In Today’s Journal
* My Quote of the Day
* The TNDJ Challenges Report
* Introducing Natalie Kutat, CPA
* Of Interest
* The Numbers
My Quote of the Day
It’s November 10, the 250th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. A toast….
May your days be vibrant,
your evenings calm,
your heart safe and warm at home.
Semper Fi
The TNDJ Challenges Report
The whole point of these challenges is to have fun and grow as a writer.
There is no cost. Feel free to jump in at any time.
Participating in any challenge is a way to drive yourself to the computer or legal pad and write fiction. It’s also a great way to build and maintain a streak.
As if writing more and better fiction isn’t enough, I even offer prizes. To see those, please visit The NEW TNDJ Challenges.
Bradbury Challenge
The only requirement is to write at least one short story, short-short story, or essay per week.
During the past week, the following writers wrote these new stories:
- Loyd Jenkins “To Guard the Living” 6650 Space Western
- Vanessa V. Kilmer “Too Kool for Skool” 3127 Horror
- Christopher Ridge “Wednesday Nite Special” 1311 Noir
- KC Riggs “La Ofrenda de las Mascotas” (The Pet Altar) 2254 General fiction
- Dave Taylor “Deputy Billy Kemper” 2,625 Paranormal
- Dave Taylor “The Camping Trip” 2,887 Paranormal
- Mattie Fern Worrix “Crazy Granny Lou” 2752 Horror
The Stephen King Challenge
The requirement is to maintain an average of at least 1000 words per day as you proceed through writing a novel or novella.
- Jacob Hawes “Crystal God 2” 7718 Fantasy To date 74309
The Run With Harvey Challenge
The requirement is to strive to average at least 1000 words per day. The words can go into any short or long fiction or both.
- Balázs Jámbor 10,700 words this week
- Christopher Ridge 9000 words this week.
Congratulations to all of these writers.
Introducing Natalie Kutat, CPA
I’m Natalie Kutat, a CPA. By day, I run an accounting firm. By night, I’m a fiction writer (and subscriber to TNDJ). I’m actively seeking new clients, and I’d love to work with fellow writers.
If any TNDJ readers are running an author-entrepreneur business—i.e. publishing your books in ebook/print/audio format, incurring expenses, and making money—I offer monthly bookkeeping services. Monthly bookkeeping comes with the option to add on more advanced reporting and cash flow forecasting.
These are virtual CFO services, which basically means I dive into the nitty-gritty details of business financials and translate financial insights into plain English to help business owners. I can also file tax returns and do tax planning for business clients.
For any individuals who are writing but not necessarily running a business, I offer tax services. This includes proactive tax planning to (legally) reduce your tax bill, if possible, as well as compliant and timely tax filing services.
Best of all, TNDJ readers can get a discount for mentioning that they saw this offer here! This offer is valid through March 31, 2026, and may be extended. 🙂
I’m offering
- 15% off individual tax services for tax year 2025 (i.e. tax returns that will be filed in 2026) OR
- 15% off the first three months of bookkeeping and/or virtual CFO services.
Folks who are interested can contact me via my website.
Or you can directly book an appointment.
Thanks!
*
Thank you, Natalie, for offering a discount for your fellow TNDJ readers.
Okay, folks, there you go. Your very own personal CPA for all your accounting and tax needs. At a discount!
And best of all, Natalie’s a budding fiction writer, working on her first novel (due out this winter) Sword and Shield: A Die Spinne novel.
Natalie’s just now getting her author website and her substack set up. So the next time I mention her services, I’ll also give you the URLs for those.
Talk with you again soon.
Of Interest
The Dance of the Em Dash Cute, but not good as instruction, and containing at least one misuse of punctuation (not surprisingly, the em dash).
The Numbers
The Journal………………….. 620
Mentorship Words…………….. 0
Total Nonfiction…………………. 620
Writing of Blackwell Ops 51: Sam Granger | The Road Back
Day 1…… 2807 words. To date………… 2807
Day 2…… 2489 words. To date………… 5296
Day 3…… 3111 words. To date………… 8407
Day 4…… 2430 words. To date………… 10837
Fiction for November……………………… 27898
Fiction for 2025…………………………… 689939
Nonfiction for November.………………… 8850
Nonfiction for 2025………………..……… 248420
2025 consumable words………………… 930790
2025 Novels to Date…………………….. 17
2025 Novellas to Date…………………… 0
2025 Short Stories to Date……………… 36
Novels (since Oct 19, 2014)…………….. 121
Novellas (since Nov 1, 2015)…………… 10
Short stories (since Apr 15, 2014)……… 310
Short story collections……………………. 29