Is it just me, or does every year sound more and more science fiction-y?
I’d like to say I’ve started off the new year with a bang, but the small, mobile are still out of school for another week and I exploded my phone last night, which has been a bit traumatic.
(Not like, actual exploding, but it did hit the ground at high velocity and now the front is no longer connected to the rest of it.)
I did, however, remember that I used to have a spreadsheet where I kept track of all my writing projects and what state they were in, and plan out what months I was working on what, which I literally had not touched since Jan 1, 2021, so that’s been interesting. So many things I’d forgotten I wanted to work on, or forgotten about entirely, and just completely out of date in general.
I’ve got it updated now, so in theory it’s full speed ahead!
Like last year, the main goal for 2023 is to finish the &%@$ revision on Book 1 of my fantasy trilogy. It hasn’t really been touched since the last time I posted (see: holidays, school break–however, my basement is now spotless) but I hope to have things mostly planned by the end of the week. Forward momentum! Positive thoughts!
I may make some sort of tracker, because that has historically been useful, but it’s kind of hard to track revision planning (time maybe?) and I do get sad if I’m missing a lot of days.
I’m not going to make a lot of goals past that, because what I’ve found is that what I tend to do is work on other, easier goals if they exist to be worked on. Best to just avoid the temptation. Plus it divides my attention, and I really need to focus on this. I’ve been avoiding it for years, and I suspect I will continue to avoid it if I give myself the chance.
That being said, the hierarchy of the year goes something like this:
-Revise Book 1
-Make submissions materials
-Submit Book 1
-Revise scifi horror novella
-Make submission materials
-Submit scifi horror novella
-Revise first book of cozy mystery
-Make submission materials
-Submit cozy mystery
-Write something new for Nano
Now, I know this is overly ambitious, but a girl can hope, right?
(I have a further revision hierarchy, which goes into Space Dinosaur, World’s Edge, and then even older stories.)
Anyway, that’s 2023. Let’s talk about 2022.
The biggest thing that got done was, of course, Hallowed Hill. I finished the draft in February, did the initial edit in May, revised to editor comments in July, did final edits in September, released the book on Oct 1 and did marketing and all the things related to that starting in June. I’m very pleased with the final product, and the speed with which everything got done isn’t too shabby either.
I also finished my Deep and Blue serial story in April, and I sold a short story that appeared in the April issue of diet milk.
I also wrote a post-apocalyptic anthology story that’s currently in limbo (the anthology is having issues coming together) and spent quite a lot of time on the Book 1 revision, for all that I don’t have anything finished to show for it.
In addition, I published a new SkillShare class in October on point of view and tenses.
Oh! And I beat a Hugo-award-winning author in a flash fiction contest at MileHiCon. Which I realize is very subjective and has to do with circumstances and whatnot, but hot damn.
That feels like not very much, but I have to remember that, one, it’s a ton of work to publish a book, and two, every little bit helps reach the goal eventually.
How was your 2022, squiders? Big plans for 2023?
I’ll be back later in the week with my yearly reading round-up for 2022.
