As 2021 draws to a close, I’m wallowing in the familiar bitter sweetness which follows any ending. I’m not quite ready to move on—like when I linger on the last page of a captivating novel.

If like me, you’re waffling and wondering what’s next, now is the perfect time to review how this year went… before we jump into our next adventure.

Like before, I focused this post on what I accomplished as a writer over the past year. Because I worked from home again, I put the extra time to good use in pursuing my writing goals.

Moreover, I accomplished something I’ve wanted to do since I was eight years old…

I published my first novel.

Even if I had gotten nothing else done, I am so, so proud of finishing Oil and Dust, the first book in the Elemental Artist Series. A big thank you to every reader who took a chance to buy, read, and review my story. Your support has been like a beacon as I muddled a (another?) confusing, unusual year.

2021 Writing Accomplishments

• Learned about front matter, back matter, copyright, ISBNs, cover design, sizing, formatting, and the online publishing retailer platforms.
• Published Oil and Dust, the first book in the Elemental Artist series.
• Attended three virtual writing conferences: Plot Summit, 20Books Vegas, and PNWA’s Annual Conference.
• Attended two virtual workshops: Rainforest 2021, and the PNWA’s Winter Writing Intensive.
• My middle grade novel, An Ordinary Girl, was a finalist in a writing contest.
• Amsterdam Quarterly published my essay Baking with Meryl Streep.
• My short story (drabble) Measure of a Man was published by Horror Tree.
• Defenestration published my humorous short story Preservation in Love.
• Revised Graphite and Turbulence, the second book in the Elemental Artist series.
• Wrote a weekly blog post (on schedule!) to share what I was learning and the mistakes I made.
• Joined the Independent Book Publishers Association.
• Read and reviewed 7 ARCs for other authors.
• Pulled together all writing expenses and established my LLC.
• Read 65 books (and reviewed most of them!)
• Started a monthly newsletter.

Whew. In all, 2021 was a busy year, and I suspect 2022 will be just as full, so I’ll end now to enjoy the rest of my New Year’s Eve.

Happy New Year to you!

Header Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash