Ever since 2020, the years have been going by in such strange ways. On the one hand, they seem to be passing by in no time at all, and on the other hand, time feels like it hasn’t moved at all. But 2022 was a great year overall!
Writing
2022 as a great writing year for me. Here are some stats:
- Approximately 150,000 words written
- Three manuscripts revised
- Under Darkened Skies was basically finalized in 2022; final edits came back on December 30, 2022.
- I drafted the prequel novel and went through both rounds of my beta readers; it goes to the editor in February.
- Book 2 is going through a final beta read, and then I’ll finish editing it before it goes to the editor in April.
- Book 3’s first draft is 65% done! I should finish it in February.
I also finally stepped into my author brand and identity by launching this site and committing to publishing Under Darkened Skies. Publishing is always scary, and I’ve been doing a ton of mindset work to get myself ready for this exciting next step. That’s not something you can quantify, but I’m really proud of myself!
Life
While I made lots of positive moves in my writing life in 2022, my personal life was more of a mixed bag.
The good stuff first:
- Belated honeymoon in Paris. My husband and I eloped in 2021 after delaying our 2020 wedding, and it took a while before it was safe enough for us to travel for our honeymoon. But we did, and we ended up in Paris! Neither of us had ever been, and though the trip got off to a rocky start thanks to flight issues, we made the most of it. We saw Versailles and the Louvre, we went to Disneyland Paris, and enjoyed a lot of food. We also went to the French Open, which is a major tennis tournament and so cool to attend.
- Seeing friends and family. We made some other trips to see friends and family, heading to the mountains, D.C., and even New England.
The not-so-good stuff:
- My autoimmune disease flared. Oof! We got it under control fairly quickly, but it’s always frustrating when it happens.
- I didn’t read as much fiction as I wanted to. 2022 was a year of reading nonfiction and listening to a lot of podcasts. I still read some fiction, just not as much as I wanted.
Plans for 2023
I’ve got lots of plans for 2023, most of them writing-related at this point. What’s on the schedule?
- Publishing Under Darkened Skies this spring
- Publishing the prequel companion novel in the summer
- Publishing Book 2 in the autumn
- Finalizing Book 3 and drafting Books 4 and 5
Here’s to a great new year!