2016 Writing Recap

For those interested, this post will serve as a recap of everything I wrote in 2016. I’ll also include a bit of what I hope to accomplish in 2017. If that’s your cup of tea, read on.

I began the year by completing the second draft of my novel Jack of Crows. That same month I began a new novel called The Myth of Light, which was then put to the side. I also started a short story called Shadow Sister and another novel called The Queen of Blood and Madness, which is the sequel to another novel that I’ll mention later. Those, too, were put to the side.

In February I began something new, a blog series titled A Single Leaf. To date there have been only two stories posted, The Land of Monsters and Hell’s Blue Orchard. The Land of Monsters turned into a novel, and I’m still posting the final parts of that. I wrote another short story based on tales of Baba Yaga, and I began a new novel that I’m co-authoring with Phillip Drayer Duncan. That novel is still in progress.

In April I began a new novel about a large magical family. I put that one aside in July as I couldn’t decide what direction it should take. That one is still on the back burner.

In May my first novel, Rhythms of Magic, debuted from Pro Se Productions. I also wrote a poem called The Nightmare, which was inspired by the work of Tony Brandl, artist and author of The Rabbit Hero.

After I put aside the novel about the large family I wrote several short stories, one about bards, one about Celtic gods, one about a young man who attends a Renaissance festival, one based on The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Andersen, one about a young woman trapped in her own house, and the last about a library with dark secrets.

In August I started work once more on Shadow Sister and The Queen of Blood and Madness. I finished Shadow Sister and began another novel that my publisher requested of me (more on that one soon). I also began two new short stories, one about a writer invited to an odd gentleman’s club, and the other about an evil female warlord. Both of those are still in progress. I also received edits for my second novel, The Queen of Moon and Shadow. I finalized those edits and sent it back to my publisher.

In September I began a new novel tentatively titled The Forest Guardian. I continue to work on that one off and on.

In October I finished the first draft of the novel for my publisher and began edits again on Jack of Crows.

In November I finished the first draft of The Land of Monsters and continue to post it on my blog.

I finished the final edits for Jack of Crows in December and sent it off to a major publisher (fingers crossed for good news!) With that finished, I focused once more on The Queen of Blood and Madness.

Final word count for 2016: 238,246

So, that’s all for 2016. Several novels started and many short stories written, and even a poem. But what’s in store for 2017?

I had intended to finish The Queen of Blood and Madness by the end of the year. Because that didn’t happen, I’m starting the new year by attempting to finish it. I have a little over 10,000 words left to go.

As soon as that’s done I’ll focus on The Forest Guardian again. My goal is to not work on another first draft until that one is completed, and I’m hoping to finish it in March.

I also plan to finish the second and third drafts of the novel I wrote for my publisher, The Land of Monsters, and The Queen of Blood and Madness, as soon as it’s done. After my beta readers go through them all, I’ll do a final draft for each. I plan to self-publish The Land of Monsters, and the other two will be sent to my publisher.

For 2017 I’m eagerly awaiting the debut of my second novel, The Queen of Moon and Shadow. As far as I know, this could be any day. I’ll let you all know as soon as I hear something. I also expect two more short stories to be published this year, one titled The Ageless Man of Screaming Rock and the other called All Hallows’ Eve at Midnight Absinthe. More on those soon.

After I finish The Forest Guardian I’ll begin work on the third in the trilogy, The Queen of Thorn and Ivy. I’ll also write a short story that goes with it, which will be called The Home of Forgotten Companions. Hoping to finish those in June. After that I’ll finally go back to the novel about the large magical family, which should be finished in September.

I’ll finish the year with another novel I’m tentatively calling The Land of Waking Dreams. If all goes as planned, I’ll finish it in December.

These are all first drafts, mind you. As I’m writing these, I’ll be revising the ones I’ve already written. The goal is to have a final draft of The Forest Guardian, The Queen of Thorn and Ivy, and the magical family novel all done by the end of the year. I won’t start revision on The Land of Waking Dreams until the following year.

On top of those, I also hope to revise the many short stories I wrote in 2016, as well revision on a novel tentatively titled Rosethorn Manor. I began this one while I was still in college and finished it shortly after I graduated. It’s long overdue for revision.

Also, if all goes according to plan, I hope to finish the first draft of the novel I’m co-authoring with Phillip Drayer Duncan. Because we both have other books we’re working on, this one tends to be put on the back burner a lot.

So there you have it. As you can probably tell, I have a tendency to jump to whatever project interests me most at the time, but my goal for 2017 is to be more disciplined and finish all the projects I’ve started. I also want to do much better on revision. In case you didn’t catch it, I finished the first draft of Jack of Crows in November 2014. I didn’t start the second draft until the end of 2015, and finished the second draft in January 2016. I then didn’t start the third draft until the end of 2016, finally finishing the final version in December 2016. I believe I can finish revision in a more timely manner, and will try my hardest to prove it this year.

If you stuck around this long, I hope I answered all writing-related questions you may have for me. I’m excited about this year, and can’t wait to share more stories with you all.

Now, back to writing.