Tracy Erler, Writer

Vol.1, Issue 6 // Mostly everything we’ve read, watched, played, and listened to these two months Summer is ending! What in the world is going on? At the end of May, Summer always seems to stretch before me with so many potential adventures waiting, and now here we are as it winds down. Technically, there’s still 20ish days of summer depending on when this rolls out and since September 22nd is…

Discover the Black Hills with two locals on horseback Author’s Note: This was originally written at the request of one of the previous owners of Ghost Canyon Getaway. Those owners have moved on to their next adventure and this piece is being rehomed here on my website. It was so much fun to write. I have personally ridden with J & F Tails and Trails and I’ll choose them again next time I make a…

A Christmas in July–er, August story! Lily was so nervous. She looked in the mirror to see how her Christmas shirt had come together, but the present sitting on her bed, the floofed green tissue paper standing at attention caught her eye instead. That was what she was nervous about. But not her sweater. Well, “sweater” was a generous term. It was a black T-shirt with five colorful squids…

Books I read during the months of March, April, and May 2025 This might be one of my favorite bunches of books I’ve read, overall. Flippity’s Cottage, Seashells and Other Souvenirs, Song of the Solas books 1 and 2, Almost the Chosen One, a Frugral Wizard reread—it’s been fun season of reading! Let’s get to the books! Continue reading What I Read // Spring 2025 Edition

Vol.1, Issue 5 // (Mostly) everything we’ve read, watched, played, and listened to this month Whew! June flew by! It was a beautiful month, full of celebrations and hanging out with our people. I’m so thankful for the memories we made. Here’s the stories that created the soundtrack of our lives this month. Continue reading The Latelies {2025} // June Edition

Vol.1, Issue 4 // A monthly recap of everything we’ve read, watched, played, and listened to And just like that May is over! As is June! *facepalm* I worked really hard to get this out before our road trip waaaayyy back at the beginning of June, but this kept getting put on the backburner. The majority of it was written by the end of May. It’s finally here and I’m proud of myself for seeing it…

#FlashFictionFriends inspired by Sarah Dessen titles I gasped when I saw the prompts of #flashfictionfriends for June. Sarah Dessen and her stories have my heart forever and ever. The novel Along for the Ride is about Auden visiting her dad and stepmom and baby sister for the summer in a small beach town in North Carolina. She ends up working at her stepmom’s boutique, making friends, and…

Vol.1, Issue 3 // A monthly recap of everything we’ve read, watched, played, and listened to Woohoo April! From seeing Drew and Ellie Holcomb live in Napa (!!!) to Sawyer’s first tball game to dogwalking and babysitting and a park date with cousins during Spring Break to revisions for my flash fiction story and the cats’ dental appointments (no extractions this year!)—what an…

Vol.1, Issue 2 // A monthly recap of everything (mostly) that we’ve read, watched, played, and listened to Oh man does February and March feel like a blur! That is why this second volume of “The Latelies” is being combined. It was a blur of rain and coffee dates, flash fiction stories and Havok newsletters, a long-distance friend coming to visit, game nights, movies, even a seemingly random flu…

Books I read during December 2024 and January/February 2025 Greetings! The winter quarter of the year is coming to an end over. Though, it hasn’t really felt like winter in NorCal and technically the calendar year says spring doesn’t start until March 20th (Hi!!! That was just the other day!). We have had some bouts of rain, which I’m so thankful for. (And we’re getting more later this…

Flash Fiction Magic: In Love is here! When Tessa met Austin it was not love at first sight. Two weeks in and she’d finally been scheduled the dinner rush (groan) and placed on the fry baskets (double groan). The intake of orders had slowed for like a second when this tall, unknown co-worker wearing a headset on his light-brown head of hair started pressing buttons. Remember, she’d never been…

Write your novel/story as if it were a recipe! A bit of fun with my Leah Novel!

Always keeping the novel simmering on the writer stovetop In my writing community’s slack, we have a channel called “daily accountability” where character/novel prompts are posted. There was one posted the other day to write our novel like a recipe. It was inspired by the fabulous Catie O’Neill, author and friend, who loves cooking in real life and incorporates food in her stories. In my…

Books I Read during the months of September, October, and November Our fall season consisted of home adventures. [Excuse me while I rifle through my digital memory to jog my brain about what we did this season. Aww Substack has photos. There we go!] Wow! In September I started drafting my Leah Novel again. October and most of November saw some strong avoidance, but I dipped my toes back in the…