2023: A Whirlwind Year

My Favorite Books of 2023 Happy New Year!

2023: A Whirlwind Year

At the end of every year, I write a reflection post about where I’m at, not just in my writing life, but also in my personal life and how it all correlates.

I’m dubbing 2023 a whirlwind year, because oh boy, was that a lot.

In my writing life, I finished writing a young adult novel in verse, then completed a new adult dark academia monster fantasy that’s been my side project for years. I started so many other novels that I can’t even begin to list them without my eyes glazing over. They are all so fun that I’ve never been more grateful to have GZLA backing me up and pointing me in the right direction. We have some amazing plans for 2024! I was also incredibly lucky to work with Marie Rutkoski on my historical fantasy novel. It was a dream. Another dream was finally getting a proper writing space in my house again. (If you recall, I turned my previous writing office into my daughter’s bedroom last year.) It was both a joy and a bummer, so it meant the world to me that my husband found a perfect nook for my desk, so that I can continue to write in a space designated for my creativity. It did wonders for my writing!

I also had the utmost joy of seeing three novels that I beta read get published! Sandra and I mentored Miranda Sun in Pitch Wars, and her novel, IF I HAVE TO BE HAUNTED, released this year. I also beta read Justine’s THE OTHERWOODS, a middle grade fantasy with the cutest cat ever and the spookiest of woods. Last but not least, my long-time friend and critique partner, Angela Cervantes, released A CURSED MOON, such a fun and spooky MG. Sandra’s novel, RELIT, releases in 2024, so make sure to grab it!

Aside from all the novels in my life, I taught numerous classes this year: Starting a Writing Project, My Process on Writing a Novel-In-Verse for SCBWI, Revising Your Manuscript, NaNoWriMo Prep: How to Write a Book in a Month, and How to Write a Book Series. I hope to teach even more in 2024. It brings me a lot of joy. First up is Flipping Tropes for the OCLS Conference.

In my personal life, 2024 had some of the highest highs and lowest lows. I started the year out with Winnie being a three-month-old potato, and now she’s a walking/talking toddler with a sense of humor and too much charm. (She gets away with everything.) I absolutely love being a mom, and I love Winnie more than I could ever imagine, but adjusting to full-time work with a baby who still doesn’t sleep through the night is hard. Even harder is the amount of illness we went through due her daycare during the first few months. It’s better now, but damn. Sickness rocked our household all year. Once we got past the daycare waves, I caught COVID in July, which turned into pneumonia, which gave me CDiff, which put me in and out of the hospital for a very long time. Obviously, my writing floundered there for a while. My family also rescued Mallow the cat and suffered the unexpected loss of my brother-in-law in late October. Times are tough, y’all. Hold each other tight.

In 2024, I have a goal of making more time for joy.

I also want to be better about putting down books I’m not vibing with in favor of finding another book that I am (for both reading and writing). I’m aiming to study books more, too. As writers we always hear that we should be reading widely, but I’ve learned that understanding a book’s structure and what makes it successful is more important than upping my “read” list.

Ultimately, I want to be kinder to myself and truly believe that I will reach the dream.

I want to be able to call 2024: My Dream Year.