Looking back, 2020 was my most productive year in terms of publishing, and one of my poorest in terms of new words. The majority of the words published got written between November, 2019, and March, 2020. In the 445 days since I started using 4thewords.com to keep track, I’ve written 609,523. A lot of those are in the trash because they didn’t work out, but I’m resetting the counter to sync up with the year.

Words aren’t that good a gauge, but they’re something I can count. The more words I write, the more stories come out of them. Making myself accountable for the words means I have to do all the other stuff, too, and helps me focus – usually. Sometimes it just makes me melt down.

So, word counts are important to me. A novel is 100,000 words more or less. I draft at about 1000 words an hour which means a novel is 50 days at 2 hours. I’m coming back to this because it worked for me very well for months before it all crashed.

So much happened last year.

Text releases of: Cape Grace, Finwell Bay, The Wizard’s Butler, and Dark Knight Station: Origins. I’m caught up on paperbacks except for Dark Knight Station. (I’m waiting for the inevitable typo reports before I commit to paper.)

Audio releases of: Home Run, Cape Grace, and – just under the wire – Finwell Bay.

I have a new series starting up that I’m co-writing with my daughter. The first book will probably be the first thing we publish in 2021. Look for Salt, Book 1 of the Barbarians, in February-March.

Yeah. I’m going to gloss over the pain and anguish and move on to my goals for 2021.

A. Restore a 2000 word daily average (by month) for the year. In theory that’s about five or six novels. I know how to do it. I just need to get it done.

B. Get my walking and talking back on track. I only did about half the days in 2020 and that’s bad for me – mentally and physically.

C. Publish at least three books. My TBW pile has the next Ishmael book on the top (tentative title Semester in Space), The Wizard’s Cat behind it, and third is either a new shaman’s tale or another Ishmael book.

So that’s it. 2020 is gone. I’m hoping for the best in 2021 and I’ve got plans, tools, and techniques that can help me achieve them.

Thank you for all your support over the last decade. Here’s hoping you all have a safe and healthy new year.

Time to turn the page.

Seems like I just did this a couple of weeks ago.

Status

Dark Knight Station: Origins
Still waiting on the cover. I’ll publish it as soon as I have the graphics.

Finwell Bay audio
Podium says 12/29/20. The assets went to Audible and should show up for pre-orders soon.

New Ishmael Book
Not moving yet but I’m still liking the idea. It’ll get there.

What Am I Reading?

I’m knee deep in Glynn Stewart’s stuff these days. I’ve just finished the ninth book in the Mage of Mars series and picked up Deception, Scattered Stars: Conviction Book 2.

Last Words

I think I’m getting my arthritis under control, but fans of my podcast have had a dry month in terms of listening. I’ve apparently fallen out of the habit of walking. The morning comes and goes without notice. Even with the alarm on my phone, my ADHD brain just says pffft and shuts it off.

But, as I always say, tomorrow’s another day …

Safe voyage.

Some how I forgot to post on the first. Probably because I wasn’t looking at my planner. My ADHD has been out of control for a few weeks and I’m also struggling with a flare-up of my arthritis.

Thanks to Wayne Edwards for nudging me.

Status

Dark Knight Station: Origins will have a cover soon. I’ve seen some mock-ups and like the way it’s going. The manuscript has gone to Podium already and will get slotted into their production schedule for next year. Stay tuned.

The Barbarian book I’m writing with my daughter is still in revision and has not been to the editor yet.

I’ve been pecking away at a new Ishmael book. It’s book one of a new series. I like the direction. I think it has a lot of legs. I just have to find some focus and get the words flowing.

All the published books should have a paperback edition. I’ve posted them and I’m planning on releasing ebook and paper for Dark Knight at the same time.

What am I reading?

I just finished Witching for Hope by Deanna Chase. It’s another in the Women’s Paranormal Fiction group that I’ve been savoring over the course of the year. This is book 2 and it’s just as good as the first one.

And since I’m late, before that I finished book 4 in Katie Salidas’s series, Method to Her Magic. I’ve been waiting for that book for a while and stumbled on it when Katie tweeted about book 5. Yes. I liked it.

I just started Night Shift Dragons, book 3 in Rachel Aaron’s DFZ series.

Last Words

These last few weeks have been impossible. Between my arthritis and my ADHD fighting over what’s going to be left over for writing, the answer has been “what?”

As I eye the impending year end, I’m feeling pretty good over all. I will get four books out this year – a feat I haven’t accomplished since 2007, the first year I started writing. In the year since I started using 4thewords, I’ve written 603k words. I’m pretty sure that’s the most I’ve ever done in a 12 month period.

I have a few weeks left to the year to get some more stories in the pipeline for 2021. Fingers crossed that I’ll not be spending them trying to breathe.