2025 - Double Time?

Well, we're over a week into 2025, and I'm already hammering away at my yearly writing goals! There are too many projects I want to work on, so I'm trying to up my output, using the lure of oh-shiny-new-if-I-finish-sooner. We'll see how long I can keep it up, though. Must get past Quitter's Day at least!

I also need to publish a couple titles this year, since last year ended with me only finishing my serial episode posts for Magic Morsel on Kindle Vella. My optimism is high right now, and I actually have hidden goals underneath my typical goals.

Double time. What does this mean? I have a certain word count planned for each week - that's my minimum, and the goal that would mean I'm still trucking along at a regular pace. But my extra goal is doubling all of it.

The information below does NOT include the double time, as it's mostly a personal challenge. Plus I'd rather not promise the world and only deliver half. It'll be a nice cherry on top if I have extra announcements and/or publications later in the year, though, won't it?

Here we go with the mantras. No change, as they're perfect for me.

2025 Mantras

❦ Just Write.

❦ Trust My Instincts.

❦ Focus.

2025 Upcoming Publications

❦ Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned (Magic Morsel, 1) - Spring 2025

❦ Intricate Agony (Fortunes of Fate, 8) - Fall 2025

Looks a lot like last year, huh? Well, aside from actual date estimates. This time, though, it's novel publication for the Magic Morsel title, after a revision (not too extensive, though). Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned might also be available on Amazon only for the first three months, releasing on other online platforms in Summer 2025.

2025 Writing Goals

❦ Yes Writing, Screw Cleaning - This should probably be a mantra, but it's me prioritizing more than anything - lol.

❦ Finish the revision of Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned - I've been getting through this at a nice clip, so this goal will be in the bag in no time.

❦ Edit & Publish Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned - I'm excited to release this as a novel!

❦ Draft, Revise, Edit, & Publish Intricate Agony - No stalling out on it this time. That means prodding my blah protagonist into action.

❦ Draft Hell's Bells (Devil Made Me, 1) - One of those projects I've been itching to return to.

❦ Draft Downward Spiral (Urban Unicorn, 1) - Yes, I'm pushing off the Zodiac Aegis series in favor of this series. We'll just say... Reasons.

❦ Newsletters - 9 planned/scheduled, and this year I'll be focusing on exclusive cover reveals and excerpts of my current work-in-progress. And I hope to build my list, too - so if you've been thinking of subscribing, Sign Up Here!

❦ Born to Write - Aiming for one post per month again.

❦ Networking & Social Media - Heading back to Capricon in February, and this year I'll be reading an excerpt from Dead As Dreams. If you'd like more info on when, shoot me an Email. And as far as social media goes, it's kind of hit or miss. Per usual, I'll keep posting on my Facebook Page with updates as needed. I hope to post pics to Instagram more often, but that can be crochet heavy at times. And Tiktok... Who knows if it'll even be around next month!

❦ Marketing & Promo - More fiddling with Facebook Ads. We'll see if I attempt any other ad platforms this year.

And that's what I hope to accomplish, minimally. I keep thinking if I can double time everything, I'll write so much more and jump into my extra goals! So here's hoping that excitement keeps me sustained, and I mash out ALL THE WORDS this year (without killing my keyboard).

Do you have any crazy goals for 2025? And how has the year treated you so far? If you're a writer looking to share your goals with a group of other writers throughout the year, please consider joining us at Writing Quest!

Writing bullet journal pic below of my current January progress.

2024 - Lots of Writing, Just Not Lots of Publishing

Well, the end of another year is nearing (that wording makes it sound like there's an echo - damned editor side of my brain), so it's time for me to reflect on all I accomplished. And freak out over how the last 12 months flew by so quickly. Like seriously, time messes with my head.

I got to say, even though I didn't publish a novel or short story, I'm quite proud with my output. Now to take a closer look!

2024 Publications

❦ Magic Morsel - I finished the first serial. Unfortunately, it now needs to move to series status, as Kindle Vella is closing its doors. You have until February 2025 to read it on Vella!

2024 Progress

If you'd like to compare the goals I posted at the beginning of the year, head over to the 2024 - Just Chill post.

❦ Drafted to the end of the first Magic Morsel novel, Leave No Dragon Stone Unturned, and halfway through revisions!

❦ Started drafting Intricate Agony (Fortunes of Fate, 8), but paused to figure out some issues with the story.

❦ Gemini's Echo (Zodiac Aegis, 1) - Are you surprised I haven't worked on this? My priorities are shifting as well, so it's definitely on hold for at least another year.

❦ I sent out 8 newsletters, though one was just an announcement about SPFBOX, and only 4 SHU-WPF Spotlights.

❦ This will be the 9th post on Born to Write for the year. Not one post monthly, but still a decent amount!

❦ As for social media & networking... Went to Capricon, but ignored social media most of the year. I also posted mostly about my crochet projects and new Etsy shop, Speculative Stitches. Eh.

❦ I also entered Dead As Dreams into the SPFBOX contest. Unfortunately, it's been eliminated.

❦ Facebook Ads - I've used them on and off. I still feel like I'm throwing money away, though. It's a rough road getting my writing in front of new eyeballs!

2024 Numbers

Like Lila in Magic Morsel, I love numbers! However, unlike her, they typically don't love me. Let's see what I ended up with this year.

❦ I drafted 42,807 words.

❦ I revised 44,943 words.

❦ That's a total of 87,750 words, which is more than the previous year, and super close to my just for fun goal of 100k!

❦ No editing, but a lot of reading through my writing and working on world bibles. Oops, no number for this one.

❦ 136 hours spent drafting & revising. Less than last year, but that's mostly because of the lack of editing.

❦ Only 4 hours of cover art, formatting, and publishing. This is what happens when I don't publish something - lol.

❦ The grand total of time spent on writing and writing-related tasks this year was 227 hours. For a Just Chill year, not too shabby.

Was it my best year for productivity? No. But I still feel like I made nice progress. Especially since I had a whole month off in there to deal with the mind-numbing project of organizing Youngest's stuff (this doesn't just encompass her room, as she has a bunch of things downstairs, too).

Here's hoping 2025 will require a lot less organizing and cleaning. ;)

Halloween 2024

I hope everyone's been enjoying spooky season this year. I know I have!

We haven't thrown a party since 2019 (due to Covid, a trip to New Orleans, and then we had to cancel last year for other reasons), but we finally did this year. And for once, I wasn't terribly behind in prepping the house for the party, so I actually got to enjoy putting out my decorations.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take more pictures of some of my newer deco. Oops. I was having too much fun running a haunted house tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) that I wrote for us. Heh.

I did grab a couple pictures, at least. Enjoy the spookiness!