How the 12 Days of Christmas is Powering My Word Power in 2025

Did you read the title and wonder how Christmas and Word Power could be related? The Twelve Days of Christmas is a class for writers. At the end of the year, it asks us to look back for surprises, successes, and disappointments.

Disappointments are the guide to the future, and I took the next three days to figure out which steps to take next. To grow as a writer, and as an entrepreneur. 

​In 2023, I stopped on Day 3, and I let my writing guide me. This year I finished Day 11 and a new Word Power poster.

This is the title I’ve used since 2018. Come along with me, and I’ll show you where I was in 2023 and where I’m heading now that it’s 2025. 
​
​

​Part 1 – Things to Keep​: Up first, the things I'm keeping, the programs and tools that work for me. Look down below to see three things that powered me through 2022-2023.

Underneath, my new set. Did you notice I kept two things for 2025? The first, 12 x 12. It’s a community of writers, and I can take three video classes a month from the comfort of my living room in Wapakoneta, Ohio or Lafollette, Tennessee.

The second, my website. I love putting up posts and book reviews for you! I’m planning on updating it this year and giving it a tweak. I haven’t done that since it debuted in 2016. Now that it’s 2025, the time feels right!
​

​Did you notice the last box changed? Writing Magic ended sometime in 2022 or 2023. I replaced it with the Courage to Create Community. I miss Writing Magic, but I found a new home at Courage to Create.

​

​Part 2 – Two More Things I’m Keeping: If you look below, the first row, those are the things I kept from the 12 Days of Christmas in 2022-2023. The second row were the things I kept from Christmas 2024.
 
If you look at both rows, the pictures on the left are the same. They’re both about marketing and searching for new ideas to promote my three published books. That’s something I’ll do as long as I live, for every single book I publish. I hope there are a few more in my future!
​

​One is about Neil Armstrong and his Wind Tunnel Dream. The other two are about my favorite place, the lake. Lake Fun is a picture book, and Zoe is a chapter book. Both of them have stories about the things my kids did on lake vacations. They both have journals that let readers draw and write about their own lake experiences.

The paragraph I just wrote, and this one too, that’s marketing! It’s about getting your product or service in front of people. Then convincing them they HAVE to buy it. If you’re interested in checking out my books, just take a look at my book link on rindabeach.com. It has a drop-down menu with all three titles.
​

The pictures on the right are about my search for an agent. In 2022-2024, I was querying agents with my zoo book. The main character, that blue poison dart frog. Would you believe he was playing hide and seek at the zoo?

I stopped querying in 2024 because I’ve been super- focused on writing a middle grade novel about the founding fathers, the men who signed the Declaration of Independence. This is the third year I’ve been revising and editing it, but it’s still not done. It’s getting closer, and I hope to send it out to agents sometime this year. Here’s to hope . . . I hear it springs eternal 😊

                                                                        Tomorrow – The New Stories I’m Writing 
​​