December

Monthly Check-In with Ali Noël

Happy December, everyone!

2025 is coming to a close. I don’t know about you, but there is much to process and reflect on! What a year.

Some highlights from this year: a move from Washington to Hawaii, querying Bohdan Dune and the Perilum Tales, compiling and publishing The Wondrous Nature of Being Alive, completing a one-year internship with Twenty Hills Publishing, getting selected for Books and Such Literary Management’s writing intensive, and reading through the Harry Potter series with my kids.

Of course there are millions of ordinary moments in between. Something I’ve really been intentional about this year is my health. I take a power-walk everyday to clear my head and let my heart wrestle through what it needs. I’ve been making healthy switches in my diet and protecting my sleep regimen (to the best of my ability as a mom). But the most important thing, woven into all of the above, has been my consistent and honest approach to prayer.

I think being honest with ourselves is oftentimes the hardest place to be honest. To look in the mirror. To say what we actually think or feel without filters of any kind.

I came to the harsh realization that I am rarely honest with myself. I do what needs to be done. I am always trying to do the right thing regardless of how I feel, and for the most part, I don’t think that’s wrong.

However, I have a habit of gritting my teeth and bearing the weight of decisions without ever taking time to let my heart have its say. I hand my head the steering wheel, and force my heart to play catch-up later. To be perfectly honest, this has served me well many times in life, but it has also done serious internal damage.

And so, 2025 has been a time of caregiving. Handling my heart with care, and letting it say what it needs to say. Letting it feel what it needs to feel (the good, the bad, the ugly). It’s been hard, but this place of honesty between myself and God has provided a deeply rooted peace and sturdy faith I am so grateful for.

---

Writing Update

I wish I had exciting news for you all, but sadly, I do not.

The time to hear back from three of the agents I queried has come and gone, so I logged those rejections into my query excel sheet.

December 17th marks three months since my Agent Desirable Numero Uno requested a full manuscript! When the 17th rolls around I will send an email to check in and see where it stands.

I feel more ADHD than ever this time around with querying, but in the meantime I’ve continued world-building my Blind Knight Project and revisiting some other stories written for the adult market!

---

Favorite Reads of the Year

I did a fair amount of re-reading favorites, but also dived into some new-to-me authors! Here are some standouts:

1. The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

2. Dracula by Bram Stoker

3. Botanical Folk tales of Britain and Ireland by Lisa Schneidau

4. Van Gogh Has a Broken Heart: What Art Teaches Us About the Wonder and Struggle of Being Alive by Russ Ramsey

The Frozen River is hands down my top read of the year! Holy smokes. Martha Ballard (the main character) is bad to the bone and everything I aspire to be. Ariel Lawhon will be an auto-read author for me from now on!

P.S. I also read Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s The Labyrinth of the Spirits (Book IV in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series) and a stand-alone, Marina. That man’s ability to weave stories should be studied! I’ve never found books so difficult to place in a genre. Historical, gothic, mystery, horror, romance. Dark, beautiful, macabre, hilarious.

---

Togetherness: A Poem for Scout, Boone, and Clementine

Sit beside the sea with me
Describe that dream of yours again
Once or twice, a thousand times
Show me what you made today
Lego bots and fairytales
Even if it's more or less the same
Let your anger out with me
You don't have to war alone
Samwise taught me what to do
Be your saddest, silliest self with me
I'll be strong or silly too, together
My favorite thing to be

---

That’s all she wrote! Thank you all for reading and journeying along with me. May your December be filled with thrills of hope, steadfast joy, and quiet moments of magic.

With hope,

Ali