2014 in review!

Well, another year has gone by... and it's time to see if I achieved what I set out to this year! In my 2014 resolutions blog post, I listed the following goals for the year:

• Draft at least 3 books - achieved! :)
• Fully edit and publish Walking Shadow (Darkworld #2) - Yes! And Demon Heart (Darkworld #3) was accepted by my publishers, to be released next year. ^_^
• Get Darkworld 4 and 5 ready to send to publishers - achieved! :)
• Decide on the publication path for Beneath the Waves - I ultimately decided to shelve it...for now. I did, however, make a full self-publishing plan for next year!
• Read 250+ books - Yes!
• Try not to stress too much... Hey, I can dream. ;)
• Make a marketing action plan -  Well, I tried. The only thing I've seen any success with is my newsletter, so I'll definitely be focusing on that next year!
• Find balance - I'm starting to think this is impossible. :P
• Do something challenging - Well, I've certainly done some challenging things! I cuddled a python and went to YA Lit Con. ^_^
• Apply for new opportunities, and don't let fear hold me back! - Yes! 
• Get a tattoo - This didn't end up happening... yet! (I'm indecisive and have an insanely low pain threshold, if that's an excuse...)
• Go travelling - YES! I've been to Mallorca, Florence, and ICELAND! :D
• Go on a research trip - I did! (Went to London to research my current series!)

So I achieved almost all of my goals, and I'm pretty pleased with my progress! But the thing I'm proudest of is that I KEPT WRITING, even in the first half of this year when things were pretty rough in Writerland. Though I try not to talk about the negatives, the ups and downs of the business are inevitable, and can sometimes give you whiplash! But through the rejections and disappointments and false turns and negativity (sometimes from places I didn't expect, unfortunately), I kept writing. And even though some of my projects turned out to be false starts, I kept writing until I finally landed on that one idea I had to write... and the rest is history!

So, here's what I did!

January

• Finished pre-edits on Walking Shadow and signed the contract with CQ!
• Finished Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella.
• Finished the first draft of Indestructible (YA post-apocalyptic fantasy).

February

• Finished pre-edits on Demon Heart and signed the contract with CQ!
• Worked on a YA urban fantasy project.

March

• Finished first-round edits on Walking Shadow.
• Worked on three projects at once because I couldn't make up my mind. :P

April

• Succeeded at Camp NaNoWriMo for my post-apocalyptic sequel.
• Signed the contract for Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella!

May

• Went to Mallorca and cuddled a python. 
• Finished my post-apocalyptic sequel.
• Revised/rewrote my MG fantasy, The Clockmaker's Key.

June

• Worked on a new draft and revised my MG fantasy.
• Got new covers for Darkness Watching and three other Darkworld books!
• Struck with an epic idea for a Multiverse-spanning fantasy series...

July

• Re-proofed Darkness Watching for the re-release.
• Proofread Walking Shadow.
• Planned "Shiny New Series". A lot.
• Went to YA Lit Con! ^_^

August

• Darkness Watching re-released with a new cover!
• Signed the contracts for Darkworld books 4 and 5!
• Planned the Alliance series and started the first book! 
• Went to Florence and wrote a ton of words. :D

September

• Power-wrote the first draft of Adamant and self-edited, sent to betas, and started the second book! Made a self-publishing and writing plan.
• Celebrated my 23rd birthday at the Harry Potter studio tour!
• Edited and proofread Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella.

October

• Finished drafting Nemesis and worked on Delinquent: An Alliance Novella. 
• Worked on more revisions for Adamant.
• Worked on Demon Heart edits.
• Went to ICELAND! :D

November

• Drafted Collision for NaNoWriMo.
• More Adamant revisions.
• Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella was published!

December

• Walking Shadow was published!
• Finished drafting Collision. Started drafting Book 4.
• Adamant went to the proofreader.
• Got some fabulous new covers!
• Announced my self-publishing plan!

Total books drafted: 7 + 2 novellas.
Total new words written: 623K words. O_O
Number of laptops broken due to intense 15-hour writing days: 2. Oops. *hangs head*

Projects (the ones in bold are/will be published!)

Fear's Touch: A Darkworld Novella - drafted (21K), edited, sent to publishers, and accepted for publication. Two rounds of edits and a proofread. Status: Published!

Walking Shadow (Darkworld #2) - did pre-edits and signed the contract for publication. Two more rounds of edits and a final proofread. Status: Published!

Demon Heart (Darkworld #3) - I did pre-edits and signed the contract for publication, and then did round-one edits with my editor. Status: with publishers.

Darkworld Book 4 and Book 5 were accepted for publication! Status: with publishers.

Indestructible (YA post-apocalyptic fantasy) - finished draft, edited/revised with CP/beta feedback (70K - 42K written this year) Status: submission-ready!

Untitled YA urban fantasy thing - drafted (68K). Status: temporarily shelved until I figure out how to fix it...

Indestructible 2 (Not real title) - drafted (70K). Status: awaiting major edits.

The Clockmaker's Key (MG fantasy) - pulled out the draft I wrote in Oct-Dec last year and revamped it, then re-edited with two rounds of feedback (54K - 8K added this year). Status: submission-ready!

Untitled YA contemporary fantasy thing - drafted (75K). Status: awaiting major edits.

Adamant (Alliance #1) - adult/crossover urban fantasy, drafted, edited/revised, three rounds of beta revisions, more edits (80K). Status: with proofreader.

Nemesis (Alliance #2) - sequel to Adamant, drafted, edited/revised (83K). Status: beta-ready.

Delinquent (Alliance Novella) - prequel novella to Adamant, drafted (19K). Status: editing.

Collision (Alliance #3) - third in the Alliance series, drafted (78K). Status: editing.

Alliance 4 (Title tbc) - 60K words written.

So, it's mostly been a drafting year! But I'm thrilled that the rest of my Darkworld series was accepted for publication, and I'm well on the way to pulling the Alliance series together. And for the rest? Watch this space! I'll have a new post with my plans for next year up in a few days!