Carie Juettner

2024 Book Bingo: Who Wants to Play???

I love to read, and I read a lot. Every year, I set a goal of 50 or 60 books, but I often exceed it. This year, I read 72. Here are a few of my favorites from my 2023 reading journey. See my Year of Books on Goodreads for the rest.

For 2024, I’ve decided to do something different. Instead of aiming at a certain number of books, I’m going to play a game with myself: Book Bingo.

I came up with the idea for Book Bingo a few days ago and was so excited about my fun, creative new concept. Then I googled and realized that (duh) thousands of other people already had the idea before me. Lol. Well, good for them. At least I’m caught up now.

The good news is, if you don’t like my form of Book Bingo, there are plenty of other versions out there for you to try.

How to Play:

It’s easy! Just choose or create a bingo board of books you want to read this year. They can be actual titles from your to-read list, genres you want to try, or even just different colored covers. There’s no wrong way to create your game and no wrong way to play. You can go for a simple BINGO or try to complete a blackout. You can make a rule that each book you read can only check off one box or allow books to overlap. You can compete against a friend or just play on your own. The goal is to have fun and read books. (I need a t-shirt that says that. “Have fun and read books.” It pretty much sums up my philosophy.)

Because I read a lot, I created two bingo boards for myself. The first one includes different genres I want to read, including some I’m not usually drawn to, such as graphic novels and romance. The second playing card has a more random assortment, including a few specific books that I’ve owned a long time and want to finally read, a book published the year I was born, and a book I will get from a Little Free Library.

I’ve decided to let books overlap, which means a dystopian book with a green cover that’s over 500 pages and was recommended to me by a friend would check off four boxes. Maybe you think that’s cheating, but I don’t care. I’m going for blackout on both boards, and if I end up winning my game halfway through the year, I’ll just make a new bingo card. Have fun and read books, remember? That’s all that matters. I’m going to read a lot regardless, and I’m excited to let these criteria help guide my reading choices in 2024.

Who wants to play Book Bingo with me???

If you like one or both of my bingo cards, feel free to use them! If you want to make your own, here are some ideas to get you started.

Genre you love	[Color] cover	Published this year	Hardback	Library book	First book in a series
Genre you don’t usually read	Tree/ animal/ heart on cover	Published year you were born	Paperback	Borrowed book	Book read in one day
Book by favorite author	More than # pages	Published before # year	E-book	Gifted book	Book you read only outside
Book by new author	Less than # pages	Set in the place where you live	Audiobook	Book recommended by a friend	Book that won an award
Book by local author	Has chapters with titles	Set in a place you want to travel	Translated book	Book you bought new	Banned book
Book with multiple authors	Book with exactly # chapters	Set in the place you grew up	Book written in letters/ emails	Book you bought used	Book made into a movie

Ready? Let’s play! Share your 2024 Book Bingo card on Facebook or Instagram with the hashtag #HaveFunReadBooks. Then find a comfy place to cuddle up and enjoy a good story.

* Happy New Year, and HAPPY READING! *

Discovering a New Writing Identity

Legend has it, there are two kinds of writers.

The first type is the plotter.

The plotter plots out the whole novel before writing it. They draw story arcs, write three-act structures, and create intricate outlines complete with roman numerals, lower-case letters, and proper indenting. They know the beginning, middle, end, and every twist in between before ever typing the first sentence. (Note: This is probably only somewhat true. I don’t really know because I’m not a plotter.) The point is, they plan out the story first, which sounds really smart and adult and responsible. I kind of wish my brain worked that way.

The other type of writer is… [deleted]. (We’ll come back to the name in a minute.)

This writer gets an idea, starts writing, and discovers the story as they go. They may have a general concept of the work or a big picture theme or an inkling of how they want things to end, but they figure out the twists and turns as they write rather than planning beforehand. This is what I do. My ideas usually start with a character, a setting, a voice, or even just a first sentence. I start writing, letting the characters’ actions and dialogue lead me. It’s only when I’m well into the story and beginning to feel stuck that I stop and “outline” (usually not formally) the next steps.

I like this method. I enjoy jumping into a story idea and seeing where it goes. It’s fun and freeing, and it works for me. What I don’t like about it is the name. It’s called… *shudder*… pantsing.

In the world of writers, there are plotters and there are pantsers. Plotters plot out what they’re going to write, while pantsers write by the seat of their pants. I don’t know who came up with this name, but I can assure you it wasn’t a pantser.

Problems with the Term “Pantser”:

1. It’s demeaning.

“Flying by the seat of your pants” is not a well-respected quality in most professions. You don’t want a financial investor who flies by the seat of his pants or a surgeon who decides she’s just going to “wing it.” I’m a serious writer, and I want a label that acknowledges that.

2. It’s inaccurate.

At the risk of shocking my readers, I would like to point out that pants are not required for novel writing. I have written many great chapters sans pants. And what kind of pants are we talking about? I am currently a sweat-pantser, but I’m often a pajama-pantser. Sometimes I’ve even a skirter.

3. It invokes bad memories.

I taught middle school for almost twenty years. In that setting, “pantsing” referred to boys trying to pull each other’s pants down in the hallways between classes. I’d rather not have my creative processes connected to that behavior, thank you very much.

4. It just sounds dumb.

Plotter is a real word recognized by my computer. “Pantser” and “pantsing” get squiggly red underlines every time I type them, which annoys me.

Identity Crisis Resolved

Luckily, I have good news for all the writers out there hiding under the covers from this lackluster label. I’ve noticed a new descriptor popping up for those of us who don’t outline our books beforehand: Discovery Writer.

Doesn’t that have a lovely ring to it? “Discovery writer” is a respectable term that accurately portrays my writing style while not reminding me of impulsive middle schoolers. And it’s recognized by Microsoft Word. What more could I ask for in a writing identity?

I’m proud to call myself a discovery writer.

Discovery writing is not perfect. Sometimes we discover that we’re lost. Sometimes we discover that what we’ve written is crap and needs to be thrown out. Sometimes we discover cat videos on Facebook instead of our writing goals. What I actually sat down to write today was the final chapter of my middle grade novel. Instead, I discovered that I wanted to write this. Perhaps if I had plotted out my story before beginning, I would have stayed on task. On the other hand, discovery writing has gotten me all the way to the end of my book, so I must be doing something write. (<– That was an accidental typo, but I’m leaving it. 😊)

4 Things I’m Thankful For

1. Being Surrounded by Animals

I’ve always loved animals. When I was a kid, I was that weird student who wanted to share with the class (and/or anyone who would listen or was trapped in a car or school bus with me) how many pets I had and what all of their names were. When I played MASH (the fortune-telling game that revealed who you would marry and other important aspects of your future life such as what kind of car you’d drive) I always included a section for pets and listed exactly how many animals I would own, down to every last horse and fish.

Not much has changed. I don’t have any horses or fish, but I still love animals and am grateful that my life includes so many for me to snuggle and visit and observe and help. I have a sweet old dog sleeping behind me right now and a silly young cat currently running from window to window chirping at something outside, probably the two outdoor cats I take care of or one of our many squirrels. My family members have cats and dogs and kittens I get to visit and play with, and our yard is home to opossums and raccoons and rabbits and gray foxes.

Here’s a 5-minute video of some of the critters who visit our property. It includes fox zoomies.

Now that I’ve started volunteering with the North Texas Wildlife Center, I’ve had the privilege of enjoying some up-close encounters with local wildlife, like feeding baby squirrels, bathing baby opossums, and administering medicine to injured armadillos. I’m thankful to be a part of this organization full of hard-working, big-hearted people doing their best to rescue and rehabilitate wounded and orphaned wildlife.

Interacting with animals fuels my soul. I’m so grateful that I have so many fur babies in my life to love.

Visit https://ntxwildlife.org/ to make a donation!

2. Easy Access to Fresh Air

Along with my passion for animals comes a general love of nature. Although I’m not a rock-climber or a hard-core camper, I love going on hikes and taking walks and just being outside looking at the sky or taking a few deep breaths or reading a book. I was well into adulthood before I understood just how important outside time is to my mental health. I need windows, but I also need a quick escape to the other side of the window. I recently stayed in a ninth-floor hotel room, and it bothered me that I couldn’t test the weather without walking down a hall, taking an elevator, and crossing a lobby. Checking the temperature on my phone just isn’t the same thing. I’m grateful to live in a place where I can pop outside any time I want. In fact, I think I’ll do that now…

I’m back inside now, but I need to wrap up this post because that porch swing is calling my name.

3. My Love of Books

This is not the same thing as being thankful for books, although I am. I’m thankful that I love books. Some people love shoes or jewelry or fancy electronics or cars or designer purses. My favorite things to buy are books. I’m glad that when I splurge on something, it’s because I’ve spent $25 on a hardback book. When I give into an impulse buy, I support an author. When I put “just one more” item in my cart, it means I’m bringing more words into my home, to enjoy and appreciate and keep or pass on to someone else when I’m done.

I could have a hobby that’s unhealthy or a collection that drains my bank account or a craving for something I could never afford. I’m thankful that my heart wants to indulge in stories instead.

Time and money well-spent in my opinion.

4. The Wait

I can be a very impatient person, but when it comes to submitting writing for publication, I appreciate the wait. There’s a lot of instant gratification in the world today. 24/7 headlines, same-day delivery, popular word games that take a fraction of the time of doing a crossword. Think of a question, Google the answer. But sometimes that quick gratification isn’t so gratifying. Such fast results leave us with a lot of time on our hands. What do we do with it? Ask more things, look up more answers, flood our brains with more information than we can handle. Humans were meant to wonder. These days our wonder often gets wasted.

Unless you’re a writer.

The publishing world still moves slowly, leaving time—sometimes a lot of it—between the question and the answer. I kind of like it. The wait gives me time to wonder, to imagine getting accepted, to picture winning a prize, to visualize receiving a rejection, or simply to forget about it completely until a surprise response arrives in my inbox. Whether the result is good news or bad, sometimes it’s nice not to know immediately.

I’ve had a bit of both outcomes recently. I submitted a story to a flash fiction contest in July and waited, wondering, until September when I learned it had reached the final round of judging. Then I waited and wondered some more until I found it did not end up placing in the contest. That’s ok. By then, I’d already noticed ways I could make the story better, and it felt nice knowing my words had made it so far.

Also in July, I submitted several poems to the Poetry Society of Texas’s annual contests. That wait was a bit longer, giving me time to speculate about which ones might catch the judge’s eye, time to feel confident, then insecure, then back again. In November, PST awarded me with three first place prizes. My poems “Blues,” “Reading Poetry During a Thunderstorm,” and “Did I Miss Anything?” received cash prizes and will all be published next year. I was thrilled to hear this news, but it was definitely much more rewarding due to the wait.

I vastly prefer reasonable waits to extremely long waits. Waits where you know when the wait will be over are the best waits.

*** * ***

There is so much more I’m thankful for, but these are the ones I want to share today. I wish all my readers a happy, healthy, relaxing week spent surrounded by the people, animals, or things you love. What are four things you’re thankful for this year?