Hello, dear readers!
Another year down, and I’m afraid I have few blog posts to show for it. The truth is, I don’t post on this site too often because I’m not always sure what to talk about! I tend to believe most folks come here simply to see if and when a new novel is coming (which, fair enough), and because of that, I’ve managed to convince myself nothing short of a book announcement would be of interest to you. Hence, my silence upon silence. Oof!
I think, perhaps, that is the wrong mentality to adopt. I use novels to tell the stories I want to tell, not the stories I think readers expect. Shouldn’t blog posts be the same?
I will aim to find out in 2025.
For now, though, three days remain in 2024, and I’ve got some reflecting to do. Let’s dive into it.
If I had to choose one word that defined my year, I’d probably say “chasing.”
I’ve spent the last several months in pursuit of a wide array of goals. Sometimes, the chase ended with significant, meaningful wins! Finishing a new manuscript. Discovering I’m capable of running 10Ks. Falling in love. But I’ve also experienced a number of setbacks, and exchanges that ended in bad news, and these are the incidents that keep drawing my attention like moths to a flame.
I don’t like that the negative is overshadowing all the good. I want to appreciate the very real successes without distraction. But it has been frustrating—to finally come within reaching distance of a long-awaited goal, only to have someone move the goal post out of reach. AGAIN. Gah! So many times, I’ve had to wade through that lovely cocktail of shock and disappointment before finding it in myself, for the umpteenth time, to pick myself up and keep trying.
But I do keep trying. This is a skill I credit to writing. Being an author demands resilience, and I will certainly need to draw from that well in 2025; my new year starts with a daunting event that, though helpful in the long term, is very scary in the short. Beyond the shaky start, though, I’m hoping next year might just see me shift from chasing to obtaining.
Which brings me back to the positive, and to one of my proudest achievements from this year. I am marching steadily and rapidly toward the end of revisions on my manuscript. Next year, we will take it out and see if anyone bites. It would be an understatement to say it’s scary not knowing whether I’ll get the “yes” I’ll have spent years working toward. But as with the duology, I’ve given this book my all and ended up with something I’m proud of—and confident in. So what else can we do but proceed with hope?
Let’s all work to make sure the noise of our losses does not drown out the sweetness of our wins. As Rora says in Wildbound, we have walked too many miles to know the meaning of surrender, yes?
See y’all in the new year, with more regular posts. (She says, with marginal amounts of hope.) And maybe, if hopes and dreams come true, a new novel to announce? :)
PS: I read some excellent books this year. My favorites are listed below!
The Wolf Den trilogy, by Elodie Harper
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands, by Heather Fawcett
Letter to My Daughter, by Maya Angelou
A Letter to the Luminous Deep, by Sylvie Cathrall
The Lost Apothecary, by Sarah Penner
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraborty