It’s that odd week just before the New Year when I can’t keep track of the days, we’re still on vacation, and time seems to be moving in a strangely sluggish manner. I’m caught between reflection and planning anew.
It’s important that I make space to reflect. When I do, it feels like I’m taking a long, deep breath. By honestly evaluating the past year, I’m able to celebrate my successes, review my short-comings, and begin to form and solidify my intentions for the New Year. Certainly, the New Year is an arbitrary date on the calendar, and we can take stock, assess, and change our course if necessary at any time, but working with a particular habit life or personal rhythm has value for me.
So, here are my writerly reflections on 2019…
It’s particularly satisfying to complete a writing project, and this year, I released the final book in my Horizon series. As an author, this milestone feels pretty significant. I’ve also worked with an incredible voice actor to convert all the books to audio, traveled around the country to various Comic Cons and conferences for signings, sold two short stories to podcasts, wrote a consistent post for Monday Musings every week, continued my work as managing editor for Inkitt Writer’s Blog, and started drafting a new urban fantasy. I’ve also started a project under a pen name and completed three novel drafts for that series. More on that next week. All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my productivity in 2019.
Of course, there’s always more I wished I could have accomplished, but I feel like I was as productive as I could be, and at the end of the day (or year as the case may be), that’s really how I measure the success of my work life.
Last year, on my list of intentions, I stated I wanted to find a way to teach more because I missed being in the classroom. This year, I taught six weeks of Latin to middle-schoolers and loved every minute of it! I also moderated several panels at conferences and Cons, which feels similar to teaching in a lot of ways.
Where I fell short professionally was my work for Book Club Babble. As a partner and senior writer, I really should have produced more content. Luckily, this is a great team to work with. When one of us can’t focus on the site for whatever reason, the others pick up the slack. But, I need to make it a higher priority for 2020.
Five years ago, with my husband’s encouragement, I changed the course of my professional career and became a writer. I had no idea what that would mean, how it would look, or in what direction things would go. I was terrified to put my work out there, knowing that so much of this industry meant facing rejection. I stood at the very beginning of a path, understanding that my learning curve would be huge, and took a chance.
Now, at the end of the decade, a decade where I consciously turned the ship, so to speak, I’ve given myself permission to list all my writing accomplishments in one place. Here goes…
THE HORIZON SERIES (winner of seven independent book awards including the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize in 2016)
HORIZON
INFINITY
EQUINOX
SHORT FICTION AND PODCASTS:
Keeper of the Light from HOLDING ON BY OUR FINGERTIPS
Quest Nine - Starship Sofa
Goodbye, Charlie - Tales to Terrify (Episode 404 - last story of the hour)
Homecoming from SIRENS
NON-FICTION:
Inkitt Writer’s Blog
Book Club Babble
Project 3.8 - collected interviews of children and families dealing with pediatric cancer
If you’re reading this blog, you’ve chosen to engage with me and my creative work, and I am both humbled and grateful for your support. I write because the stories in my head are clamoring to get out, but I also write to share them with you, hoping you’ll find yourself lost in a tale or moved in some way. Reflecting on this year, and on my writing career as a whole, leaves me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am so grateful to be able to pursue this art, and I am so grateful to be able to share it with all of you.
Wishing you all a very happy New Year!
