Welcome to 2020! Have you recovered from the holiday season yet? Things are starting to get back to normal around my house, which I’m grateful for. I have a lot of awesome stuff planned for the year and I’m ready to jump back into it after taking December off from writing. What awesome things do I have planned? Well I’ll tell you.
This is going to be a year of drafting for me. I’m working on editing Thicker Than Blood, book three in The Journey Missions Series which means there are only two more missions left. As hard as it will be to end this series, I’m excited to get it all written and ready to share with the world. I’m hoping to get two Journey books published this year. Thicker Than Blood will be out in May and if I can keep to the plan I made I might be able to have book 4 (currently untitled) out before the end of the year. Though I’m not making any promises on that yet. I’m also planning for Book 5 to be my NaNo project this year, ensuring that I will at least have drafts of everything going into 2021.
You probably won’t hear much about Cleansing Rain this year. I plan to keep working on it when I need a break from The Journey Missions, but it’s not going to be my main focus this year. I’m still not sure exactly sure how I want to publish this book so it feels right to keep it on the back burning for now. 2021 will be the year for Cleansing Rain to jump into the spotlight.
Outside of writing I’m planning devoting more time to this site. One of the ways I’m going to do that is through my Indie Bookshelf that I started last year. Once a month I plan on highlighting a new indie book with a review and an interview with the author. Up first is D. C. Wright-Hammer author of Between Two Minds. If you know of any amazing indie books I should include drop them in the comments below and I’ll check them out. I’ll also be launching a quarterly newsletter to keep you up to date with upcoming releases, events, and the Indie Bookshelf in case you want to read along with me so be sure to sign up.
I’m planning on doing more events this year. I’ll be doing some handmade markets again this year because I love doing them and connecting with other creatives outside of the writing community. They also allow me to connect with readers who I might not ever reach otherwise. I’m also planning on throwing my hat in the comic con ring this year. No dates confirmed yet but I’ll update my events pages as they come in so you’ll know where you can come get a signed copy of my books this year.
The event I’m most excited about this year is Write Hive! It’s a completely free online writing conference taking place April 18-19. Check out their website for more details. I’ll be presenting at two events during the conference. First, I’ll be teaching a class on how to develop a one year business plan as a writer. This is something that all writers are told they need but no one tells you how to do it. So I’ve developed my own method using what I’ve learned about business planning from my day job in corporate America.
The other event that I’m part of is a panel discussion about science in science fiction with scientist. This is going to be a really amazing event. We have an environmental engineer (me), someone with a PhD in molecular biology, and an aerospace engineer/astrophysicist and the best part is that we are all women. It’s going to be an amazing experience and I hope really enlightening and entertaining for everyone. Even if you’re not a writer you should check out this panel.
Holly Ash 