Virginia R Pancake

This week I’ve begun rewriting my book in order to age it up and, hopefully, get it published. It’s been exhausting. On top of that, I’m sick. Not the simple cold-and-flu kind of sick, but the dizzy, drained, can’t-keep-my-eyes-open kind. Some days I can barely stay conscious long enough to post on social media, which constantly demands attention. Focusing on writing feels almost impossible right now. Even writing this blog has been draining. I know being sick can feel like i

This week tested me. More rejections came in and paired with the complete stall of my social media; it hit harder than I expected. Hard enough that I had a minor breakdown. I took two days off for my mental health… but the break didn’t really happen. Life at home and family responsibilities filled that space instead. It was rough. There’s no better way to say it. But in the middle of all of it, I learned something important about myself. I poured my pain, my trauma, and my li

This week has been draining. Between my father’s health issues and everything else my household has been dealing with, I’ve hit a point where I’m just overwhelmed and exhausted. And stress… stress is a creativity killer. So naturally, everything slowed down. My social media—which was barely alive to begin with—has nearly flatlined. My books have stopped moving forward. The transitions I’ve been working on have stalled out. It feels like life just… paused. And I’m stuck in the

This has been a week. Nine rejections. Devastating personal stress. And if I’m being honest—I almost quit. The personal collided with the professional in ways I couldn’t control. And it forced me to face something I think we all try to ignore… you can’t separate life from what you create. Not when you’re an author. Not when you’re an artist. What we live through finds its way into everything. This week, my writing suffered. My focus slipped. My dedication took a hit. My car w

I’m late again… and I’m sorry. This week has hit me hard in more ways than I can even explain. My son was in an accident. He totaled my car. He’s okay—and I can’t even put into words how grateful I am for that—but the fear in that moment? It doesn’t just disappear. It stays with you. It shakes you. Now I’m dealing with insurance, trying to figure out how I’m going to replace the car, and it’s stressful. Exhausting. Just one more thing sitting on my shoulders. At the same time

First, I want to apologize for the late post. Last week got away from me in a way I didn’t expect, and for once… I couldn’t keep up. My beautiful granddaughter turned two, and we threw her birthday party. What should have been a simple celebration turned into days of prepping—clearing the yard, setting up space for a bounce house and pool, getting the deck ready for guests. It was busy, chaotic, loud… and honestly, exactly what I needed. Because here’s the truth I wasn’t plan

Sometimes life hits harder than anything you could ever write. This week… I’ve been through it. I had so much writing work lined up—plans, edits, progress waiting to happen—but instead, I pushed myself too far physically and ended up in a wheelchair for the last four days. And the worst part? The work didn’t stop just because I had to. It’s all still there. Waiting. Staring at me. Add the flu on top of that, and everything just… stalled. Not just physically, but mentally too.

No one tells you that chasing your dream can be this lonely. I dropped into publishing without all the information. In my head, it was simple: write a book, get an agent, get published. The end. Not even close. What I found instead was that I knew absolutely nothing. Apparently, I needed a website to be taken seriously. So I bought a domain… and then sat there, staring at it, trying to figure out what I was even supposed to put on it. I haven’t published yet, so what exactly

When I decided to publish my book, I looked up what I needed to do. The internet made it sound simple. Query. Get an agent. Get published. That was the explanation I kept finding. No real roadmap, just those three steps. I even had to search what querying was because most places didn’t actually explain it. Once I figured it out, I did exactly what the internet seemed to suggest. I queried. Seven times. At the time, I thought that meant I had completed the step. Thankfully, n

This week I’d like to talk about something I’ve been seeing a lot of in the writing community on social media: AI. There have been many posts about how AI should never be used in writing, and the tone of those conversations is often very judgmental. What I find interesting is that no one complains about ghostwriters. No one criticizes editors. No one questions critique partners or beta readers. So why is AI suddenly where the line gets drawn? Even if an entire book were writt

Hello, world. My name is Virginia R. Pancake , and I’m a writer currently seeking publication for my debut series, Wrinkled Rags . Today I decided to take a moment to say hello. I’ve spent countless hours writing stories, poems, and fragments of ideas—but I’ve never really written a blog before. Sitting here now, staring at this blank page, I realize I have absolutely no idea where to begin. As a first-time author trying to get published, I’ll admit something honestly: I’m te