Happy New Year!

2017 was a wild year, full of a lot of unexpected things.  It was a hugely emotional year, and though I’m happy to leave it behind, I’m also happy to have experienced all of it.  I hope that 2018 brings just as much balance as the year before did, or more.

In the last few weeks leading up to 2018, I’ve been thinking a lot about my reading and writing goals for this year.  I don’t really believe in setting resolutions, so that’s not what this is.  I’m not going to say I’m going to read more–I just am.  So, instead, I have goals for 2018.  And, for the first time, I’m not going into the new year telling myself I need to lose weight.  I’m not really telling myself anything.  I’ve accomplished a lot in the last year, and I’m happy with myself overall, so as I step into 2018, the only things on my mind are words.

I just set my Goodreads challenge for the year, and I am officially going to try to read 100 books in 2018.  It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but I’ve steadily been reading more and more books every year for the past four or so, so I think I can do it.  I’m going to try to start out strong–my goal for today is to finish Prosper Redding, finish the gypsy lore book I got yesterday, read at least 50-100 pages of Mike Collins’ bio, and something else yet decided.  I have a wealth of books going into 2018 already that I want to read.  I got a ton of books over the holidays, so expect January’s wrap-up blog to be overflowing with reviews.

My writing goals are pretty grand, as well.  You’re hearing it here first, so mark this day–Saints will get queried this year.  I thought, for a long time, that Mason would be my first published novel, and then, when that fell through, I was confident that it would be Pen boys.  Who knows, it still might be either of those, but currently, Saints is the strongest story I have written, and the one that has a clear end.  I’m nervous about how Pen boys will go as I continue to write.  I’m fairly certain some things are going to change in it, so I want to allow myself to write as much of it as possible before I start sending it out.  Saints, however, has only got two books in its main series (yes, that does mean I’ve planned other books outside of the Saints at sea spinoff), and I’m pretty damn sure that’s what I’m writing next.  I plotted out the entire second book the other day, and they’re all I’ve been dreaming about, so as soon as I get Alex’s novel edited, I’m going to write that.

So, Saints is going out, Saints 2 is getting written, Alex the Destroyer is getting edited–what else?  I’m going to write both the first Pen boys summer novella and their junior year, and hopefully have at least the summer novella edited by the end of the year.  I’m also planning on finally writing one of the following: Mason, the desert witch (Shri), or Pendulum (vampire detective).  In a crazy world, I’d also write Saints at sea, but we’ll see.

That’s at least four books getting written this year, one getting queried, and two getting edited.  It’s going to be a big, bright, beautiful year, and I can’t wait.