in It’s a new year! Happy New Year to you! Today A Drift of Quills is taking a look back and a look forward. What happened last year, and what are we looking forward to this year? Read on to discover our inmost thoughts as we reflect on our bookish (mostly) progress—or lack thereof. 😀
I can’t help thinking “Wow! 2015 went by WAY too fast.” It really did. But ready or not, it’s 2016 now—I feel like I need to fasten my seatbelt for another speedy ride!
Thanks to Leeland Artra and the Fantasy Sci-Fi Network Writing Challenges I (finally) finished the first draft of a book I’ve been working on for far too long. (You’re probably sick of me dribbling tiny tidbits of info about it…) Revisions took a back seat to NaNoWriMo, but the good news is that I’m 47,000 words into the second book of the series. (Yes, I went back and tidied up my Very Messy Manuscript. I couldn’t help myself!) And… I wrote a fair number of words for another book in the same series, but it comes further down the road.
I am soooooo looking forward to releasing Book One soon, and Book Two by early summer. I have another book for Crow sketched out (Woot! Woot!) and plan to jump into that after I get the current project wrapped up—
And if that sounds confusing, it’s because I haven’t settled on a title for Book One yet, and because One and Two are kind of a “parts A and B.”
Yes, that’s clear as mud, isn’t it? Hang in there. As my hubby says, “It’ll all come out in the wash.”
Last year I also took part in the reading side of things with the annual challenge that Goodreads runs. I’m planning on doing that again this year. I keep telling my hubby that we need to set aside one night a week (at least!) for Reading Only. Generally, our lack of oomph degenerates into watching television, and the last year or two has seen some really good programs come out. Not to mention our binge-watching of Falling Skies… I must put my foot down! More reading, less turning into a zombie!
I really enjoyed these books and gladly recommend that you read them, too:
In Siege of Daylight (Gregory S. Close, where is the sequel? Huh? HUH?)
Warrior Mage, Chains of Honor Book 1, by Lindsay Buroker
Transformation, by Carol Berg
By Divine Right, by Patrick W. Carr
The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold
I did read more than these, but they were particular favorites during the course of the year!
Also on the schedule is the creation of the two covers I’ll need for the new books as well as reworking the cover for As the Crow Flies. And a map. I’m making a map! Or two! One for each world?
PATRICIA REDING
Author of Oathtaker and Select
Patricia’s website
At the outset, I am happy to say that 2015 went a bit better for me than 2014 had. That was the year from . . . Well, enough about that. For 2015, there were a few interesting events that I’d like to share with you.
I wrapped up Select: The Oathtaker Series, Book Two, in late May. To write the final scenes of a story is to reach a true milestone. One cannot compare the feeling to any other. (Starting the work is a bit akin to bearing a child. Publishing it is like setting that child free to live its life. It is scary but necessary …) (Read more!)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
What was your favorite post last year from A Drift of Quills?
What would you like to see us talk about? Let us know in the comments below!