t do more, and the usual discomfort with self-promotion. This is a reminder to myself that all of these are normal and expected. For […]

Well, dang. After an additional read-through — on top of the revisions, polish pass, and proofread — I uploaded the final files this morning for Sinister Snare‘s October 10 launch, only to discover that the placeholder file I’d uploaded last year had gone live on Google Books over the summer. I’m not sure how that happened, […]

I’m late on this one, but I’m still putting this out there. Like last year, I feel self-conscious about posting such a list, but this needs to be an annual habit. Maybe next time I’ll put a reminder in my ToDoist and/or my bullet journal to make sure it happens in a more timely manner. […]

So much for my plan to blog regularly about my post-surgical recovery. The truth is, after my total knee replacement surgery on July 18, it took a long while for me to feel up to writing anything. I don’t mean that to sound scary or ominous; rather, surgery is a major trauma to the body, […]

  The surgery is tomorrow morning! I’ve been running through my checklists to make sure I get everything done. I’d set aside some time today to attend to what seemed like a huge amount of prep work—like preparing ready-to-go meals for the week ahead, and laundering the bed linens and towels—and then found that I […]

With major surgery coming up next week, I’m taking a stab here at documenting my experience in case it helps someone else. Anxiety and excitement share the same physical characteristics: increased heart rate, butterflies in the stomach, singular mental focus, and so on. Years ago, I was on the eve of a skydiving adventure with […]