Yearly Roundup 2023

Welcome to the 2023 blog roundup!

As is the tradition since the start of my blog in 2017, I’m rounding up the year that was, as well as my December!

Once again, 2023 was a blink-and-it’s-over year. I swear it still feels like we’re back in February or March, yet it’s the pointy end of December. Like 2022, I published a book this year—the fourth book in my YA contemporary fantasy series, Blackbirch.

The Collector finished the series I started writing way back in 2001, and the book series I’ve been talking about ever since I started my serious author journey in 2015 (aka opened all my writer social media accounts and started querying). It was a crazy 5 years of writing, editing, querying, being rejected, signing and rejecting a small press contract, and then publishing book 1, The Beginning, myself in 2020.

It took 3 years to get all four books out, and not only am I super proud of the effort, but I also feel a little lost about what to work on now. Because of this, I’ve been using the last few months of 2023 for some much-needed downtime and to work out what I want to do next.

Many of those decisions will be completed and executed in 2024, which is Future-Kate’s problem. Present-Kate is just enjoying the milestones she’s reached—and a lot of Xmas movies and chocolate.

I also spent time this year with my evil twin, and we went on our first cruise together, which was a Disney cruise to Hobart, and it definitely sparked a desire/wish to travel more.

As for the 12th and final month of 2023, this is what else I got up to…

What I’ve Been…Writing

Blogs – All I’ve been working on lately are blogs, such as this one, and the slower pace has been nice. As part of my What’s Next? pondering, I will look into something I’ve wanted to do for a while now, which is open my blog up to guest posts. I’m still working out how and when I’ll do this and will be sure to keep you all posted.

Watching

Wonka – It’s been a while since I’ve been to a movie that was just a delight to watch, and Wonka was it. Telling the origin story of how Willy became Wonka as he arrives in the city to sell his chocolate and open a store. Along the way, he meets and helps others, and is sabotaged by the big chocolate makers in town who don’t want to see him succeed. Is it all predictable? Yes, but it’s the kind of story you want to go the way it does. For those who aren’t aware, it is a musical and features some fun new songs and a new version of the classic Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.

Christmas Movies! – As usual, my December was full of Christmas movies. The classics my household watches every year, like Christmas With The Kranks, Die Hard, Four Christmases, and Christmas Vacation, will be played.

This year, we also watched newbies, Family Switch (Jennifer Garner and Ed Helms swap places with their kids over Christmas, and hijinks ensue), Exmas (Ali and Graham have broken up, but still end up at the same family gathering, and hijinks ensue), and Your Christmas Or Mine 2, a sequel to one of my faves from last year, which sees Hayley and Hubert’s families get together for Xmas—and as you can guess—hijinks ensue. I also watched one of the worst Christmas movies I’ve seen, ironically titled, Best. Christmas. Ever! where the hijinks and the movie were neither whimsical nor entertaining.

Reading

If you’ve been around since last December, you’ll know I started re-reading the books of Christopher Pike. This December, I read his last YA book, so it took me 1 year to get through 54 books. It was an interesting exercise, and I enjoyed it, even if some of the books I’d regarded as favorites weren’t as good as I’d remembered. Others turned out to be better, and there was even one or two I couldn’t recall the plot for, so it was like reading a whole new book. For 2024, I’ll read through his 6 adult books to finish my goal.

Getting through all those Pike books, and my other goal of reading 1 writing craft book a month, saw me reach a Goodreads Reading Challenge of 84 books for the year. This is the most amount of books I’ve read since I started using Goodreads to keep track of things. For 2024, I’m going to read more of my To Be Read Pile, and see if I can clear through some physical books from my shelf, and the digital ones on my Kindle.

December Reads/Reviews

Writing the Natural Way By Gabriele Rico

An interesting writing craft book that’s all about tapping into different methods to get your words flowing. It encourages the use of flowcharts and touches on imaging, using repetition, and a writer’s notebook to create clusters and vignettes through writing exercises. If you’re a fan of writing exercises, this book is most definitely for you. It wasn’t for me for that reason, but I can see how it would be helpful for writers who like to work that way, and I think this type of book and what it encourages would be great for poets.

We Who Are Forged In Fire By Kate Murray

A fantastic sequel that closes out this imaginative series. After finally gaining her superpowers, being accepted to train as a Hallow Warrior like all of her family members before her, and reuniting with her girlfriend, Priscilla thinks she is where she needs to be. But the other trainees don’t talk to her, she’s not allowed to use her power to its best potential, and at night, she’s been dreaming of Dominic, the boy who used and betrayed her. When the opportunity to become a rebel spy comes her way, Priscilla blows up her life and relationships to take it, but will it be all for nothing? Author Kate Murray continues and completes her wonderful world of monster hunters, adding new characters to the mix, bringing favorites back from the first book, and there’s of course all the wonderful animal familiars that help their human counterparts. She does an amazing job of growing Pricilla into the warrior she needs to be, and of resolving not just Priscilla’s problems from this book, but ones started in the first too. This creates a very satisfying read, one that’s highly recommended for fans of YA fantasy who want to read a book full of great characters, interesting concepts, future sci-fi elements, and emotional stakes.

Pike Books

This month I read Black Knight and Strange Girl.

2023 – Top Picks

Looking back on what I read and watched for 2023, what stuck with me most were the following…

Movies/TV Shows

Poker FaceThe Last Of UsFirefly Lane (Final Season)BarbieThe Other Two (Seasons 1-3)I’ll Be Gone In The DarkCruel Summer (Seasons 1 and 2)

Books

Shut Up And Write The Book – By Jenna Moreci2,000 to 10,000: How to Write Faster, Write Better, and Write More of What You Love – By Rachel AaronBird By Bird: Instructions For Writing And Life – By Anne LamottWhen Ghosts Call Us Home – by Katya de BecerraTaking Photos Of

Christmas! In my house, we’ve put up the tree, dressed up the cats, and I’ve started baking. So far, I’ve made Christmas Crack, and before the season is through, I’ll make Christmas Chow!

Top 9 Instagram Photos

And here are my TOP 9 Instagram photos for 2023! Thank you to everyone who sees my posts and leaves a like or a comment.

On The Blog

In case you missed any of my posts, or want to re-read them, here are the latest blogs.

November 2023 RoundupWriter Holiday Gifts To Give Yourself

Your Favorite Blog Posts For 2023

Thanks to the magic of WordPress stats, I also have a list of the top five viewed blog posts for 2023…

How To Create Page-Turning Chapter Endings5 Ways To Avoid Info-Dumping5 Ways To Reduce A Big Word Count5 Tips For Making Your Characters DistinctFive Ways To Give Your Characters Emotional Depth

My Favorite Blog Posts For 2023

And a list of five blogs I had fun writing this year…

Time Blocking Your Writing RoutineThe Little Details ChecklistAction Scene Do’s And Don’tsHow To Write Yourself An Edit Letter, And Why Every Writer ShouldThe Secrets To Writing A Series (Part 1) – And Here’s Part 2!Onto 2024

With the end of 2023 being the mental break I needed, I’m looking forward to packing things away (both mentally and physically) and starting 2024 with a clean slate. I’m hoping this will lead to new dreams, goals, and inspiration.

As always, eternal thanks for taking the time to read this blog and the others written this year. I hope they’ve been helpful, useful, and informative. All of your feedback, comments, conversations, and post sharing is also very, very appreciated.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year.

I’ll see you again in January!

— Kate

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