2021: It’s a wrap!
Okay, I’ll confess. I’m a goalie. If you’re a writer, and you’ve completed Becca Syme’s ‘Write Better, Write Faster’ course, then you can probably guess that Futuristic is one of my top 5 strengths on the Clifton Strengthsfinder test. This time every year, I sit down and figure out my goals for the year and I can’t wait to dive into them. Last year, after the shitshow that was 2019, I figured it was time to spread those wings and shine. 2020 was going to be mine!
2021: Ha ha, LOL.
So, what did I have on my agenda for 2021?
Releases:
- Master of Storms
- Prince of Ruin—in the Reign anthology
- Seduced By Darkness
- Thief of Souls
- Curse of Darkness
- Queen of Lightning
- And a good whack of Thief of Hearts written
Cough, um, yeah. I also have Achiever in my top 5.
I also had some other business goals, such as getting Dark Court Rising made into audio, launching the audio of Legends of the Storm, getting an overhaul of my website, creating a bookbox, and looking into German translations for Dark Court Rising.
Here’s the actual round-up of what happened:
PUBLISHING
Four out of six ain’t bad, yeah?
Master of Storms launched in January and kicked off the year with a great start. I loved writing this book. Solveig was such a ruthless, bad-ass bitch, and I adored her. Writing anti-heroes and redeeming villains is kind of my thing, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a chance to do this with a heroine until now. I adored my “I will drink wine from a cup carved from your skull” dreki princess so, so much that even writing this little wrap-up is giving me the warm and fuzzies.
And Marduk? Who knew that charismatic golden boy prince would match her so well. Writing Master of Storms was pure fun. The release went really well. Reviews were great. 2021 was off to a fantastic start!
Next up was Prince of Ruin in the Reign anthology. This world and this story has been sitting in my head for years, so finally getting to dabble with it brought me great joy. It was also super-hot. I mean, when you’re writing a demon lover, you’d better bring the good stuff, right?
Fun fact: In the original story I wrote set in this world (one that hasn’t yet seen the light of day), the main mystery was set around the death of an angel. One who’d been meeting her demonic lover in secret. And Azazel—the demon lover—was the main suspect.
So when I was asked by some friends to join this anthology, the first story idea that lit my brain on fire was writing the actual romance of that couple. Or, ah, kind of. Because I only had 30,000 words to do it in, and if you’ve read Prince of Ruin, you can probably tell it’s the beginning of the story.
Relax. Nobody dies in this version.
But this is how a great deal of my books happen. They’re often shaped by previous versions that have dwelled in my head over the years. They shift. They evolve. Finally, the story unlocks. I haven’t re-released Prince of Ruin yet, but am hoping to eventually flesh this one out into a series. Eventually.
February hit, and with it, Seduced By Darkness. The story structure of the Dark Court Rising series is a little bit different, so this prequel novella had to happen after the events of Promise of Darkness. I’ve always wanted to go back to Thiago and Iskvien’s first meeting, and play around with the entirety of what happened to set the curse into action. It was also really exciting to dive into Thiago’s POV for once. There’s definitely more of his POV to come. And I have huge plans for this series for 2022, so I can’t wait to dive into them!
Enter May, and with it, Thief of Souls. Writing the prequel novella, Thief of Dreams was fun. But getting to dive into Thief of Souls—and really dive deeper into the world, and the hero—Keir—was amazing. I love submersing myself into a character’s motivations and arc, and this is truly Zemira’s story. The Court of Dreams series is a trilogy, so this is the middle arc of the series, and while she’s learned a lot of things—about her place in the world, about the truths she’s always believed, both about herself and her father’s hold over her—she’s still fighting against surrendering to those truths. It’s frustrating in some ways. I’m sure Keir’s frustrated. (: But I see it as the black moment in the story arc. One step forward. One step back. And I can’t wait to push Zemira to that point where she has to make a choice: Move forward and cast off all the lies she’s believed about herself. Or stay stagnant and in chains.
But also, Mistmark, Soraya, and even Falion. The tension there was delicious to write, and surely, I can’t be the only one who wants to know more about what really happened when Soraya tried to kill Mistmark? Side note: Falion was probably one of my favorite characters to write this year.
After that… That is when the wheels came off. I made the executive decision to push the Curse of Darkness release to March 2022, and it was the best decision I made all year.
As for audiobooks—I have 8 audiobooks up my sleeve, and they are dropping in 2022 folks! I am really excited about this next step. Gabrielle Baker has voiced the Legends of the Storm series, and Vanessa Moyen is the narrator for Dark Court Rising. Get ready for some glorious narration!
Website overhaul? Eh, didn’t get there. Scratching that off my list for next year.
German translations? Bumping that to 2022/2023.
GENERAL BUSINESS
For the last few years, my business plan has revolved around producing more content. Write all the books. Get them out. Take a week or two off to tidy up all the admin, and then dive straight into the next work-in-progress.
I remember listening to Zoe York’s interview on the Wish I’d Known Then podcast way, way back at the start of 2021, and something that she said struck me. To paraphrase: I’ve been running on a treadmill for a few years, trying to get enough content up to produce enough backlist to market, and it’s only now that I realize that I have backlist, and I’m still running on that treadmill.
And I had my wow moment, because… I’ve written 32 books/novellas/short stories. And… I have backlist. And I’m still running on that treadmill.
Maybe it’s time for a mentality shift. There will be more books, of course. I love writing too much. But maybe it’s time to learn how to market those books a little better. Give my launches room to breathe. Enjoy them more. Celebrate them.
Take time to flesh out those exciting other plans I have. Book boxes. The #sekritproject that is coming in September, 2022. The website. Creating some of these things also gives me joy, I just need room and time to give myself over to it.
PERSONAL
This is where it gets a little grim.
I’m not going to sugarcoat things. 2021 was probably one of my personal worst years. I’m dusting myself off and picking myself up and moving on. Come at me, 2022.
But I am also proud of myself.
I learned a lot about myself this year. I met an amazing group of friends in my little manifesting group, and they’ve really helped me embrace the vulnerable side of myself. Kim, Nina and Lilliana got me through this year, and I am so grateful to them for that.
One of the things that I am proudest of this year is that I hit a point where I said, “I can’t. I just can’t, right now.” And then I gave myself permission to shift some of those things on my plate, and give myself both space and acceptance.
I’ve worked on myself so much this year, and I am going to make a bold statement: 2021 was a hard year, but it has given me so much of myself. I don’t think I can be grateful—maybe in a few years’ time, ha ha—but I think that sometimes when you’re scraped raw to the bone, you have the chance to remold yourself. To look at yourself—really look—and realize that perhaps what you thought was strength was really only armor, and while it can keep taking hits, that armor’s getting a little dented, a little brittle. And that sometimes, the only way to win that fight is to strip that armor off and lean into being vulnerable, lean into opening yourself up. And I did this, so while some of my emotional wounds are still scabbed over, they’re also healing. I’m looking at myself in an entirely new way (I mean, I’m actually writing this and putting it live, instead of burying it deep down low where nobody—and I mean nobody—can ever see it).
It’s also been great for my writing to take that step away, do the work, and lean into myself. I’m seeing Vi (in particular) in an entirely new light. When I started writing this series, I knew that I didn’t want to write the heroine who was “kickbutt” and who made all the right choices. Vi was never going to be the best fighter. The best queen. She was going to be an ordinary girl (okay, I mean a princess), who was rash and bold and made mistakes. One who was kind and gentle, and who loved, even when she wasn’t entirely sure if she loved herself. I wanted to write a heroine who had suffered emotional abuse all of her life. Who fell in love, because her heart is open and whole, despite that. One who has to learn to love herself. That true love doesn’t conquer all. That you have to forgive yourself. And accept yourself.
There’s a line in Labyrinth (my fave), where Sarah says to the Goblin King, “You have no power over me.”
And one of the best parts of writing Curse of Darkness, is that I finally get to write Vi saying that to her mother.
The book that I was writing before this year hit me hard was good, make no mistake. But I know where to take this story now. I know where the beating heart of it is. I know where Vi’s power comes from.
And I’m finally ready to write it.
It hasn’t all been woe. My little bear is off to kinder next year. We’ve had a few months of lockdowns here in country Victoria, and I decided to make the most of them, so we had lots of one-on-one time. Freyja loves to help me cook and paint, and one of the things that has come out of this time together, is that I need to start devoting some more of my time to my art. I haven’t drawn for years, but it used to give me so much pleasure, so I’m hoping to get into it more in the new year. I want to create with her. I want to show her the worlds in my mind, and hopefully start teaching her how to find the worlds in her own mind.
I got my double jab, which was such a relief. Having three autoimmune diseases puts me in a vulnerable place, so it’s an extra weight off my mind.
We’ve been slowly renovating our house. I have a garden now and it’s my new happy place. Three birch’s have been lost to kangaroos. I think I’m officially turning into my mother.
I have also written things that I’m incredibly proud of. And made plans I can’t wait to see unfold.
SO, 2022.
First things first: I’m doing a little rewrite on Promise of Darkness. I see you, Vi. I see you loud and clear now. There’s going to be a little more smolder (read #smexytimes), and some more of Thiago.
Flames and Fated Mates—a collection of all the first books in six different series—is coming soon. I adore that cover.
Curse of Darkness is coming on March 8th. I’m also in the process of getting special covers and formatting made for that series, because I am going to do a special edition hardcover set at some stage in the first half of the year!
Legends of the Storm is coming to audio in March! I should have the entire series (to-date) ready to go by then, and I’m super excited about this next step.
Then it’s Dark Court Rising in audio.
The #sekritproject. There is so much squee about this project. Note that I keep saying project, because… is it a book, dear reader? Is it a novel? Or is it something else? Something more? *locks lips and tosses away the key* All will be revealed in September, 2022, my friends.
A really cool anthology project in November. Seriously, you will all want this in your hot little hands when it launches. Trust me.
Website. Hopefully (:
And on my bucket list: Artwork. Graphic novels. Bookboxes. All of the things that burn a fire in my little creative heart.
Beyond that, I am not locking in anything else in regards to novels. I know I’ve got Queen of Lightning and Thief of Hearts still on the to-be-written list. They’re percolating.
So, 2022. Time to make you mine (:
What's on everyone else's agenda for 2022?
