January Writing Round-Up

Yesterday saw the end of the first month of a brand new year, and I have been working hard on the writer side of things. Yes, some gaming happened, too, but mostly the focus was on writing, as I have some books I'd like to see released this year. So, what did I get up to, you ask?

Well, it certainly wasn't mischief...or not much of that, anyway.

Writing

Ghost writing took up a lot of my time, and I completed 129,690 words across multiple projects. It was a LOT, but buying a house and moving interstate late last year coupled with two week-long reactions to my covid vaccinations slowed me up some, so this took priority.

Work on The Undiscovered, the third novel in the Strays of Lunar One series, recommenced very late in the month and received a full revision. Writing commences this month.

Work on A Year of Practicing Poetry, the first book in my Playing with Words series commenced with a revision of what I already had and 1,427 words.

Editing continued on Another 365 Days of Poetry, the sixth book in my C.M.'s Collections series and is now over half-way complete, putting that book on track for a May release. 

And 16,533 words worth of notes were written.

Releases

The Unwilling, the first book in the Strays of Lunar One series released on January 5.

Covers

I took delivery of two covers for books releasing later this year, both by artist Jake, at JCaleb Designs, both of which I'll reveal at a later date. 

YouTube

Video-wise, I began winding back the writing videos on my gaming channel, in preparation for the release of a dedicated writing channel later this year, and started planning for that. I have some new skills to learn for that, so stay tuned for more news in a couple of months' time.I also worked toward decreasing the amount of time I spend on the gaming videos so I can spend more time writing and publishing. The effects of this last activity won't be too visible on the front end...at least not for a couple of months, but I'm already seeing more time free up on the back end. It took a lot of work to get there, but will be worth it.

Other Bits & Pieces

Finally, I started putting a little more time into the business side of things, the results of which you'll see over the next few months. It's not much, but this year's focus is on production and back-list and those two items are moving forward nicely.

In conclusion, I can only say the last month has been a whirlwind with a lot of changes on the personal front, as well as the writing front. It's continues to be a work in progress...given we're still not quite moved into the new house, so there are quite a few things happening in the background, but we're getting there - and I'm hoping for a much quieter - and more productive - year than we had in 2021.

Here's hoping your years are starting out more smoothly and continue to treat you kindly.