Good Riddance January...
Januarys have a way of throwing a wrench in plans, don't they?
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like I start out a new year with high hopes, thinking I can meet all sorts of amazing deadlines and be just an absolutely awesomely productive person.
And then, by the end of the month, I feel like I'm drowning and life is completely out of control.
Okay, I exaggerate a little, but not too much. (I mean, illnesses have gone through my family and friends' families, and it's pretty much been touch and go for awhile...) ;-)
Photo by Clément M. on Unsplash
The Canens Chronicles
There have been a few changes to my 2019 goals this year already. The biggest one is the release date of Canens Chronicles #1 (Fog & Mist). Instead of releasing the end of February, I'll be releasing it sometime in April or May. I'm not too upset about this, as it gives me more time to get things situated, like the map I want to include, and getting ahead with writing the next books in the series, but it certainly was a surprise change for me.
And since I'd been planning for a February release, I'm ahead of the game a little on everything that's required to publish it. I have the cover done (except for writing the back cover blurb), I have it professionally edited, I have everything pretty much done for book one, I just have to wait, which is sometimes the hardest part. But while I'm waiting, I'm writing. I have four planned books in this series, and I'm excited about all of them, so I'm plowing ahead with writing the third book while I take my time editing, formatting, and proofreading the first book.
There are really several reasons for this date change, none of which I want to go into at this point, but I'm overall comfortable with the idea of waiting an extra two months to release book 1. Better to wait to release the first book than to release too early and have a long time between releases. I still plan on releasing at least two, if not three, of the other books in the series by the end of 2019, so the books will simply be released closer together than originally planned--which is actually kind of cool.
The future of my "brand"
I've also planned to refocus my brand on my fantasy fairy tales mainly. Right now, I don't see myself pursuing the women's fiction as much as I originally planned. Instead, I see my focus on fairy tale retellings, fantasies of sorts, set in the world of the Seven Kingdoms.
While that's actually shocking to me (I never considered myself a fantasy reader or writer), I'm actually growing more comfortable with the idea. I'm most excited about the Canens Chronicles and find myself thinking of other stories that I can set in the world, whether within or without the construct of the Canens Chronicles. (Stories such as I've written for the JL Anthologies you can find on Amazon [https://amzn.to/2SnpYAY, https://amzn.to/2FZCuk7, https://amzn.to/2GbsUKq *Affiliate links.]
And while I do have a women's fiction book (Broken Time) that keeps pestering me, I don't foresee having the time to revise it this year. It's definitely on the back burner of my mind, and I'm brewing on what direction I want to take it, especially as it regards an issue that won't go away: assassination of a police officer.
Because this is something I feel so strongly about, and because I am relaxing the timeline of my Canens Chronicles releases, perhaps I will find the time to revise it in 2019. If I do--and am happy with it--I'll definitely be pursuing its publication. But at the moment, I'm just unable to devote the time to it and not quite certain which direction I want to take it. So it's currently on hold, and I have no other women's fiction pieces on my mind.
Monthly Recap:
- wrote just over 40,000 words on my Canens Chronicles. (Actually more than December, which shocks me!)
- my planned release date of the Canens Chronicles book 1 (Fog & Mist) has changed from February to April or May.
- blogging has been regular! I'm proud of this fact, actually. In addition to 40K on the Canens Chronicles, I've written about 7K of blogs. That's practically a NaNoWriMo event in January! ;-)
- it's been a hard month, personally. Illness, taxing events, and just changes and hard days have led to less than productive days. So I'm really happy with where I am right now.
What have you been doing?
Don’t feel shy. Drop me a line and tell me what project(s) you’ve been working on or what’s been keeping you busy. Or tell me your most recent achievement. :-) I’d love to hear and celebrate with you, no matter how big or small.
