Well, 2013 is finally behind us, and though it was a rough ride, it ended nicely.
Tee, Sonic Boom and I celebrated a kiwi Christmas, which was just what we needed. We got to put our toes in the Wellington harbour on Christmas day, reconnected with family and friends, and generally relax.
Then we got home and it was -10C…ah well.
Each year I try and learn from my mistakes of the previous year—at least writing wise. So I decided I needed more of a long view in the planning process of the year. A lot of stuff was planned day to day, but I felt like I was missing out on getting the most from my time by somehow always seeming to be scrambling. So I bought a laminated 12 month calendar for the wall, and wrote on it all the commitments (like conventions) as well as all the things I wanted to work on that month for 2014.
It certainly gave me a new perspective, and I was able to plan for some projects that I have had on the backburner for some time.
I have nearly finished the first half of Immortal Progeny, my huge scope epic fantasy, with gods and monsters, so that the agent can begin pitching it.
Weather Child is in the editing process and I plan on having the ebook and paper version out on the 1st of March. The cover is be-autiful!!
Then I have a couple of other projects to get to. Two are YA titles. One is another New Zealand project that is tentatively titled Sea Witch.
In between I have several short stories and Kickstarter projects I am involved with.
As for the Ministry news…well Book Four, the Diamond Conspiracy has winged its way to our editor at Ace, and it is packed with exciting derry doings. Dawn’s Early Light comes out at the end of March…and we will have a free short story, and of course another season of Tales from the Archives to tempt our readers and listeners with. The RPG is out in the next few months and we’re super excited to see it. I am also starting to record the audio for ACX so that we can have Ministry Protocol available as an audio book.
This month I am most looking forward to going on a writer’s retreat with about ten other authors. It’s going to be fun and productive and I hope to make the most of the quiet. Alright, I admit the quiet might feel odd.
I hope you and yours came through the holiday season safe. What are you planning for in 2014?