January 2025 Newsletter: Blogging, Writing, and Podcasting

Hello, my wonderful Tartlets! Welcome to 2025. I hope you all had a lovely and restful January to start the new year.

My 2025 posts won’t begin officially until next week, but I wanted to send out a newsletter. This is something new I’m trying on the blog. Lots of amazing writerly and bloggerly things happened to me in 2024, and I want to shout them from the rooftops.

About the A Well-Read Tart Newsletter

I try to keep my blog posts fairly focused – just book reviews and book-inspired recipes, with the occasional updates about my writing life and vacations. Big news and developments are usually promoted on my Instagram and Facebook accounts. However, algorithms suck, and I feel like a lot of my announcements get lost in the shuffle. And, even though I have over 1500 followers on Instagram, I think a lot of my posts don’t show up in people’s feeds. Sigh.

So, I’ve decided to create a newsletter to share my updates with you. Don’t worry, though. It won’t be a weekly newsletter. We all have enough emails clogging our inboxes on a daily basis, amirite?? My newsletter will be quarterly, and it will recap news from over the previous months. This way, you’ll stay in the know even if you don’t follow me on social media (or if, like me, you’re trying to spend less time on social media!). These quarterly newsletters will also be a way to learn what’s coming up on the Tart.

This January 2025 newsletter will highlight my news from October – December 2024, though I’ll also include some info from earlier in the year since this is the first issue. Let’s dive in!

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT….

Virtual Bake-Alongs with Jenni Field’s Pastry Chef Online

One of the reasons I love social media is that it can connect you with so many wonderful people. Social media is how I met Jenni Fields, a wonderful food blogger and professional pastry chef. You may recognize her name from my recent blog post about Chocolate Spice Cinnamon Rolls.

A very long story short, I made Jenni’s Homemade Cinnamon Rolls for Christmas 2023. I posted about the rolls on Facebook and Instagram, and a few weeks later, Jenni reached out and asked me if I wanted to co-host a virtual “bake-along” featuring her cinnamon roll recipe. Of course, I said yes!

What’s a virtual bake-along?

I’d never heard of a virtual bake-along until I met Jenni. Now, I adore them. Here’s how it works:

Jenni selects a recipe from her blog that might be a bit daunting for home bakers to make, e.g, the cinnamon rolls. The idea is that everyone makes the recipe at home, on their own schedule.
Jenni posts tutorial videos and photos in which she makes the recipe in her own kitchen, step-by step. She illustrates every instruction and gives pointers on what to do to ensure a successful bake.
I also post tutorial videos and photos, giving the self-taught home baker’s POV to cheer on the bakers making the recipe, and to provide tips and tricks I pick up along the way.
Bake-Along participants join a virtual call (video optional but encouraged!) to talk about our baking experiences. And, to eat some of our tasty treats, of course.

Join the Bake-Alongs

A new Bake-Along is held every few months. Since I’ve joined up as a regular co-host, we’ve made Cinnamon Rolls; a Goat Cheese, Spinach, and Caramelized Onion Quiche; and a Pumpkin Babka with Gingersnap Swirl Filling. The next Bake-Along is right around the corner on February 2! Jenni and I would love to have to join us. We’ll be making two recipes this time: Tiramisu and Pasta Carbonara. You can watch my intro video here.

To join the Bake-Alongs, request to join Jenni’s Facebook group Pastry Chef Online Friends: Fearless Kitchen Fun!. This is where we share all the details for the Bake-Alongs, including the recipe, the how-to videos, and Zoom link.

If Facebook’s not your thing, you can also email Jenni at onlinepastrychef@yahoo.com and ask to be added to the Bake-Along email list.

Guest appearances on podcasts

I can’t believe I’m saying this. I was a guest on not one, but two popular podcasts last year!

Three Kitchens Podcast

I was invited to be a Guest Host in a November 2024 episode of Three Kitchens Podcast. I talked with Heather and Erin about our mutual love of books, cooking, and baking. Then, we chatted about one of my favorite book-inspired recipes: Paprika Shrimp and Smoked Gouda Polenta. Erin and Heather tried my recipe prior to recording, and it was Erin’s first time cooking shrimp!

You can listen to the Three Kitchens Podcast episode here.

The Kettle with Meagan Francis

December 2024 landed me a guest spot on The Kettle with Meagan Francis, which is one of my favorite podcasts. The Kettle, previously called The Tea’s Made, is a lovely podcast about ways to live a slower and cozier life. Meagan and I discussed our favorite comforting reads and all the book-inspired recipes that you could make from them, as well as holiday cooking and baking ideas inspired by literature. Even though the Christmas season is over, this episode still makes a great listen.

You can listen to the The Kettle episode here.

Published original recipes in the Companion Cookbook to IN THE GARDEN ON MONSTERS

Not sure how anyone could have missed this update since I didn’t shut up about it for a month straight. But I’m so proud!

In case you’re relatively new to the blog, here’s the scoop: Five of my original recipes are published in the Companion Cookbook to the wonderful historical fiction novel, In the Garden of Monsters by Crystal King.

You can read about how this all came about here. And, you can check out the recipes in the companion cookbook here.

Writing

Since May 2023, I’ve queried around 130 literary agents, plus a handful of independent and hybrid publishers, with Novel #3, a.k.a, Hyggely Ever After. Here are my querying stats:

About 30 different literary agents requested to read and consider the manuscript for Hyggely Ever After. Yay!!
Unfortunately, all of those agents declined to offer me representation. Booooo.
Two different hybrid publishers offered me publishing contracts, but I ultimately decided that hybrid publishing isn’t the road for me (right now).

While these stats may seem depressing, they’re not. Here’s why:

I far exceeded my manuscript-request goal (which was to receive three requests).
So many manuscript requests proves that I have a solid query letter, as well as a unique and marketable story idea. This is a huge improvement over the querying situation for Novel #2.
I received excellent feedback on Hyggely Ever After. Lots of agents loved my writing, my story idea, and so much of what I wrote.
Several literary agents provided valuable constrictive criticism, which all happens to be generally the same. It also happens to align with personal doubts I had about problems with my story that I didn’t know how to fix at the time. Now I know what works and what doesn’t in my novel, and I have a clear direction for how I should revise it to be even better.

All in all, I’m actually thrilled that I didn’t land a literary agent or traditional publishing deal for Hyggely Ever After. The universe works in mysterious ways.

Dark Side of the Word podcast

I’m happy to say that I’ve (somewhat) conquered my fear of being on camera, and that Dark Side of the Word podcast episodes are now available with video.

Co-host Kait has worn me down over the past two years, nudging me ever so gently to record video as well as audio for our podcast. I finally caved around April 2024 and told her to let the cameras roll. I look like a deer in headlights for the first few episodes, but eventually I got the hang of it.

You can watch Dark Side of the Word on YouTube, and we’re still audio-only on Apple, Spotify, and iHeart.

COMING UP…

Substack

I’ve jumped on the bandwagon and started a Substack account. You can find it here. I spent most of December and January lurking on Substack, enjoying people’s accounts, but the time has come for me to start posting on there. Look for that starting in February.

A Well-Read Tart Substack won’t be regurgitation of what’s on the blog. Most of the Substack content will be original, offering a look into my personal life as a writer, blogger, reader, cook, baker, and lover of slow living and all things hygge.

If you’re interested in behind-the-scenes looks at what goes on in the life of a creative, I hope you’ll follow me on Substack.

Dark Side of the Word

I’m excited to announce that we’ll be sharing some author interviews on the podcast this year.

In February 2025, we’ll be talking with Allison Scott, author of Decoding the Stars, about astrology and its influence on creativity.
In March 2025, we’ll be talking with Cynthia Pelayo about her forthcoming thriller Vanishing Daughters. You may remember Pelayo from my book review of her earlier novel, Forgotten Sisters.

Dark Side of the Word is also going to focus on book club episodes in 2025. Kait and I will pick TWO dark books each month to discuss on the podcast. We’re aiming for a mix of new and recently released titles, plus diving into some dark horror classics.

Writing update

Although I’m eager to revise Hyggely Ever After, I’m starting work on Novel #4 first. I’ve signed up for another writing workshop to revise my latest novel, which is a blend of women’s fiction, supernatural horror, and historical fiction. The working title is Unnatural Order, and that’s how I’ll refer to it in social media and blog posts for the time being. Stay tuned for updates!

That’s all, folks. Thanks for reading, as always.

Peace, love, and carbs,

CJ xoxo