End of Year Wrap Up
Just a summary of my achievements this year, and plans for 2024.
2023 has been an interesting one for me. We moved from a mediocre "luxury apartment" to a larger apartment that's actually very well insulated, we adopted an adorable and affectionate black cat named Raynie, I went back to school for a certificate, wrote over 300k words, I published three books, wrapped up several Kindle Vellas, and read over 100 books!
I'm sure there's more I'm missing, but those are the highlights. Next year should look much better for me, both financially and in terms of my writing career. Next year is when I plan on releasing one of my oldest WIPs, an urban fantasy/thriller featuring feline shifters and some darker themes. It's also very sapphic, but there's not really a romance. A bit of hooking up, for sure. I plan on posting more about it later, once I start editing.
I wanted to publish it on Ream for now, but the first two chapters are a bit too rough for my liking. Some people don't mind reading rough drafts as an early access kinda thing, but I really need that polish to shine! I may do a pre-release for those subscribed to me on Ream, meaning you’d get the book 2 weeks or so before everyone else.
Other books I plan on publishing next year include a cleaned up and fleshed out version of my serial, The Threads That Weave. I’ve been letting it sit for now, while I work on other things. I plan on sending it out for extensive edits sometime next spring, and published around October, just in time for Halloween!
There's also Book 2 of Last Train Home to consider, which hinges on me completing the fourth season in a timely manner. At some point I may focus on making longer seasons and releasing them as their own books. That can be as early as the fifth season, when I really shift more into the budding romance between Meike and Moira.
I'll start drafting the second book of the Early Adopter series that year as well, along with the final book in my St. Acton series. So that's at least three books, with a max of five. I am a slow writer, however, and then there's covers to consider...the St. Acton book may not be published until 2025, but I'll at least get the pre-order setup once I have a cover.
Now, as for books I read...
I documented all my read books on Hardcover, and even made a list of my favorites! There are a few books that didn't make the list, as I wasn't able to add them, but it's no big deal. The important take away is that I revisited my childhood by reading the Animorphs series (mostly the plot relevant books). So my recommendations are now a mess, as I don't usually read YA or children's books.
However, I plan on reading the Redwall books next year. To my recollection, I only read five or so books of the series? I think I just got burned out, as I tried reading them back to back. I was careful to avoid that while rereading the Animorphs.
Some of my favorite books this year were Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder, Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, and Qoheleth by Madison Scott-Clary. You'll find the full list here:
