In a college-level media literacy course I taught last semester, I challenged my students to alter their social media routines in a significant way for three consecutive days and then reflect on the experience. Many of them chose to give up a platform that they felt addicted to, and for many of them, this was … Continue reading What Snapchat taught me about meeting my goals
Odds are, you're probably already part of an online group. Maybe it's for your favorite brand of leggings or health shakes that a friend sells. Maybe it's an interest group related to your hobbies or your profession. Maybe it's a small, secret group of friends that provides one safe corner of the internet where you … Continue reading Why I’m Inviting You To a Reader Group
I really love cycles. It's one of the reasons I find so much satisfaction in being an academic by day. The knowledge that there's always a new, fresh semester around the corner fills me with tons of creativity and adds wind to my sails all throughout the year. Self-care resolutions at new year's, the burgeoning … Continue reading Celebrating A New “Making Year!” (Or, How I Got My Creative Work Organized)
I haven't decided yet if I'll dedicate all of my books to my husband George, but so far that's the trend. He's wonderful, he's delightfully ridiculous, he's the LOML (love of my life) and I'll never get tired of sharing his amazingness with people (even though, for the record, he winces at any form of … Continue reading A love letter to my creative support system
I'm picturing that Matrix meme: What if I told you that one of my favorite songs about contemporary romance is also related to Groundhog's Day? Well, it's true. A friend who knows my love of both musicals and all-things romance shared with me the song "One Day" from the Groundhog Day The Musical soundtrack. I adore … Continue reading The love(ish) song I’ll have on repeat this Groundhog’s Day
To desire, and then to demonstrate restraint in the face of that desire, is not only one of the sexiest elements of the romances I read and I write, but it's also one of their most important elements (especially in light of the #MeToo movement.)
I'm finding that in order to keep at my romance writing, I've had to introduce a lot of behaviors and tasks into my week that often have nothing to do with actually writing words toward my current work-in-progress. Some of these tactics are stolen from best organizational practices I've learned at the Day Job (as … Continue reading Three centering practices that keep my creative work on track
Warm Me in Winter, book 2 in Jess Vonn's 'Love by the Seasons' series, is now available on Amazon! To an outsider, Carter Conrad has been doing an excellent impression of a man living a full life. He’s the respected chief of police for the small Midwestern town of Bloomsburo, and he’s appreciated as a … Continue reading Warm up your heart (and other parts) with Warm Me in Winter
Yesterday was a very special day for me: it was the day my very first book was released. The support of my family and friends on this momentous event was overwhelming. YET, it was also a terrifying day, because it makes a gal feel incredibly vulnerable to put a work of art out into the universe. … Continue reading My novel’s not perfect. Here’s why I published it anyway.
(Or, How I Came to Fully Embrace My Self-Publishing Path) Since I was a really little girl, I wanted to become a writer and publish books. This dream was surely rooted in my own love of reading from a young age. I devoured Baby Sitter Club books, the Goosebumps series and Sweet Valley High novels … Continue reading On owning your creative goal
Jess Vonn ❤️ 