For the last update of 2015, I wanted to take a look back at everything that’s happened this year. It’s been a busy one, so bear with me. If you stick with me to the bottom of the post (or if you skip ahead to the end) you’ll find a special end-of-the-year giveaway.
Writing + Publishing
- When Magic Dares — The second novella in the romance-y YA fantasy Darkly Fae series came out in February.
- City Chicks Box Set — In February I published a collection that includes the first three books in the City Chicks series.
- Powerless — The first book in the Hero Agenda series, which I am co-writing with Tracy Deebs, came out in June.
- Relentless — Tracy and I wrote the first draft of the second book in the Hero Agenda series this summer.
- Ten Things Sloane Hates About Tru — The first book in the Creative HeArts series, which I’m writing with Tracy Deebs, Emily McKay, and Shellee Roberts, came out in September.
- Princess Lessons — I shared a short story in the Forgive My Fins world, which might be a set-up for a fourth book.
- When Magic Burns — I did a big pre-order campaign for the third Darkly Fae novella, which came out in November.
NaNoWriMo
I participated in National Novel Writing Month this year with the intention of writing the first draft of a new fantasy novel, Autreterre. But after a great start, about 15,000 words into the story I realized there was a big problem with my plot. I still haven’t worked it out all the way—this is not a straightforward story that is easy to untangle, so who knows how long it’s going to take me. I feel bad that I didn’t win NaNo, but better to stop and figure things out than to write another 35,000 words that have to be scrapped later.
Travel
This was definitely a year on the road—and in the air. I was traveling 9 out of 12 months and it felt like I was never home.
- Irving, TX — North Texas Teen Book Festival
- Pasco, WA — Cavalcade of Authors
- Cincinnati, OH — personal
- Los Angeles — Newsies the Musical
- Austin, TX — Texas Library Association
- London, UK — personal + research
- St. Erme, France — writing retreat
- Paris, France — personal + research
- London, UK — personal + research
- Los Angeles — Kodaline concert
- Austin, TX — writing Relentless
- Powerless tour
- San Antonio, TX
- Austin, TX
- College Station, TX
- Houston, TX
- Round Rock, TX
- Los Angeles, CA
- New York, NY — Romance Writers of America
- Los Angeles — Little Dragon concert
- Los Angeles — Hot Chip concert
- New York, NY — Hamilton and Cymbelline
- Huntington Beach, CA — personal
- San Diego, CA — Kodaline concert
- Colorado — writing retreat
- New Orleans, LA — personal + research
Oh, that’s because I was never home! It’s a miracle I got anything else done. Even for me, this was travel overload.
Is it any wonder that this year feels like a blur? Between writing and travel I hardly had time for anything else. I hope your 2015 was just as busy and productive as mine was. Stay tuned for my next update, in which I’ll talk about my plans for 2016.
The Giveaway
As promised, here’s the awesome End-of-the-Year Giveaway in which you can win a complete (to date) set of my hardcover YA books! (Giveaway has concluded.)
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