Happy New Year! Hello 2022!

Hello and Happy New Year to you!

At the beginning of 2021, I didn't have much in the way of definitive plans when it came to writing and publishing under this name. Partway through the year I set some small goals but had trouble meeting them at the times I wanted to. In an update post, I shared my plans for the rest of 2021 as well as 2022.

So, what did I end up accomplishing in 2021?

One thing I finally accomplished was finalizing the new covers for my two fiction books, If Only We and Not Until Tonight. I also managed to reformat Not Until Tonight (with some minor changes with grammar issues and errors found post-publishing) and started to revise If Only We. I also did some writing under my pen name and while it wasn't as much as I wanted to, I still feel like I've made progress on something.

As far as the non-writerly-type goals, I was able to learn German daily with Duolingo (I had to use a few streak freezes, but I made up for it by doing extra practice). Also, I upped my original Goodreads Reading Challenge goal from 27 to 36 and ended up reading even more books.

Last year my word of the year was MINDFUL. I'm not sure how much I put the word into practice, but I feel I did take some time to be more in tune with myself. I didn't end up writing in a journal daily. However, I did write some new poems that expressed my inner thoughts and feelings, so I think there's something in that.

Enough about 2021... Let's get into 2022, shall we?

First and foremost, this will be the year I publish something new. I have a novella that I wrote a couple of years ago that just needs to be revised and edited. I also have ideas for at least 2 more books set in that town. Whether I can get to those this year is up in the air (as I currently have 2 novellas I'm writing under my pen name and a huge project that I'm in charge of), but I would like to at least get the first novella out there. I'm also considering getting back to sharing poetry again. I will also be finishing my revisions on If Only We and republishing on its anniversary.

When it comes to my other goals, I'll be aiming to read 27 books this year again (which will likely be upped to 37 if I'm a fast reader like last year). One thing I want to do differently with my reading is to get caught up on a bunch of books I've been meaning to get to for the longest time. I went through my Kindle and Nook apps and wrote down a bunch of books on pieces of paper. These books are ones I was super excited for or ones that everyone recommends or books that have been made into movies or those books that you've clicked on multiple times to purchase only to find out that you already own it. I'll also continue to read new books along the way, too, but this way I can catch up on that pesky mountain high TBR by a little bit.

My word of the year for 2022 is...

I looked back at a post on my old book blog where I shared my word of the year plus a bunch of accompanying words. When I was reading them off, the word RESET was the one that popped out for me. 2021 was one of those years where a lot of my plans fell to the wayside for one reason or another and I had to press pause on fulfilling some of my goals. While I dabbled away at some smaller steps toward bigger goals in the last quarter, I hadn't fully restarted. So, 2022 is my reset year, the one where I finally kick myself into gear to reach goals I've set to the side for too long.

Sometimes new years have a way of starting off strong and then finishing with little to show for it, but I'm not going to let this year be another one of those years. I'm determined to set aside time to accomplish as many goals as I possibly can and to not let anything stand in my way.

Thanks for reading and I hope you have an amazing new year!

Plans for the Rest of 2021 and Beyond

Hello everyone!

As you may recall from my last update post, I had some plans for the rest of this year with regard to cover changes, formatting, and revisions. I thought I'd share how all of it is coming along.

As a reminder, here's what I said the plans were:

"My goal is to have the covers updated everywhere by the end of May, formatting on Not Until Tonight updated by summer, design a new cover for Now You Can See by the fall, and have If Only We revised and upload the new version by the time we reach its anniversary (October 27th)."

Here's what has (and hasn't) been accomplished:

Update Covers Everywhere: Yes!! I shared them everywhere, including here on the blog. Check out the posts to see the new covers of If Only We and Not Until Tonight if you missed it.

Format Not Until Tonight: Yes!! I updated the formatting on Not Until Tonight and uploaded it to all retailers.

Create Cover for Now You Can See: Not yet. I was hoping to get myself a tablet this summer so that I could create the design I have in my mind. Unfortunately, my medical bills from the last year have prevented me from being able to get the tablet.

Revise & Republish If Only We: Not yet. While it isn't October 27th yet, I can already tell you this will not happen on time. I did get the revisions started, but it's actually going to take longer than I originally anticipated.

What are my plans for the rest of 2021 then?

When it comes to writing and publishing, I've decided to press pause for the time being. I discuss the reasons why on my Lilly blog, but I'll share a short version here.

I've been facing some new medical issues lately, which included the possibility of needing another surgery due to a new cyst being discovered on my ovary. Thankfully, the cyst has since disappeared and I no longer need surgery. However, before finding that out, I did some soul searching and decided that ultimately I need to spend the rest of 2021 taking a step back from everything. I haven't been in a good headspace all year in general and it has affected my ability to write more than I thought it would.

The plan for the remainder of the year is to simply do what I can. I'll still be writing, whether it's actually writing, revising, or outlining, but I'm not setting up deadlines or specific goals. I want to utilize this time to take care of myself in all aspects of life. This way I'm able to go into the new year refreshed and less anxious about pushing myself to do more than I can handle.

In that case, what are my plans for 2022?

First and foremost, I want 2022 to be the year I publish something new. There's a first draft of a novella that I completed a couple years ago that needs to be thoroughly revised. It's the first in a series, so there will be more taking place in the same small town featuring other characters.

Also, next year will be the year I share more. My Facebook page, Facebook group, and Instagram have been pretty much barren for years aside from a handful of posts. While I am active on my Twitter account, I don't talk much about my books or writing. Another thing is that I would like to start sending out newsletters. I set up an account for a newsletter but never followed up on it since I didn't have anything new to share.

Since If Only We isn't going to be ready on October 27th of this year, I would like to aim for next year. It's over a year away, which is plenty of time for me to slowly make my way through the story.

And that's about it!

I'm looking forward to all these amazing things and can't wait to share everything with you! I'll be back on here at the end of the year as well as the beginning of 2022 telling you all about what's been going on and is coming in the future.

Take care, everybody!

Not Until Tonight Gets a Brand New Cover

Hello everyone!

Not Until Tonight has a new cover, has been lightly edited (to fix a few errors found post-release), completely reformatted, reuploaded on all platforms, and the cover is up everywhere! In case you haven't seen the new cover, I'm officially sharing it here now.

The Old Cover

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The New Cover

What do you think? I designed the new cover myself and I think it turned out pretty good. And luckily for you, I have Not Until Tonight available for FREE for a limited time. So grab your free copy before it goes back up to regular price!