2024 Year-End Wrap Up

Day/Time: Sunday, 11:53 p.m.
Current state of mind: Thoughtful & relaxed
What are you wearing? Black fleece leggings & my husband’s college sweatshirt
What are you listening to? My Kink is Karma by Chappell Roan
What are you drinking? Mulled wine
Where are you? My office

It’s another rainy night, and as I’m sitting here listening to the raindrops patter against my window, I can’t help but think about how much I love this time of year. The time between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is my favorite. All of the chaotic hustle and bustle of the holiday season has finally dwindled, allowing me some much-needed time to unwind. It’s my quiet time, my time to relax and recharge, all while reflecting on the past year.

And much like other years, 2024 came with plenty of highs and lows, and twists and turns. But 2024 also packed some hard-hitting sucker punches, which knocked me off balance. I never imagined that I’d be dealing with brain fog during the last quarter of the year, but here we are. And let me tell you, brain fog is a writer’s worst nightmare.

There have been days when I’ve been at a complete loss for words, when I couldn’t think straight, let alone write a cohesive and creative story. And it’s been frustrating as all fuck. I love writing. I love creating and telling stories, but I haven’t been able to do it as often because my brain has refused to cooperate.

And while getting sick forced me to slow down, it didn’t keep me down. Sure, I didn’t hit my year-end goals—and while I am disappointed, I’m not wholly angry about it either. In fact, I’m rather proud of myself. I still made progress—and some progress, no matter how little—is still progress.

I worked on my WIPs. I wrote and rewrote. I edited and revised. I updated my website—writing and posting blogs, updating character bios and interviews—and I did all that while weathering this latest shit storm that hit my life.

I’m not a quitter. But then, quitting has never been a part of my DNA. It’s not who I am and it’s not someone I ever will be. So, I’m gonna keep going. I’m gonna keep writing and telling stories—taking breaks when I need to—but I’m not gonna give up. I’m not gonna stop doing the one thing I love the most. Sure, it might take me a bit longer to get my stories out there, but later is better than never.

2025 Goals

Nick and Karina’s Story. I plan on spending a lot of time with my favorite couple next year. And I honestly can’t wait to dive back into their world. Revisiting Nick and Karina’s story is like going home and spending time with your closest friends. You know them. You trust them. And you just feel so comfortable with them that you never want to leave them. That’s what it’s been like for me, and I think that’s why I’m so hesitant to send their story out into the world. I just don’t want this feeling to ever end. But I promised that I would publish their books, and I intend on keeping that promise.

But first, I need to polish the opening scenes—which I absolutely love, BTW—fine-tune the rest of their manuscript, and ensure that there aren’t any more surprise plot holes before sending it back out to beta readers.

Raichel’s WIP. Raichel has been an absolute fucking nightmare to work with this past year. I stalled out on rewriting her story because she shut down, went radio silent, and refused to cooperate. I’m hoping this year will be different. I’m hoping that she will open up, play nice, and actually work with me, so that I can finish rewriting her story. My goal for 2025 is to get this latest rewrite into the editing stage. Fingers crossed.

Magic and Medicine Series. Stavros and Alaina’s WIP is in the resting stage and awaiting edits. But before I start editing their WIP, I want to finish outlining and drafting the next two books: Darek and Ewelina, and Alex and Agnieszka. I’ve written up a loose outline for Alex and Agnieszka (the last book in the series), but I’m struggling with Darek and Ewelina’s story right now. They both shut down on me, and I haven’t been able to get much out of them.

So, my plan is to give Darek and Ewelina a break while I work on my other projects. Hopefully, they’ll come around at some point, and I’ll be able to make some headway on their WIP.

Secret Side Series. My dark romantasy series is simmering on the back burner for now. I still need to do more research and finish outlining the books, but the series won’t be my primary focus in 2025. I’ll start working on it more once my main WIPs are finished.

Self-care. I plan on making myself a priority next year. I want to read more, relax more, and spend more time with my family and close friends. My goal is to take frequent writing breaks—at least two days off per week—and give my mind some time to rest. I’m done pushing myself to brink of burnout.

2025 Website and Blog Goals

Character Blogs. Character blogs will continue as usual next year. I have blogs planned for Nick, Karina, Ryan, Ash, Raichel, and possibly Stavros. The theme for next year’s blog series is A Blast from the Past, where you’ll get a chance to see what my fictional peoples’ lives were like prior to the start of their stories.

Nick will kick things off in 2025 with Adopting Aria, which is the story of Aria’s adoption. Duh. His blog might be a two-parter, but I’m not sure yet. I still need to rewrite, edit, and revise his backstory, which is sitting at over 7,000 words. I’m hoping to cut some of those words, but if I can’t get it trimmed down enough then it’ll be divided into two parts. I really won’t know until I’m done editing it.

But what I do know is that his blog will be written in third person POV. I started writing this story in third person limited, and I’m going to keep it that way. Third person limited is the POV I’m most comfortable writing in, and it’s what I use in all my stories, except for character blogs. But that will likely change this year, along with the format.

I’m hoping to post Nick’s blog by the end of January or beginning of February. I’ll have the Winter Blog Schedule posted by this Friday, January 3rd, which you’ll be able to find on the Announcements page.

Writing Life Blogs. Writing Life blogs will also continue next year. I have a few topics in mind for next year’s blogs, including Astrology and Character Development, A Night in My Writing Life, Fictional Pet Peeves Part 2, and a look into what it’s been like rewriting Nick and Karina’s story. I won’t be revealing spoilers, but I will be talking about why I’ve been keeping their latest rewrite under tight lock and key.

Character Interviews and Mood Boards. I plan on wrapping up the character interview snippets by the end of next month. Darek’s interview will be up next, followed by Ewelina’s, Alex’s, and Agnieszka’s snippets.

Once I finish posting the interviews, I’ll start working on character mood boards. I have aesthetic boards planned for Nick, Karina, Raichel, and Stavros.

Life Bites. I have written a couple of new life bites—which are just snippets from my slices of life—and plan on posting them sometime next year.

Outtakes. I’ve decided not to post Stavros’s story outtake, or any other story outtakes on my website. With AI scraping on the rise, I need to gate my content—which will include character blogs—and safeguard it from the plagiarism machines, while still making it easy for readers to access.

I have several options on the table, with one of them being Substack. You would need a subscription to access my content which would include character blogs, story outtakes, sneak peeks, character art, and other bonus story features. As of right now, I don’t plan on charging a subscription fee, but that might change in the future. A girl’s gotta eat.

As soon as I get everything sorted, I’ll post an announcement on the Announcements page, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

That’s all I have for you today. Once again, I want to thank you all for joining me on this wild and chaotic journey. It’s been one hell of a bumpy ride, and I’m so happy that you all have stuck it out with me. Thank you so much for visiting my site and reading my blogs. Your continued support means the world to me.

I also want to thank my husband along with my close family and friends who have encouraged me and lifted me up every single step of the way. I wouldn’t be here without any of you, and I love you all more than words can ever express.

As always, I want to wish everyone a happy, healthy, and safe New Year.

Cheers,