Tag: year in review

Year in Review, Part the Second

Here we are again!

Before I get into it, I want to remind you that the paperback sale is still on through tomorrow! All my books are 20-25% off (depending on the title) directly from the printer, which gives you a better price than other retailers and gives me a slightly better cut.

So, I had a baby this year instead of putting out another book. She’s now seven months old, smiling and laughing, trying all different kinds of foods, and almost crawling (she really, really wants to). She’s the best thing I ever made.

I did manage to make some progress on other projects. The Book of the New Moon Door is now an audiobook read by Beni Vaganov and Rachael Brolin. It’s available on several platforms (and possibly your local library app), though we’re still waiting on Audible.

Last Watch Before Dawn now has seventeen pages for you to read! I’m devoting all my working time to this project in order to get a new book out for you next year. The first volume will be about 90 pages, so I’ve got a ways to go.

I also got to thirteen episodes of The Well Below the Valley. Since it’s not likely to become a book that you can hold in your hands anytime soon, I decided to put it on hold for the time being. Eventually, I’ll come back to it, and it’ll be an audio drama and a script/art book.

Next year, I’m hoping to try out a few new markets and events and revisit ones I liked but had to miss this year. Last Watch Before Dawn will be several volumes, so I’m going to be continuing with that, and I’d like to get a second project going as well, time constraints allowing. I’m also planning on putting together hardcover editions of my three existing books, and maybe this will be the year I finally get my Patreon into shape! You’ll just have to stick around to find out.

So, as always, thank you for being here. You make this all worth it. I hope 2026 is a gentler year for all of us.

Year in Review, Part the First

As is tradition, here are all the Songs of the Week for this year, collected into a single playlist. As of 12/29/2025, all the videos are present and in the correct order.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the second traditional part of the Year in Review and also a new page of Last Watch Before Dawn! The newsletter will go out on Wednesday.

Year in Review, Part the Second

Happy New Year!

Looking back at last year’s Year in Review, I had a lot of big plans for this year. Most of them didn’t happen. I did finish and publish Journey to the Water, finally, squeaking it in before the end of December. I also attended an astonishing SIXTEEN events and markets, which continues a terrifying pattern in which I quadruple the number of events attended each year (one in 2022 and four in 2023). Other plans, like finally fixing up my Patreon and working on the Tarot of the Gates, did not come to fruition.

Continue reading “Year in Review, Part the Second” →

Year in Review, Part the First

As is tradition around here, I have gathered all the Songs of the Week for 2024 into a single playlist (making sure that they’re all included, because sometimes I forget to add them and sometimes YouTube eats them). Enjoy!

The last bit of holiday travel has impacted my schedule, as you can tell from this post coming out on Tuesday rather than Monday. I’ll have the second part of the Year in Review up tomorrow, and the newsletter will also go out tomorrow. If you aren’t signed up for the newsletter and would like to be, put your email in the box at this link, and then check your inbox for a confirmation.

Thanks for being here. I hope 2025 treats you well.

Year in Review, Part the Second

This year has been rough, and I’m ready to put it behind me. Let’s focus on the positive:

  • I went to FOUR markets this year and met a lot of cool people!
  • The Book of the New Moon Door is finally published! As of this writing, it has sold 34 copies, most of them preorders.
  • Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea sold an additional 49 copies this year, which brings the total number of copies sold to 146. Two of them were purchased in Germany!
  • I worked on Journey to the Water and The Well Below the Valley, though I had to put both on hiatus while I finished New Moon Door.
  • Our garden did very well! I was happy to share some photos after planting.
  • I also released a short story, “The Howler.”

I had to put a lot of my other goals from last year on hold, but I hope to pick back up next year:

  • I want to finish, edit, and publish Journey to the Water.
  • I will revisit the script for The Well Below the Valley and start making it into something that might actually, eventually, be good, and hopefully finish it as well.
  • Over the next month or so, I’ll be rolling out some changes to my Patreon and Ko-fi, to better reward people who want to support me directly.
  • I’ll return to The Tarot of the Gates and work out a timeline for its eventual completion. I haven’t decided if it will involve serial chapters or if I’ll keep it under wraps. It’s also a collaboration with an artist, so her schedule and availability will have an impact.
  • I’ll be going to more markets and events, so be sure to stay tuned for those!
  • I want to do some video content (Twitch or YouTube) and have more nonfiction posts here, like discussion questions, talking about writing, that sort of thing. Maybe some more short stories, as well.
  • I might not get to a new manuscript this year (other than Journey to the Water), but my long-term goal is to be a hybrid author with both independent and traditionally-published books.
  • More garden pictures!

I’m more grateful than words can say for you, reader. You make all this worthwhile. May the new year bring you peace and happiness.

Year in Review, Part the First

As is tradition, all the Songs of the Week for this year are collected, in order, in this playlist.

I’ll have a new chapter of Journey to the Water up on Patreon today, and tomorrow I’ll have the second part of the Year in Review as well as last week’s chapter. Also, a year-end edition of the newsletter will go out this weekend. Here’s the signup link again.

This week, I’m also working on some book club discussion questions for The Book of the New Moon Door. A reader requested them, but I’ll make them available to everyone in website and downloadable PDF form.

It’s been a rough year. I hope the next one treats you well.

Year in Review, Part the Second

2022 is almost over. Where to start?

I lost my beloved cat Odin, my steadfast writing buddy, this year. He was the sweetest, most anxious boy, who needed constant hugs (over the left shoulder, so he could rub his face against your face). No one could ever replace him, but we did adopt a kitten in the summer. Shepard has adjusted well to her new home, and gets along all right with Solaire (who quite liked being an only cat for a few months).

This was also a year of civil engagement for me, as I voted in all four elections by mail so that I could work at a polling place each time.

I did some writing, too!

  • I published Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea in January! It is now a real book that you can hold in your hands, keep on your e-reader, and/or place on your shelf. If my math is correct, I’ve sold 97 copies so far. It’s not much, in the grand scheme of things, but that’s more people than I ever expected to read anything I’ve written.
  • I continued Journey to the Water, the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea, and though Eske’s adventures aren’t finished yet, he’s made a lot of progress.
  • Though I didn’t finish NaNo this year, I did complete Part Two of The Book of the New Moon Door! Those chapters will continue to post week by week as I begin Part Three.
  • I started adapting my Call of Cthulhu module, The Well Below the Valley, into the script for an audio drama, released (mostly) once a month on Patreon.
  • I started The Tarot of the Gates, a collaborative project with Brooke Marie Miller, my very good friend and the artist behind the Figuratively Speaking Tarot.
  • Also with Brooke, I went to my first event as an author: Bitchcraft Fair Milwaukee!
  • The second Reader Poll indicated some interest in an email newsletter, and I finally started it at the end of October.
  • Lastly, I did finish a (truly awful) draft of the “big book,” a 500+ page manuscript, and read it over.

Here are some of my goals for next year:

  • I want to finish The Book of the New Moon Door and publish it by the end of 2023.
  • I also intend to finish Journey to the Water for a 2024 release.
  • The script for The Well Below the Valley will continue! It’s too early to say when it will be finished.
  • I want to make a plan for the publication of the Tarot of the Gates book and deck, and get started on that.
  • I hope to go to more events in 2023 and sign more books!
  • I’ll return to the “big book” and start a better draft.
  • I’m not great at short stories, but I want to be better, and publish some short fiction on the blog.
  • I also want to write more discussion posts.
  • To help with my reach, I want to do more with Twitch and YouTube.
  • Depending on when my current projects finish, I might start a new serial novel.

Happy New Year! May 2023 bring you good things.

Year in Review, Part the First

It’s the last Monday of the year, when traditionally I gather all the Songs of the Week into one handy playlist and hope that YouTube doesn’t delete any of them before I can share them with you. As of this writing, they are all there.

Tomorrow I’ll have the second part of the Year in Review, when I make some lists of things that happened this year, and a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon. We’ll close out the year with The Book of the New Moon Door on Wednesday and a year-end edition of the newsletter.

Stop back soon! Have an excellent week.

Year in Review, Part the Second

This was a rough year. The pandemic continues, as does injustice, but all hope for change has not been thwarted yet.

Here are some things I accomplished this year:

  • I started streaming again, launching the Tea and Sidequests channel.
  • My husband and I bought a house in possibly the worst market ever, and moved in June! This involved a fight with our former landlord, which is finally reaching its conclusion.
  • I completed Part One of The Book of the New Moon Door!
  • The first Reader Poll told me that the most popular next project was the sequel to Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea, so I started Journey to the Water.
  • I left my day job to focus on writing full-time.
  • As a birthday gift to me, my friends bought me an ad on the One-Shot Campaign podcast, bringing in a few more readers. (Hi there!!)
  • I officially launched my Patreon! I have five subscribers now, and I really appreciate their support.
  • During NaNoWriMo, I rewrote Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea and am now preparing it for self-publishing in January. If you missed the cover reveal, you can take a look here.
  • I continue to survive the plague (vaccinated and boosted) and fight the good fight in whatever small ways I can.

For next year, I hope to keep this going:

  • I want to publish Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea by the end of January.
  • Journey to the Water will continue, and likely finish in late 2022, at which point I will start editing it for publication as well.
  • Part Two of The Book of the New Moon Door will begin soon, probably in February after Frost-Cold Sea is released.
  • I’ve had to put my “big book,” the 500+ page manuscript I hope to traditionally publish, on hold, so I intend to un-shelve it this year.
  • I also want to start two new projects this year, one for Patreon supporters only, and another for the blog (with Patreon subscribers getting chapters a week early).
  • Lastly, I plan to expand my audience, which means publishing, being more active on social media, and continuing to write.

Happy New Year, all. I appreciate you being here.

Year in Review, Part the First

Happy Monday! It’s the last Monday of 2021, so I want to share with you this playlist of all Songs of the Week for this year:

There will be a new chapter of Journey to the Water on Patreon this week, and I’ll also be on Twitch tonight helping to play Sekiro.

Tomorrow, I’ll have Year in Review, Part the Second.

I think that’s it for this week! See you soon.