What a packed year this has been, friends and bookworms! I possibly got more done this year than in any other, and I felt the end-of-year exhaustion this month when a few things didn’t go to plan (private things I won’t bore you with), Word crashed and lost my afternoon’s work despite autosave being on (what did we learn? don’t trust autosave. it’s a lie.), and I trapped a nerve badly in my shoulder/neck when I stretched one morning last week, which forced me to slow down a tiny bit earlier than anticipated.
BUT all that was nothing Christmas couldn’t fix, and I’m back at my desk today and as motivated as ever 🙂
Today’s recap will look at what I’ve achieved this month, but it’ll also look back at my goals at the start of the year.
Relics of Ar’Zac
You ready? This’ll be tiring to read. Make a tea now–don’t say I didn’t warn you.
This year, I…
*ahem*
… re-edited and re-published Rise of the Sparrows.
… finished and published Blood of the Dragon.
… finished and published Shadow in Ar’Sanciond.
… set up the box set for pre-order.
… had a book trailer made for Rise of the Sparrows and booked the trailer for the box set.
Lists sure make everything look easy, don’t they? o.o My main goal this year was to publish the rest of this series plus publish the box set before my 30th birthday next month, so I’m exactly where I wanted to be (despite what the next points might have you believe).
Having said that, publishing three books over three consecutive months is exhausting, and I don’t think I’ll do it again. There’s just no need, you know?
Now the marketing can begin for real! *pushes up sleeves*
Brightened Shadows
I wrote the sequel to Darkened Light and wrapped up the first draft during NaNo. It’s currently proofing, but edits will start next week and I’m aiming for an October 2020 release.
And, of course, Darkened Light also got a book trailer this year!
Blood Wisp
Things didn’t work out as planned at all for this little trilogy. Back in January, my goal was to publish the first novella in October, Novella 2 in November, and Novella 3 in December. Instead, what used to be three novellas is now one novel thanks to critique partner feedback, and I had to re-plot books 2 and 3 from scratch.
So, while I published none of these, they’re in a better place now and I feel much more confident going forward. Sometimes, we have to take a few steps back before we can go ahead, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Publishing the individual novellas would have a been a mistake, and I’ve learned so much about plotting a whole series in one go!
I’ll decide which WIP to work on next this week, and will announce it in my January/2020 post. I’m torn between Blood Song and…
Dreamer
This trilogy came out on top this year! I first wanted to write Book 1 during the July Camp NaNo, but I had so many editing jobs at the time that it didn’t happen, plus I wasn’t happy with the plotting.
I set it aside until next year, but then I struggled to get into Blood Song during NaNoWriMo once I’d finished Brightened Shadows, and since I didn’t want to force it (which would have meant unnecessary painful rewrites later on) and had a good idea of where Dreamer might go, I chose Esta’s story.
And it flowed, friends and bookworms. It flowed.
I now have a finished first draft, which is proofing until I’m ready to write books 2 and 3.
Sarina’s Sparrows
My Facebook Reader Group was born this year!
This was quite a big step for me since I left Twitter shortly before due to having too much social media to catch up on every day, but I have no regrets.
We talk about books, worship cats (and other animals), get early teasers and all other announcements before everyone else, there are exclusive giveaways, and I have a lot of other fun planned for next year, too, so come join us!
I believe that about sums it up! It doesn’t look like much, summarised as it is, but I assure you I was quite tired before my Christmas break XD
How was your December? How was your 2019? Grab some biscuits to go with that tea and tell me about everything you have achieved <3
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