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2022 in Review

This year brought hardship and trial, but I’m looking back over the past 12 months with gratitude. So what went right this year for me?

Let’s Look Back

I read 30 books. Initially, I was really disappointed in myself for this number because guyz… THIS IS AN ALL-TIME LOW FOR ME! I have kept track of my books read every year since 2009 and this is the SMALLEST number it’s ever been.

But then, I decided to cut myself some slack. This year was a tough cookie and my life has changed a lot since my 2018 record of 161 books. I’m hoping to read so much more in 2023!

For all the well-meaning peeps who say, “Just read what you like and have fun, don’t worry about counting or numbers!”

Dude, the counting and numbers make it 10x more fun for me.

I’ve been much more active on social media this year, and I think I posted my first TikToks this year. The platform still kinda scares me, but I’m looking forward to learning more about the BookTok community.

I threw Imagine Destiny this year! This masquerade ball was the cumulation of a 3-year dream and it was beautiful beyond words.

I started a new job this year. Grateful to be working, but still feeling like I’m not settled at all where I want to be.

October of 2022 was my first writer’s conference, DFWcon. I brought home many a beautiful book and some marketing, publishing, and booktok insight. Looking forward to more conferences to come!

The Control went up on Mythrill! 44 episodes have been published as of this posting. Can I make it to season 2 in 2023?

My big-ticket win: I finished NaNoWriMo and broke a serious NaNo challenge losing streak. And it felt good, man.

So, Happy New Year, What Comes Next?

I have lofty goals for 2023, which include putting HANG ON out there on query, finishing Season 1 of The Control, and reading at least 50 books! I’m excited for the things to come in the new year.

So happy new year, my dear friends. I hope 2023 brings many adventures.

Read my serial sci-fi story The Control only on Mythrill!

Like my content? You can support me through Buy Me a Coffee with single donations and monthly memberships.

Until next time, my glorious herd! Imagine, dream, and believe.

🦄 ❤️AllytheUnicorn❤️ 🦄

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The NaNoWriMo Victory Dance!

Scroll through my projects page on the NaNoWriMo website, and you will find a NaNo Challenge graveyard. Heck, scroll through this blog and find GREAT NANOWRIMO DESPAIR!

My first NaNoWriMo voyages were fun and productive! In fact, I found the challenge rather easy. Even juggling high school and college, I made it all the way or super close to 50,000. I think things went wrong when I skipped a year and then graduated college.

My last NaNoWriMo win was November 2015, and since then I signed on for 11 challenges that I did not manage to complete.

Now, the community of writers who champion NaNoWriMo will be quick to point out that it’s not just about getting to the winner screen. It’s about a whole community coming together to cheer each other on, and every word regardless of whether or not it takes you over that finish line is a victory.

But I gotta say…

This sure feels good.

Winning Isn’t Everything, But I’m Celebrating My Victories

I burst out of the gate on November 1st and for about 14k words, I was on fire. Four steps ahead of the progress line and loving every word.

I lost momentum at the start of week two and came to a standstill about week 3.

Sunday the 27th, sloughing my way to 33k, I almost resigned myself to a 12th challenge lost in my depressing streak.

Monday morning, I woke up and said, “Hey, wait a minute!”

It was a tall order for myself, 17k words in three days, but…

I knew I could do it.

So, I did. Wrote like madness for two evenings, getting about 8k words each day before claiming a win on lunch break of the final NaNoWriMo day.

All in all, if my timers are correct, it was about 40 hours of work at an average typing speed of 1,250 words per hour.

No, my fingers do not hurt and no keyboards were harmed in the making of this happy winning month.

I Wrote a Novel, Now What?

People familiar with my writing journey will know that I have actually sat here with sloppy first-draft in hand many times.

Counting the darlings on my hard-drive, this makes manuscript full draft number 16 actually…

My dream for my NaNoWriMo 2022 project (PSYCHOSURGE!) would be for it to be traditionally published by a major press. But for the moment, I’m going to shelve it.

I have a novel project that I wrote (independent of NaNoWriMo) in 2018 called HANG ON. That project is still something I consider my best work, and I still dream of getting it traditionally published. My goal for December and for 2023 is to get it into submission-shape.

I’ve made a submission-ready HANG ON my year’s goal in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 now. Some people might call that a depressing failure streak.

But… I’ve proven to myself that I can break one of those.

So cheers to the end of bad patterns and the liberation from old habits!

Read my serial sci-fi story The Control only on Mythrill!

Like my content? You can support me through Buy Me a Coffee with single donations and monthly memberships.

Until next time, my glorious herd! Imagine, dream, and believe.

🦄 ❤️AllytheUnicorn❤️ 🦄

Ally1 Comment