Looking back at New Year’s Day 2019, I had no idea how much worse it was going to be. I remember having such high hopes and big plans.
So screw this 20/20 hindsight thing. Let me get the statistics out of the way.
Books published: zero. I haven’t had a strike out year since 2013. On the upside, that 11 months I spend on Cape Grace is paying off in a really good story. I just need to get it back from the editor and poke my cover artist to get that work to me. Both of them have had worse years than I had, so I’m finding it difficult to get too salty with them.
Books drafted: Two and a bit.
Cape Grace: Just over 100k words. The story is complete.
Barbarian 1: (tentatively titled Hostage): 90k words. It was my NaNoWriMo project and I’m waiting for my co-writer to get her part to me so we can see where the story goes.
The Wizard’s Butler: 104k words and nearly done. It’ll come in under 110k, I think so probably before the end of the week.
Written words: 306,641. 197 out of 365 Days
That pretty much sums up 2019. I wrote – and recorded the effort – only 197 days last year. To be fair, I spent a lot of hours reading and tweaking and throwing out and rewriting stuff that I didn’t count at all. Cape Grace was a monster that devoured me in tiny bites.
However in the last 79 days? 230,683 words Basically 2/3rds of my word count for the year in the last quarter. 72k for the month of December alone.
I’m still using 4thewords to gamify the writing. As I said last month, I’m planning on 2k a day, every day, while doing the production work after I get my words for the day. I managed it every day in December. We’ll see how long I can keep it up.
My scheduling has been thrown for a loop this month because of some health issues, but I’m on the mend and looking forward to ironing out the wrinkles in my schedule as the year progresses. I need to rebuild that walking habit, if only for my weight control.
What Am I Reading?
Book 3 in Glynn Stewart’s Light of Terra series. I’m enjoying it immensely, but I always like Glynn’s books.
Audio Updates:
Suicide Run dropped on Christmas Eve.
Home Run is scheduled for “February, 2020.” I don’t have a firm date yet.
Tanyth … still waiting.
That’s it for now, Crew.
Thank you for hanging in this year and cheering me on. I’m looking forward to a better 2020 and hoping all the best for you and yours in the new year.
Many of us have muddled years. Look on the bright side: you’re still working on it all.
2019 needs to be thrown out of the airlock. Let the Deep Dark deal with it.
We love you, Nathan. Whatever bone you throw our way will be good. Take care of yourself first. Your crew awaits your next orders while keeping the blowers running and the coffee urn full.
Big hugs, dear. And a Happy New Year.
your books are awesome, thank you!
(but i only enjoy via audio-book … so much looking forward to Tanyth Fairport #2 !!)
happy new year 🙂
Happy New Year, Nathan. I am a relative newcomer to your work and have bought everything you’ve written, and absolutely love them all. I hope you publish one of your new works this year so I can be first in the digital line to read it. But more importantly – Take care of yourself!
Actually you have a big jump start on 2020!! You accomplished a lot in 2019. You wrote a lot. And don’t forget how you turned around that medical challenge again. And this time I think you put a new and better spin on the process than you did the first time. I think 2019 was a major turning point in some internal wiring. I realize that you are using that game as something to give immediate gratification, but the point is that YOU found it and made the decision to use it. It’s hard to keep slugging away at something when the reward doesn’t come until months later. That’s something I just learned today, btw, so I’m no expert–not yet. 🙂
Every time I cycle through, I find better solutions. Not having the wall calendar had a bigger effect than I thought it would. Finding a better journal meant having a journal that didn’t work as well. The 4thewords thing is cheesy but I’ve got my 2k for today and it’s only 10am. I need to step away from the keyboard and get out for the walk because that’s something I’ve really missed but have let fall away as I dealt with the medical issues.
Thanks, Anita. It was a major turning point and you’ve helped me see it – not just here, but all through the last year.
Dr. Lowell, Only read through Suicide Run twice since the 24th. So, working back through Trader tales. They’re like old friends, you know the type, comfortable and easy to get along with. I was thinking about your “off,” year in 2019. That’s one year out of seven … almost like you’re working a full week with a day off.
Looking forward to “Home Run,” and hoping you get Ish & Pipp back together with the ladies soon.
Thank you for your story telling prowess.
Happy New Year, Captain!
I finally got my wife to start listening to Trader Tails, and now we’ve started into Smuggler’s Tales and Seeker’s Tales. I suspect we’ll need to listen to South Coast while we eagerly await Home Run on audio. I wouldn’t want her to get to the end of By Darkness Forged before finishing that!
Good luck this year, Nathan. I didn’t realize until this update that you did not publish a new novel this year. Every month I come to your website to see your monthly update and am gratified to hear your progress amd your general thoughts. So, from my perspective, you have definitely been around this year and providing some insight and enjoyment for your fans.
I look forward to Cape Grace anything else from that universe. The Wizard’s Butler has me intrigued just from the title.
Thank you.
Welcome to the new year Captain!
Everyone has a bad year once in a while, the important thing is to learn from the past and use it to improve in the future. Be glad that you are alive, loved by the people around you and appreciated by all your fans for the wonderful stories that you continue to give us year after year.
Your stories are worth waiting for (Ok I admit I wait for them impatiently but they are still well worth the wait ) and we love them all. Keep up the good work and know that we appreciate your efforts.
No pressure, well maybe a little. 🙂 Are you planning a series with Ishmeal, Pip, Natalia, and Zoya?
Yes. I don’t know what it’ll look like yet, but yes.
So glad things are looking up for 2020 (seems to be true for so many of us!) – I wish you all the very best!
I just bought Cape Grace (Amazon Australia) and now I have to put it down at 60% read because I have to do the adult thing and work tomorrow – Nathan it is fantastic and I just know when I actually get to the final chapter I’m going to need to know where Sarah, Otto and Jimmy end up next in this storyline. Thank you
Nathan, I wish you the very best in 2020, not just because I am jonesing for more solar clipper and Tanyth and… really, anything you write.
I look forward to your continuing adventures all around!