Brooke Straiton | Updates Brooke Straiton Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:58:53 +0000 Mon, 10 Aug 2026 13:58:53 +0000 https://authorbrookestraiton.com en https://authorbrookestraiton.com/blog/2026-expectations-and-goals-yes-i-know-we-re-a-quarter-of-the-way-through Brooke Straiton https://authorbrookestraiton.com/blog/2026-expectations-and-goals-yes-i-know-we-re-a-quarter-of-the-way-through Blog Fri, 17 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000 Blog post. <![CDATA[ <p>Yes, I know we're a quarter of the way through the year. Yes, I know I promised a holiday book back in November and then ghosted everyone for five months. I'm not proud of it. </p><p>It took me the first quarter of 2026 to manage my emotional and mental response to the overwhelm and anxiety of our current political climate. So I dove under the covers and escaped in other people's books for a while.</p><p>In the meantime... I'm torn between prepping for the apocalypse by starting a garden, learning how to can, and convincing my husband that we need to learn survival skills... Or talking extra special nice to the chatbots we can't avoid since they will be stealing all of our jobs. Also, I grew up watching the Terminator movies. It's fine. It's all FINE.</p><p>Just a side note - I do not write with AI. I do use certain platforms for editing that have AI built in. I have also tried to limit any AI usage for images, even promotionally. I understand everyone's fears. I'm trying to be better about utilizing what seems like the easier and faster route. But I am also a realist and see how it is integrated into everything we are utilizing online. *Sigh*</p><p>But let's not go down that AI rabbit hole any further. </p><p><strong>You're here for the spicy books.</strong> I'm here for the spicy books.</p><p>This month kicked off a restart for me as an author. I decided to take a look at my goals for the year and have an actual plan on what I want to accomplish. </p><p>The holiday book I was working on in 2025 went on the back burner. I'll revisit it when I can do so with fresh eyes. I may just make that a freebie for my subscribers when the weather gets colder.</p><p>With the restart I decided to update my website, refresh my social media AND update the covers on all of the Summer Series books. Someone pointed out that we're adult women being show cartoon covers on smutty novels and I literally laughed out loud. She's right. So I took away the cartoons and gave you eye candy. You are very welcome!</p><p><figure data-trix-attachment='{"contentType":"image/png","filename":"y2xv9w5tm03qv1p08n7h0magtkbe","filesize":2100998,"height":839,"url":"https://res.cloudinary.com/wellfleet/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_1200/y2xv9w5tm03qv1p08n7h0magtkbe","width":600}' data-trix-content-type="image/png" data-trix-attributes='{"presentation":"gallery"}' class="attachment attachment--preview"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/wellfleet/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto,c_limit,w_1200/y2xv9w5tm03qv1p08n7h0magtkbe" width="600" height="839"><figcaption class="attachment__caption"> </figcaption></figure></p> ]]>