2021 Reading and Writing Goals

Hello awesome nerds and happy Saturday everyone!

I hope y’all had a great week, full of joy, creativity, love, good books and hot coffee. I mean, come on! These things definitely brighten our days, don’t you think? Even if many of us are still in quarantine, we can still find ways to cheer ourselves up. And we can definitely find things that we’re grateful for and feel blessed about! I know I do.

Today’s post is all about my reading and writing goals for this year, as you’ve already figured out by the title. And even though I want to be optimistic about what the future holds, still I decided to set goals that can actually be accomplished, no matter how big or small they may seem to others.

Starting with my writing goals for 2021, this year my first priority is the second book in The Auras’ Chest series.

For those of you who are new to my blog, The Auras’ Chest series is a YA High Fantasy series, inspired by Greek mythology and set in this fictional world, where feelings have been banned and logic dominates. The first book of the series, Guardian of the Auras, is currently available on Amazon, both on paperback and on Kindle, and you can follow that link to get your copy.

If you’re wondering what the book is about, here is the synopsis for you to get a proper idea of what you should expect:

“Everyone is the villain in someone else’s story.

In a realm where hearts have been frozen for centuries, feelings are nonexistent and logic dominates. The unleashing of ancient emotions can either save or doom the entire realm.

Aurora, the youngest Priestess of Rondure, finds out the Creators of her homeland, the divine Valiant Four, have weaved a different destiny for her from what she had in mind. For even though elemental magic is what her kin has been controlling for centuries now, there’s also a different, far more dangerous kind of magic, almost forgotten from the world. And she could be its master; if she manages to survive, of course!

After a long and arduous journey, Aurora finds herself deep inside the forests of her realm, ready to enter a cave everyone seems to have forgotten. Inside that cave lies a box, a little chest, that when she opens it, all the Auras and feelings of the word are set free; and Aurora realises this wasn’t what she was meant to do. Because feelings can be catastrophic to those who never learned to listen to their hearts…”

In all honesty, I didn’t promote my book as much as I should have in 2020. But things were really crazy, and still are actually, yet I am really grateful that people kept reading the book and they kept reaching out to me, offering constructive criticism. That’s what I truly appreciate and this is what I need in order to become a better writer. Especially now that many fellow bookstagrammers and authors have reached out to me, asking me when the second book is coming out and what’s going to happen next in the story.

For those of you who have already read Guardian of the Auras, here’s the blurb of the second instalment, Creator of Divine Mysteries.

*DISCLAIMER. FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ THE BOOK YET, THE BLURB THAT’S ABOUT TO FOLLOW MAY CONTAIN HECTIC SPOILERS. PROCEED WITH CAUTION.*

“After the massacre in the Frozen City, Aurora finds herself trapped inside the capital of the Humdrums, forced to face the Crown Prince and the Creator of Divine Mysteries, who want to play a deadly game of their own. A game of submission and fear.

Unwilling to cooperate with them, she is locked inside the Warren, the Frozen City’s prison, a place guarded by a beast from which nobody has managed to escape before.
When friends from the past and new allies team up together, making a bargain with the prison’s guard, Aurora will finally realise her destiny is more complicated than she ever imagined it to be.

Will she endure in this sacred, hidden place, where she’s being led?
Will she manage to find out more about the mysteries of her past, present and future, and fight against the monsters that threaten to destroy her home?
And what will she do when those Divine Mysteries try to alter her life, but more importantly her heart, for ever?

The breathtaking sequel of the GUARDIAN OF THE AURAS is here to prove that there are no heroes without villains, and both of them exist inside us all.“

I honestly hope that you guys are going to like what I have in store for this story and its characters. It’s because of you that I keep writing and that I keep pushing myself to achieve my goal.

So, the deadline that I’ve set is February 28th, when I hope to finish writing the second instalment, so I can have it ready for publication by October. Although I took a break from writing after NaNoWriMo this past November, I’ve started working on the story again last weekend and, holy freaking guacamole, you guys! I can’t even begin to describe to you how much I had missed this whole vibe the story has! Or, at least it has to me.

My goal is to write 1-2k words every day, so that the draft will end up being approximately 100k words long, before I start editing. It’s actually a good thing that I left many unanswered questions in the first book (), because this gives me the opportunity to explore the story and this world even further. Plus, it’s really encouraging the fact that I’ve been reading some really good books lately, so I know what I should do, in order to intrigue the reader, and what is it that I should avoid.

And speaking of books, this year, I decided to challenge myself a little bit more.

For the past few years, I’ve been reading mostly Fantasy, something that has turned me into a very demanding reader, on what comes to this particular genre.

This year, I decided to mix things up a bit, and read more mystery novels, classics and some contemporaries, as well. What’s certain is that this is going to keep things interesting for me.

I’ve set a goal of 40 books and I do hope that I’ll achieve reading them, but still, I’m not going to stress about it. I’ve already finished two books and I’m about to finish two more, so this is definitely a good start. I know for a fact that, at some point during 2021, I will fall into a slump or I won’t have as much time to read as I have now. So, if I can read as many books as possible this next month and during the summer holidays, then I’m definitely on track.

What about you, dearies? Are you working on any stories of your own? Have you set your 2021 reading challenge? How many books have you read so far?

I look forward to reading all your comments, thoughts and feelings in the comment section down below.

Thank you all so very much for stopping by once again. I know I say this every single time but, it truly means the world to me and I want you to know that I most certainly don’t take your presence here for granted.

Have a wonderful weekend, you beautiful creatures! Stay safe and stay positive.

Till next time… Toodles!