Another year gone by so quickly! 2019 definitely came with its ups and downs and its life changes.
Books
After the thrill of having a short story selected for Atthis Arts’ anthology, “Five Minutes at Hotel Stormcove,” I also published three novels in the Sea Deception series:
- Sea Dreams
- Sea Rivals
- Sea Memories
I started the next book in the series, and I made some decent progress despite some plot hiccups. I am considering rebranding the three books in the Sea Deception series as the direction of the next books doesn’t really work with that series title. I’m about two-thirds done with the first draft of Bonds of Iron, and I have solid plans for another four books in the series.
While I didn’t get through NaNoWriMo with the word count I wanted, we had a lot of travel and family medical stuff going on that made November a difficult month to expect consistent results. However, any new words are better than none. Can’t edit a blank page, after all.
Blog
While I may not post as frequently as you might like, I wanted to consistently build up to twice a month before trying a greater frequency and falling short. I’m working on an editorial calendar to help me spread out different topics systematically instead of randomly, as has been my past MO.
Of course, I’ll still be writing Word Wednesdays, Saturday Snippets, and Why Engineers Shouldn’t Watch TV in addition to my random thought posts and writing updates. I’m also looking at adding a focus for the supernatural characters I write about (“Monstrous Mondays,” anyone?), but I’m open to suggestions of what you find interesting.
Other Stuff
As I’ve previously discussed, I left my corporate job to support the family small business full time. I’m still getting into the groove of this new role. Since you’re home, it’s easy to fall into the trap of either never ending your day or of spending too much time on stuff that needs to be done at home. What it’s definitely shown me is that I need to carve out appropriate time for writing that doesn’t interfere with what’s actually income-bearing.
Long-term, I think the choice to leave when I did will pay off in large dividends. We’ve already benefited from the flexibility in my time after dealing with the family medical portion of our year. Trying to scramble for childcare at the eleventh hour while also trying to meet end-of-year goals on a demanding project without adequate resources sounds like a recipe for a high-stress failure.
This picture also seems apropos—the expression on her face is at once annoyed, severe, and smoldering. It seems fitting to look back on the year knowing that I accomplished more than I expected yet not as much as I wished to.