So, the “year in review” posts are going around on Facebook right now, and I’m so glad I got tagged to do one, because I don’t think I would have taken the time for it if I hadn’t, but it was valuable time spent. I’m far too often focused on the future, without taking a moment to look back at what I’ve already accomplished. This means I never give myself a chance to be proud of the work I’ve already done. That has led to some serious burnout at the end of this year, and that is definitely not how I want to start the new year!
So, how was my 2019 when it came to writing?
After doing the legwork to calculate everything up, I’d say it was pretty darn good! I wrote over 531,000 words this year, and most of them are published into fantastic books that I am very proud of. I feel like I wrote some of my best work this year, though I am always striving to improve and studying my craft, so maybe I’ll even top myself next year.
I finished a five-book series (Into the Dead Fall) which has been a passion project of mine that I decided to share with the world. I’m very happy with how it ended, though there is always room for more stories if I decide to continue with the world I’ve created. Since it’s a series I love going back to, and has that post-apocalyptic feel to it that I relish in my fiction, I don’t think I’ll be able to stay away from it for that long, but if you love this series too, and want to see more books set in this world, the best way to let me know is to spread the word through social media and reviews. I try to focus on the books that my readers are excited about, so some of my projects that don’t get much attention end up getting pushed to the back-burner until I can find the time to play around with them.
I dived into some AI science fiction romance that let me explore a whole new kind of “alien” mind and indulge in my fascination with emerging sentience. I’m very pleased with how my SFR fairy tale retelling of Rapunzel turned out, and the possibilities for a series spawned from this book are endless, but I have many ideas, and have drafted out a couple that I’m looking forward to developing for next year.
And of course I can’t forget my Iriduan Test Subjects series and the two exciting stories I added to that. I’m drawing ever closer to the conclusion of the over-arching story line of this series, though I have many more books planned that are set in the ITS universe. I love writing the characters in this series. With each book, they grow more complex, more nuanced, their motivations more obscure until the final denouement. That’s coming up! Halian the villain will finally get his story, and I hope I will surprise and thrill all my wonderful fans with his side of the story.
So here’s the breakdown of what I plan for 2020:
(This is all subject to change, of course, based on many factors, but this is what I’ve set for my own personal calendar. Also, the order is definitely subject to change. Other than The Fractured Mate, which I’m working on now, I don’t have a planned order for the books.)