Goodbye 2024
What an exciting year 2024 was! I released Avelina in May of 2024, and The Wisdom of Dishonor in November of 2024, and as of this writing, I’m about 85k words into the first draft of Time Beyond the Trees.
I learned so so so much this year. So much that it’s all falling out of my brain in a squishy mess at my feet. Things like “how to write,” cuz apparently that’s a thing. Also social media, email lists, Canva, and website design. I learned that I don’t really want to put my face out there because I’m a private, shy person, but I kinda have no choice. So be careful with me; I’m sensitive and I’d like to stay that way (thanks for writing my life, Jewel). I also learned that you don’t have to sell books on Amazon to be successful. I sold about a thousand books in 2024, and most of those were physical copies from local stores.
I won first place in the LGBTQ category and third place in the fantasy category of the Outstanding Creator Awards, which was pretty cool.
I had my first book signing on 11/30/24, which was terrifying and wonderful. It took place in a little independent book store called The Atlas Collective, in Moline, IL, which is close to where I live in the Midwest. I literally thought that no one would come and that I would just be sitting there at a table by myself, talking to nobody and signing zero books, but that didn’t happen. The good people at The Atlas Collective saw to that. Thanks, ladies! You’re amazing.
When I think about how much there is to do and learn, I get so overwhelmed, but at the same time, as I write this, I realize how much I’ve actually accomplished this year and I feel so much gratitude. I’m really proud of what I did this year.
Thank you to everyone who helped me get here. Thank you to everyone who bought my books and told me you enjoyed them. You have no idea how much that means to me. It literally makes me weepy. Thank you to everyone who signed up for my email list, and who went back for book #2. Thank you to my dad, who got really excited about my novels and helped me sell them, then gave me all kinds of ideas for what to do next.
What’s to come in 2025? I plan to release Time Beyond the Trees in the summer, although the date is a wishy-washy right now. I’ll be sure to let you know. I love you all so much. Thanks for doing this thing with me.
