2015 Year-in-Review and 2016 Goals

Happy New Year!

I’ve been doing this for at least 5 years now, maybe more, because it helps to take stock of what I’ve accomplished (and what I haven’t) and it also helps me to set concrete goals for the new year. So, here we go!

This year’s goals:

~Publish Grave Touched, pending approval, in May (tentative) – DONE! Grave Touched was published May 1st, after a 2-year hiatus. It was my biggest accomplishment in 2015, hands down!
~Write Fireborn, Reaper Girl novella – MOSTLY DONE. I started Fireborn in January, but got tied up with GT’s release and lost momentum. Started it back up after, and ran into some problems, and had to rewrite a portion of it. It’s at 19k currently, with maybe 5-10k left to go. I am hoping to finish it and release it this year.
~Figure out a plot for Ever Touched – DONE
~Start writing Ever Touched – DONE for NanowriMo, and it’s at 32k currently.
~Poke at Survivor (my book, not the TV show) on Sundays – DONE. Poking has happened, as well as a revised outline. Have not started the rewrite, but plan to this year.
~Start rewrite of Flamebound – NOT DONE, but planned for this year.
~Write 1 poem per week minimum – NOT DONE, but wrote 10 poems over the course of the year.
~Do something with darkroom – DONE. Began cleaning and replenishing chemicals.  Shot a test roll of b&w film that I will be developing soon. Also got my 35mm automatic camera working again so I can continue shooting more b&w. Also planning on shooting b&w infrared.

So, all in all, I didn’t do too badly. Other notable accomplishments:

~Started a new novel, Covenant, which is up to 13k currently
~Wrote and posted the second and third installments of my fantasy serial, Changeling, at Turtleduck Press
~Got Reaper Girl ready for publication
~Wrote around 100k for the year
~Made concrete plans for more novellas
~Began the revision of Pirouette for a publisher. Pirouette has been languishing for 4 years because I didn’t know what to do with it

Non-writing accomplishments:

~Diagnosis of trigeminal neuralgia + meds which is improving my quality of life greatly
~Obtained a digital-converted-DSLR and began experimenting with digital infrared
~Began reviving my darkroom and have plans to start working in it this year.
~Revived my editing business and have landed several jobs

So what are my goals for 2016?

~Release one novel
~Finish and release Fireborn
~Finish Pirouette revision and submit to publisher. If rejected, make a ruling as to what to do with it (trad or indie)
~Begin Flamebound rewrite
~Begin Survivor rewrite
~Make progress on Awaken Me
~Finish Ever Touched
~Get back into darkroom
~Try not to stress so much
~Experiment with plotting techniques
~Finish up Changeling serial
~Get back on diet/eat healthy/exercise
~My word for this year is NURTURE: nurture myself, nurture my creativity, nurture my dreams.

Annnd I believe that’s enough.  I have a good feeling about this year, and I hope to get lots done and take care of myself better. 🙂

What are your goals for this year?

 

 

#ROW80 Check-in 5/3/15

Yep, this one has flown from the nest.

I’m back! Grave Touched has been released and I’m finally able to take a breather. I’m happy with the way it turned out — I had a few snafus with the paperback cover — but all is well now. Very excited!

If you’re interested in a copy or an excerpt, check it out here.

So what am I up to now? Well, I’m trying to solicit reviews and guest blog posts. Anyone interested? Let me know! I’m always willing to return the favor.

The big priority now is finishing Fireborn and writing the next installment in my Changeling serial on Turtleduck Press. That’s due June 1st. I’m pretty sure I know what’s happening next. It’s just a matter of getting in down on paper (or screen). Also I’d like to continue my Survivor Sundays. Today’s been a bit crazy so I’ll probably start it next week.

Ever Touched is also calling my name, so that’s happening.

Hubby and I will be going on our first camping trip in two weeks. Very exciting.

Soooo let’s declare some goals (from now to the end of this round):

~Survivor Sundays
~ Finish Fireborn OR add 5k (depends on the muse)
~Freewrite on Ever Touched (need to get a handle on a few things)
~Write Changeling: The Faerie Dance

How about you? How are you doing with your goals?

New Release: Grave Touched

Holy crap it’s finally here! I have a book. And you may like it. It’s about ghosts and possession and brave people fighting for themselves, their loved ones, and the world against all odds.

It took me THREE YEARS to write it.

:does a little happy dance:

Here’s the official blurb:

Fey Touched – humans, genetically engineered for immortality and flight, tasked with protecting the rest of the world from rogue Fey…

Grave Touched – dead souls in search of living bodies to possess, especially those who’ve had a brush with death…

When Fey Touched Hunter Emily wakes up in a hospital, she doesn’t know that she was in fact dead. Nor does she know that her lover, Nick, broke all kinds of rules to bring her back. But the grave touched do.

Fey Touched Healer Asha does know that her mate, Joe, saved her when her abilities nearly killed her. And she knows the voices in her head are the grave touched trying to stake their claim. Asha needs Joe’s help again, but unfortunately she’s the only one who believes the grave touched exist.

The grave touched are plotting to take over the corporeal world, and they’re gaining strength. Only Emily and Asha stand in their way – and both are about to be possessed.

Grave Touched.

If you’d like to buy a copy (:puppy dog eyes:) or read an except, go over yonder. And if you love it, please consider writing an honest review on either Goodreads or Amazon. Reviews are like air and water for us indies. We need them to survive.

(Also? Book 1, Fey Touched, is on sale for 99c for a limited time. Check it out here!)

#ROW80 Check-in 4/26/15 – in the home stretch now

Here I am again with some good news! I finished the proofreading and sent the file to the formatter! One HUGE thing off my list! Yay!

Here’s where I stand:

~Finish final edit and send to formatter
~Prep for KDP
~Start wrap around cover for print edition Can’t do this until I get a final page count
~Create ARCs and secure reviewers Going to happen soon. Before release if I can manage it.

Getting closer! Today I’ll be tinkering with the covers and binge watching Game of Thrones. Because I need a break, desperately!

GT releases on FRIDAY. (gulp)

Chocolate consumption: need you even ask? Through the roof. For energy. ~nods with an innocent look~

#ROW80 Check-in 4/15/15 – Proofreading time!

Here we are with another check-in. I missed Sunday because I was binge-watching Game of Thrones. Oops?

So I finished the final edits and am now proofreading. I have a few rough spots I want to smooth out and of course I want to make sure I haven’t introduced any new typos into the mix.

I’m 53 pages in…of 244. I’m going to try my hardest to finish it this weekend so I can send it off for formatting and start setting everything up. I also have front and back matter to insert before it goes to the formatter. I’d forgotten how many steps there were to this.

Here are my goals:

~Finish final edit and send to formatter Next up
~Prep for KDP Next up
~Start wrap around cover for print edition Can’t do this until I get a final page count
~Create ARCs and secure reviewers Going to happen soon. Before release if I can manage it.

I’m in the home stretch now!

Chocolate consumption: Um. Still through the roof. A girl needs her energy…

#ROW80 Round 2 2015 Goals

Annnnnd it’s time to ROW again!

It’s been a busy few months for me, getting Grave Touched ready for release. I’m getting closer, and I’m getting excited about it. After working on it so long (almost three years!), it’s finally leaving the nest.

So, with GT’s release coming May 1st, here are my top goals for the next 30 days or so:

~Finish final edit and send to formatter
~Prep for KDP
~Start wrap around cover for print edition
~Create ARCs and secure reviewers

After release, here are my goals:

~Restart/continue Survivor on Sundays (would love to get through chapter 1, but any progress is good)
~Finish Fireborn
~Select next project (my muse wants something completely new…we’ll see)
~And if so, prep for that if prep is needed (sometimes yes, sometimes no)

I think that’s enough to keep me busy for awhile.

Cover Reveal: Grave Touched

I am so excited to reveal the cover for Grave Touched! It came out beautiful (done by me!) and I LOVE it madly!

One factoid about this cover. I’d bought the stock art TWO YEARS ago because it was totally the main character. Unfortunately, there were delays with this release so I had to wait but…the stock art is still Emily to this day.

Here is the blurb:

Fey Touched – humans, genetically engineered for immortality and flight, tasked with protecting the rest of the world from rogue Fey…

Grave Touched – dead souls in search of living bodies to possess, especially those who’ve had a brush with death…

When Fey Touched Hunter Emily wakes up in a hospital, she doesn’t know that she was in fact dead. Nor does she know that her lover, Nick, broke all kinds of rules to bring her back. But the grave touched do.

Fey Touched Healer Asha does know that her mate, Joe, saved her when her abilities nearly killed her. And she knows the voices in her head are the grave touched trying to stake their claim. Asha needs Joe’s help again, but unfortunately she’s the only one who believes the grave touched exist.

The grave touched are plotting to take over the corporeal world, and they’re gaining strength. Only Emily and Asha stand in their way – and both are about to be possessed.
Grave Touched.

Stay tuned. Grave Touched is book 2 of my Fey Touched series, releasing May 1st from Turtleduck Press. Fey Touched, book 1, is still on sale for $.99 if you want to catch up!

You can read the Grave Touched teaser here.

#ROW80 Final Check-in 3/26/15

I’m a day late, but I’m here!

I’ve been working on the final edits on Grave Touched. I’m up to page 16, but I may need to backtrack to tweak a few things. I hope to get a decent amount done this weekend, however. 😉

Tomorrow is my birthday. My beloved hubby is taking me out to dinner, and I will have a nice, relaxing evening at home afterward. Will probably edit, because I’m insane, but hey — I need to get the work done, and I want to get the work done, so there you go.

How did I do this round?

~Start writing first draft of Fireborn (Reaper Girl #2). YES, I started it and up to almost 15k now. I had hoped to end the round with 15k, and I’m less than 300 words from that, but I really needed to focus on GT edits. It’s a win.
~Settle on a plot (loose) for Ever Touched (FT #3) YES, pretty much settled. I still may tweak it some, but the basis is there.
~Work on Survivor one day a week (“work” loosely defined as: plotting, planning rewrite, brainstorming, actual writing, poking at it with a sharp pointy stick…) YES, I did this every week I wasn’t on a deadline. It’s been slow going, but I hope to speed up once I get further in. Right now, I’m still cringing at the awful writing and planning to rewrite it completely. We’ll see how that goes once GT is released and I have less swimming around in my head.

So, I’d call this round a success! I will be joining Round 2 for sure, so I’ll definitely be around.

(As for chocolate consumption…through the roof, mostly due to stress. Oops?)

I’ll also be revealing the Grave Touched cover and blurb on April 6th, so stay tuned for that!

#ROW80 Check-in 3/22/15 – Almost to the end

I haven’t been feeling so hot this past week. I had some really bad eye pain that kept me from doing anything useful. I did finish the teaser of Grave Touched I’ll be posting to the Turtleduck Press website on April 1st and the cover for the digital edition and a banner I will use for my Author FB and on the TDP website as well. Very happy with all.

Tomorrow the first half of my final edits are hitting my inbox, so that will take priority over everything else.

April will be CRAZY.

Today I went over the first few scenes of Survivor (again!) and realized that I don’t like the way things played out. I was hoping to just tweak it, but I have a sneaking feeling that this will end up being a full-blown rewrite. So that’s my next step. Rewrite the first few scenes.

On the Ever Touched front, still noodling. I want to start writing it sometime after I release Grave Touched.

And on Fireborn, I wrote 370 words today! So that leaves less than 300 to make my goal. Yay! (Still a bit unsure how I want it to go, but I’m being careful not to scare my muse away. This is more than enough to start, and I’m happy with it).

So, yesterday was my family birthday party. (My actual birthday is March 27th, but due to my sister’s work, we decided to have it a week before my actual birthday). And naturally, I got a triple chocolate cake. Lemme tell you, it was sinful how good it was. It was divine. So that was my chocolate fix for yesterday. Today I’ve been snacking on Chex Mix Muddy Buddies which are basically chocolate-flavored Chex Mix. Will probably have some leftover cake later.

I’ve also started on my housewalking (basically, walking inside your house instead of outside) using the new activity tracker I got for my birthday. So…I hope do more walking and maybe burn some more calories of all this chocolate I’m consuming!

We’re almost to the end of the Round, and I’m pretty happy with my progress.

#ROW80 Check-in 3/15/15 – Stuckity stuck

The hamsters in my brain have decided to stop doing their thing, and I am horrendously stuck on Survivor. Like, I-can’t-figure-this-out-there’s-no-way-to-fix-this-and-everything-I-think-of-sounds-stupid-and-why-did-I-decide-to-work-on-this-book-anyway stuck.

I’ve considered starting the book in a slightly different place, but Grave Touched starts with the MC waking up in the hospital, so I don’t want to duplicate that. It needs to be…ambiguous. It needs to be unclear as to who exactly is in the hospital and what exactly happened to put her there (I’m trying really hard not to give spoilers). So, it’s told in first person POV. I love first person because it’s a way to dig deep into a character’s head, and that’s how I wrote it originally.  Third person isn’t possible due to the aforementioned situation. The narrator is an unreliable one, which complicates things a bit.  And everything I think of isn’t working.

Unfortunately, I need to do this linear. I suppose I could jump ahead, but that’s how this book got so messy — because I kept jumping around and not doing anything in order.

It’s a freaking mess.

The good news is that I believe I may be done with the Grave Touched cover and blurb. Possibly. Yay. Final edits start in April, and I’ll need to work on getting it ready for release. Need also to look for reviewers (hint, hint). It does stand alone so you could theoretically read it before book 1.

On the Ever Touched front, still noodling.

I reread Fireborn yesterday and I’m a bit stuck on that as well. I had a very loose outline I was following, and I stopped in a weird place, so that’s a thing.

(I had a sneaking suspicion that my muse is tapped out. And that’s why all of this is like pulling teeth. We’ll see.)

Other than that, nothing else to really report. Been consuming lots of chocolate (white chocolate too! Yum!) and have been doing a ton of thinking. May do a freewrite to see if anything pops out at me.