2023 Quarter #4 Wrap-Up

Hello and happy Wednesday!

Today’s post is a recap of my most recent (and last!) three months of 2023 (October, November, and December) – complete with general life updates, writing achievements, reading progress, and goals. And as always, I’m looking forward to hearing how life has been going for you lately!

Let’s get started!

General Update

Every quarter this year has had at least one huge thing happen, taking up much of its time. First, it was planning a wedding and the festivities leading up to that. Second, it was our actual wedding, honeymoon, and settling into our apartment together. Third, I leaned into my writing again and published my first full length novel. And this last quarter, my husband and I have been kept crazy busy buying a house. I suppose that’s how it is all of the time, but I’m more aware of it this year. So much happens every month!

If you’ve been following my posts or socials recently, you might have heard about some of the craziness that my husband and I have been up to lately. Earlier this month, we closed on and moved into our house – finalizing a process that was started back at the end of May. In the midst of delays, our lease ran out, we moved out of our apartment, took our stuff to storage, and stayed with relatives of mine for a week.

Now however, we are so happy to be moved into our cute and cozy home! It’s in a tiny village near where I grew up, and I adore it. When we first saw it, both of our first reactions were that it felt like home, and I’m glad to say that’s still true. It’s been a lot of fun (and hard work) to get it set up, and I’ve enjoyed decorating it for Christmas. Between the home, gracious and generous relatives that helped us get here, and the reminders of the holiday season, we’re both feeling very thankful for God’s provision.

On the Blog

After the crazy explosion of posts in September, thanks to Cabin Girl‘s release and Five Fall Favorites, I slowed down a bit in October and November. That was intentional, as I’ve been trying to take a creative rest and allow my brain to reenergize and be creative again. It’s been working wonderfully so far, and I’m growing more and more eager to write!

So October and November each featured three posts, and this month (December) has had six posts, including this one. That makes a grand-total of twelve posts to finish out 2023’s last quarter.

I’ve also been thrilled with the engagement I’ve seen on this site lately! September was my biggest month ever here, and since, we’ve held steadily just under those numbers. We’re averaging about one-hundred views every day, and the number of monthly visitors remains in the upper three-thousandths range. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me, after over three years of blogging, I’m super happy to know that more people are discovering things I’ve been working hard at. If you’re new here, welcome!

Here’s the list of blog posts from this quarter (just click on the titles to read them):

~ 2023 Quarter #3 Wrap-Up
~ An Introduction Post
~ 15 Inspirational Quotes About Stories
~ If the Stars Awaken: Book Review
~ When NaNoWriMo Doesn’t Work Out
~ November Updates, Giveaways, & Sales!
~ The Spotify Wrapped Tag
~ Like a Ship On the Sea: Book Review
~ Tis the Season Book Tag
~ Bookish Naughty or Nice Tag
~ What I Read in 2023
~ and of course, this one!

Fiction

I believe this is the first month in a long time where I can say that I have nothing to report in this section, but I don’t feel bad about it. Finally having published Cabin Girl feels like such a huge accomplishment, and I’ve enjoyed having a full-length novel to market, share, and receive feedback on.

Since then, I decided to take a short break from writing fiction to 1) focus on closing on our house, moving, and all of the craziness that comes with that, and 2) give myself some creative rest. I know that I always do best after a book launch if I take a month or so to allow myself to breathe and refuel. During that time, along with crazy house stuff, I’ve been prioritizing reading more fiction. That’s truly one of the best and fastest ways that I’ve found to get back into the writing mindset. And it’s working well so far!

I’m so eager to get writing again, and have a whole slew of projects ready to receive outlines, solid editing, and more. I’ve been working on outlining when I’ve had time this month, but the main priority is to finish getting my office (and the rest of our new home) organized, and my social posts prepped (at least brainstormed), so that I can jump into January and make some solid fiction progress. I’m excited!

Reading List

As I just talked about in my post from Wednesday, where I listed all of the books I’ve read in 2023, I didn’t quite make my original reading goal for 2023. Alright, I didn’t even get close. I read fifty books – exactly half of the original one-hundred. But I’m actually perfectly okay with that. Until a couple of months ago, I didn’t even think I’d make it to fifty.

And especially in these last couple of months, I’ve discovered a large number of new favorite books! Mostly Christian fantasy reads by fellow indie authors, thanks to a recent Black Friday sale (during which I loaded up my Kindle). I can’t believe I’ve put off reading some of this amazing stories for so long!

I’m still debating on what my reading goal for 2024 should be, but I do hope to do lots of reading. There are still so many great stories that I wasn’t able to get to this year! And if I can stop moving every few months, I should be able to access all of the books on my shelves much easier, which is a huge plus!

Here are a few of my favorites from the past three months:
~ Operation Lionhearted by Maribeth Barber (Christian sci-fi)
~ Held Captive by Grace A. Johnson (historical pirate romance)
~ If the Stars Awaken by Kate Willis (allegorical fantasy)
~ Wayfarer by K. M. Weiland (Christian gaslamp fantasy)
~ To Bind Fire by D. E. Carlson (Christian fantasy)
~ The Guild of Thieves by Jaiden Phillips (Christian fantasy)

You can always keep up with my reading list (and reviews) on Goodreads.

Looking Forward

The start of a new year always motivates me. I feel so excited for another year, and to see what 2024 brings! Of course, I know that it won’t all be sunshine and rainbows, but I know that the God who has been providing, teaching, guiding, and loving this year will continue into the next. And that reassurance allows me to be excited and look into 2024 with hope.

On the writing end of things, I’ve been having tons of fun planning posts and general timelines for the new year (I’m the kind of writer who enjoys planners way too much), and am so excited to share lots of bookish news over the next few months. My goal is to devote some solid time to re-writing and editing the Cabin Girl sequel, as well as finish outlining and write most of another project in the next quarter.

And in the rest of my life, I’m anticipating a focus on finishing house organization, random house projects, working more, reading quite a few books, continuing to help with youth group, time with family, completing several exciting still-secret projects, and hopefully an increased closeness with the Lord. I pray you have all been having a merry and peaceful holiday season, and that your 2024 starts out wonderfully!

What have these last three months of 2023 been like for you? Have you made progress on some of your goals, or learned some important lessons? What are you looking forward to in the new year? I’d love to hear about what’s been going on in your life, so please feel free to drop a comment and let me know!

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