Hello Friends!
It’s been a good year for me despite the constant state of chaos the world seems to be in. Maybe I pay attention too much to the news? Maybe I spend too much time scrolling conspiracies? Anyway, here’s a look back at 2022.
On Writing:
I wrote 2 complete manuscripts in 2022.
One has been posted here in full (The Nationalist) and the other in part (The Shoes that Charlotte Wore). I wrote halfway through another manuscript which is a follow-up to the Nationalist and didn’t like the way it was coming out so I put that on the back burner until I figure out what to do with it. Meanwhile, I am 50k into my latest manuscript, currently titled Project X because I still don’t have a title for it.
In December you also may have noticed a little story called The Maverick. I wrote this story about Eric before writing The Nationalist. I had to do some heavy editing before releasing it here, and it can actually use more editing. My goal for The Maverick is to eventually release a final version as part of a short story collection in the future.
Books Read in no particular order this year: 14
American Gods
The Black Fang Betrayal
Darling, there are Wolves in the Woods
Behold, A Pale Horse
Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church & Their Stories of Costly Faith
The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism’s long march of death, deception, and infiltration
The Tangled Lands
Black Sun
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The Mermaid’s Sister
You Don’t Belong Here: How 3 Women Rewrote the story of War
The Left Hand of Darkness
Wishtree
A Conjuring of Light
Wow, I can’t believe I read this many books in 1 year compared to just a few years ago, reading absolutely nothing for myself, all were children’s books as I helped my children to read. I still read with them nightly but I am not including those books in this list. I guess I could do a Kids Recommended Reads list another time.
2023 Plans (not set in stone though)
I’ve been thinking a lot about self-publishing and traditional publishing and I am so caught in the middle of this. Right now I am still querying The Shoes that Charlotte Wore, looking for a publisher who is willing to take it on. I’ve had 3 full requests but no bites yet. **fingers still crossed**
I know it would be easier to just self-publish my writings, take on the full responsibility of my book sinking, floating, or becoming a whale and making me a butt-load of money. Still, I want to see what it is like to be traditionally published and maybe have an agent, a book deal, or a company that will showcase my work without me having to pay them to do so. *Sigh* Wishful thinking. I think I’ll still have to do my own marketing regardless.
So going forward into 2023 I will:
-Continue to try and find a home for TSTCW with a traditional publisher
-Finish writing Project X and slate it for self-publishing sometime in 2023
-Learn more about marketing online and the whole book business in general
-Make a business plan (January)
-Read more books. Hopefully, I can read at least 14 again. That would be cool. I admit there were 1 or 2 titles that I didn’t finish so they aren’t on the list of what I read.
Also, I want to thank all of you who continue to read my work. I know I don’t post completely polished material, sometimes there are flaws, holes in the stories that need to be filled, and misspelled words. My intention with this newsletter was to always post the somewhat raw, unrefined stories I conjure up in my brain and try to pen. I think it will be really cool for you to see what the finished product looks like when published as a book, having read rough draft #2 or #3 here first. So bear with me, I know at times I am totally mute for months but just know I am busy working on something special again.
So here’s to 2023, may it be a great year for us all!