2022 - Broke The Cycle!

Did I accomplish everything I set out to do in 2022? No. But that's OK. I didn't have a crappy year, like so many other even numbered years. Hell, I actually wrote more days and wrote/revised more words than 2021. Woo hoo!

Of course, 2022 wasn't without struggles, including many other tasks devouring my attention (stupid, messy, house... which is messier than at the end of 2021, if that's at all possible - heh). Some months didn't include much writing progress. One of these days, I'll get the hang of writing more when the kids are home. Probably when they're ready to leave the house - lol.

But this post isn't about what I didn't get done. Nope. It's all about what I accomplished in 2022. So here's the rundown!

2022 Publications

❦ Nymphs Need Love Too (Fractured Fairies, 5)

❦ Do Not Go Gentle (Prequel to Dead As Dreams)

Only one of the two I planned on publishing, but at least I published two, even if one was originally unplanned.

2022 Progress

If you'd like to compare what I accomplished to what I had planned, take a peek at 2022 - Keep The Momentum Going. But if you're just curious about my final numbers, read on!

❦ Revised Nymphs Need Love Too.

❦ Revised 46,190 words of Dead As Dreams (not finished like I wanted, but a lot of progress).

❦ Drafted and revised Do Not Go Gentle.

❦ Added 8,979 words to Magic Morsel - 9 new episodes.

❦ Unfortunately, no words added to Gemini's Echo.

❦ Newsletters - all 5 sent out, as planned. Chains of Nect: Obsidian's Obsession is complete!

❦ Born to Write - Hey, look at that, I blogged once a month. Twice this month, even.

❦ Marketing - I purchased the Ads for Authors course. However, I've only had a chance to watch a sliver of the videos, so I haven't experimented with more ads yet, aside from trying my hand at a couple Facebook ones before I bought the course.

Now for my favorite thing. It's number crunching time! Let's see all my totals.

❦ I drafted a total of 15,225 words.

❦ I revised a total of 63,055 words.

❦ I edited a total of 49,422 words.

❦ 123.47 hours spent writing, revising, and editing.

❦ 17.83 hours creating cover art, formatting, and publishing.

❦ And finally, 189.83 total hours on writing and writing related tasks (up to the time of this post, excluding reading and Haunted Unicorn Publishing work). I actually find this number quite interesting. It's lower than 2021, even though I wrote more days and produced more words in 2022. It either means I'm producing faster, or I spent less time with other writing tasks outside of drafting, revising, and editing. I'm guessing it's a mix of both.

I'm damned proud of all I accomplished, even if I shifted focus (for good reason) with some projects. Here's hoping that I'll be able to tackle all of my goals in 2023. Of course, that's for my January post. I hope you all had a great 2022!

New Orleans Fun! (Mostly Pictures)

In between the December madness (and by madness, I mean my to do list that has scrambled my anxiety into a tangled ball of thread), I'm posting some New Orleans pictures! I didn't want to wait to do this until January, so here I am. To make this quicker, I will attempt to be a writer of few words (this is so, so hard - lol).

My family and I went down to New Orleans in October to enjoy all the Halloween fun. This was my fifth time in New Orleans, hubbie's second, and my kids' first. We all had a blast!

The main event we went down for was the Krewe of Boo Halloween parade. Here's some of the awesome floats. Quite frankly, I'm shocked both of my kids could move with all the beads around their neck once the parade finished up. Don't ask how we fit it all in our suitcases flying home!

That last picture up there is of the plastic coins they threw. What an awesome souvenir! We also went to Boo At the Zoo - the first picture below shows the pool died red. Oh, no, the elephants are bathing in blood! XD The other fountain you see is just outside the Botanical Gardens in City Park.

I loved some of the Halloween decorations in the French Quarter. So fun!

Finally, I leave you with tons of pictures of yummy food. We went to so many great restaurants. And yes, even my kids enjoyed the local cuisine!