A message from the great beyond… and plans for 2022.
If you’re signed up to my mailing list (sign up in the footer if you’re interested… I forget the link to the Mailchimp page because I’m a BAD GURL™), you might already know what I’m planning on achieving in this terrifyingly futuristic sounding year of 2022, but I understand not everyone is an email signer-upper so why not utilise this blog space a little more with some good old fashioned Writer Updates?
This morning I had an email from myself from a year ago.
Every year I write an email to my future self, using a website called FutureMe, and every year I’m surprised. I legitimately never remember I’ve done it until I get the email and then I read it immediately because I’m my favourite correspondent.
What did the email say, you might ask? Well, some of it was about the pandemic, naturally, but I did talk to myself about how the NaNoWriMo novel I was writing was going and there was mention of how I was in talks with my dear friend and trusted formatter, Ines, about publishing my novel The Deathless.
My past self states;
‘I really hope that it went well and you went all out with trying to get people to read it. I know, as well as you, that having faith in your own work seems…dumb. Like, you’re not that great and you don’t think others like your work, but honestly, that’s a crock. If you like your own work then you have to accept other might like it too.’
Turns out Past Me was full of, what you might call, unbridled optimism and self belief. Wow. Go her.
You see, whilst I love writing, editing, and publishing and everything in between, I am terrible at post-publication, which is not the best when you want to self-publish. Or publish traditionally. It’s a mental block, really, and Past Me was right in the fact that I shouldn’t shy away from the work I’ve done.
With that in mind I will be upping my game in terms of advertising and will be running some social campaigns in the near future. It’s time for me to really give myself a little push over the hurdle I’ve been stuck at for so long.
Bringing it back to the now, and the rest of this year I am going to be working full time on finishing my NaNoWriMo 21 novel because it is, without a doubt, one of my most favourite pieces of work to date and I’m planning on pushing, pulling, dragging, and cradling this bad boy to the finish line so that it’s ready to be sent to agents by the end of summer (wow, that’s ambitious, I know!). That milestone might move, but for now, that’s where I’m at.
Once the first draft has been completed it will be left for a few weeks to marinate and in that time I’ll finish up the last edits on the 2nd instalment of Seven Princes of Hell, and start planning its publication.
And if you’ve been waiting on the 3rd instalment of Etta, you will also be getting that this year as well. It’s partially written but i hit a snag and delved into other projects to avoid it, but I can no longer put it off! Etta is currently sitting on her bed clutching a very large and old book of magic stuff, and she keeps shouting my name because she doesn’t know what she’s supposed to do with the information she’s just learnt. I really need to go and help her out!
Finally, if you’re a VIP member (aka, signed up to the mailing list), a brand new short story will be available on the VIP page later this year.
It’s going to be a fun and work-filled year, but in the best way. Last year really felt like a slog, but I feel like this year I have a great plan and a better attitude towards everything, and I’m working on balancing all of my other jobs in a more manageable way (hello, full time work, running an online bookshop, and perhaps taking on another secret writing job this year).
If you’ve read this far, thank you! I probably don’t say it enough but if you have read anything I’ve written you are a super star. If you’ve reviewed it, you’re basically a saint. Reviews are GOLDEN.
Alright, I’ve written enough to make anyone’s eyes go blurry so go forth, read all the books, and eat all the pizza in 2022.
- Sam
