Last Quarterly Update & Year End Review

It’s hard to believe, but this will be my last post for 2021. As much as I couldn’t wait to say goodbye to 2020, I have to say I’m definitely ready to say goodbye to 2021. This past year had its ups and downs, like any other year, both personally and professionally, but it also felt like an extension of 2020. I’m ready to push further away from the reach of 2020, and into a New Year where a blank slate allows us to believe in the promise of good things to come.

As for 2021, I can’t say I’m ending the year with a bang like I hoped I would. The last quarter of this year resulted in less productivity than planned, but it couldn’t be helped due to obligations beyond the writing desk that kept me away from the chair more often than not. I may not be as happy with my fourth quarter results, but when I review the year as a whole, it went pretty well.

Read on while I share my last quarterly update and year-end review.

Writing

My best writing this past quarter was in November, when I tackled NaNoWriMo…the month-long writing challenge. The goal is 50,000 words in 30 days (1,666 words every day) and while I didn’t reach that goal, I ended the challenge with over 40,000 words and a first draft close to completion in my new series. This will be the second book in a new series I began to write earlier this year. Even though the first book is completed, it won’t be published until next year. For readers who are waiting for the next installment in the Jorja Matthews mystery series, I’m also working on that novel with plans to make it available next year. I will always enjoy spending time with the characters in the Jorja series, but I’ve also had fun getting to know my new characters in the new series.

Publishing

Originally, I had plans to publish the first book in the new mystery series before the end of this year. But those plans changed when I decided I needed more time to focus on the launch of a new series while I also work to complete the second novel. I hope to launch the first book in the new series soon with the release of the second book in that series not long after. The next Jorja Matthews mystery should be published next summer or early fall, and it will be the seventh in the series. I announced the news about publishing Web of Lies, the sixth novel in the series this past June. It honestly feels more like a year ago, rather than six months! This has been a strange year, I guess.

Learning

I didn’t take part in as many webinars or other writing events this past quarter. There was just too much else going on and when I was at my desk, it was more important for me to focus writing. I know I signed up for a few webinars or online courses, but I either forgot or had scheduling conflicts. And honestly… that’s okay. Something has to go when the schedule gets tight.

Reader Outreach

I’ve sent out my newsletter every month and it has officially been just over a year since I shared my first newsletter with subscribers. I continue to do what I can to increase my subscriber list and I enjoy sharing monthly musings and updates. If you’re interested in signing up, visit my home page to sign up. I also post regularly on Facebook, where I enjoy hearing from readers, and I share semi-regularly on Instagram and Pinterest. You can find the links for each social media page at the top of this page under my name if you want to follow me.

While I didn’t take part in any events this past quarter, this year was a great change compared to having zero events in 2020. This past year, actually in May, June, July and September, I took part in a local Saturday creative arts market. I had no idea what to expect, as it wasn’t just a “book event.” It was an outdoor market where multiple vendors with various types of crafts participated to offer something unique to visitors. I really can’t express enough how much fun it was to finally be able to meet readers in person, make new friends, and share my books with others who could enjoy them. I was pleasantly surprised at the end of the last event in September when the first novel in the Jorja Matthews mystery series made it to a best seller list in private investigator mysteries. I loved the experience I had with the market and I’ thrilled that I have events to look forward to next year.

Reading

I’ve read more books this year than I have in quite some time. At the beginning of the year, I made a Goodreads pledge to read 50 books in 2021. As of today, I’ve read 53 books and I’m currently reading two more that I may or may not complete by this Friday. I continue to add to my TBR pile, but now that I’ve been able to make a decent dent in it, I feel less guilty when I continue to buy more books!

Blogging

I’ve continued to blog weekly and while I think I posted a day late once or twice this past quarter, I have consistently posted at least four times every month for the whole year. That’s a hefty schedule to keep and I really felt the struggle when I had so many other things vying for my attention these past few months.

I find myself surprised by the fact that I’ve been blogging for 10 years as of this coming Friday. My first post was one of my scariest moments, when I decided to share my secret about writing my first book. It’s been quite a ride, as I continued to learn while I plodded along with writing books and navigating the blogging world at the same time.

My posts have changed over the years, and this past year was no exception when I made the biggest change yet to my blogging schedule and topics. The types of posts I continued to share all year include:

• Character Coffee Chats which include character interviews from the Jorja Matthews mystery series. There are now twelve coffee chats on the blog and I’ve enjoyed sharing details about each character and their backstory.
• Nonfiction Nuggets include installments every other month with topics that relate to my series in some way. The most recent topic was about how a high school friendship helped solve a kidnapping case.
• P.I. Posts are installments shared every other month opposite Nonfiction Nuggets, which include unique stories and interesting case reviews. The most recent post was about how a father was able to forgive the unforgivable.
• And I’ve continued to share posts about writing or other topics that interest me or speak to me in whatever season I’m working through.

I have two other blogs I manage, but this past year I’ve had little time to keep up with them. The first is on my YA website, where I had hoped to post about every quarter. My YA novel, Born or Bred, was published last year but I haven’t spent as much time marketing that novel as I had planned. It’s on my radar for next year, so I’ll do my best to do more with the book where that’s concerned.

For fun, I also share posts on my blog, Jaunts with Jozee, about parks, beaches and forests we visit with my Border Collie around the PNW. I have past trips I still need to share, but this past year I wasn’t able to keep up with the blog on a regular basis.

Changes going into the New Year

This past year I published another novel, completed a novel that’s ready for publishing and I have a first draft of the next novel almost ready for editing. Overall, I feel good about that. I’ve also continued to blog regularly, I was finally able to attend events and I’ve continued to reach out to my readers with regular monthly newsletters.

I can’t complain when it comes to what I’ve been able to accomplish. However, moving forward, I’ve had to make some decisions about what I need to do to give myself the time to work on what matters the most. Writing matters the most. If I’m not writing, the rest of it doesn’t really matter. Preparing and sharing the newsletter is enjoyable and while it does take up a lot of time, I will not give up having that regular contact with subscribers.

So what has to give?

I’ve decided it will have to be the blog. The blog isn’t going anywhere, but how often I post will have to change. I enjoy sharing my blog posts, especially the different series I began at the beginning of the year, but the blog takes up more time than it should. So beginning next year, I’ve decided to reduce the amount of times I post. To give me more breathing room with my writing and the newsletter. It’ll be a work in progress, but I think blogging one to two times per month is much more reasonable.

Planning for 2022

I still need to work on my business plan for the first quarter of 2022 (the link shares the post when I was using Blogger for my blog), and I’ll be working on a project list and monthly tasks relating to each of my projects for next year (I enjoy using mind maps). But that’s the fun part of ending the year and moving into a brand new year. All those possibilities you can dream about as you map out what you need to accomplish to reach your goals!

Whatever your goals, whatever your dreams, I hope you enjoy ringing in the New Year with a solid plan in mind that you can follow as you work toward what you hope to achieve. I also wish you a year full of good vibes, promising opportunities and many blessings.

Happy New Year!