2024 in Review, or Caffeinated Rambling?

What a wild year 2024 was! So much, in fact, that it’s taken me until late February 2025 to get around to the recap. LOL!

Okay, so… what happened? Well, it started in 2023, when we purged the house. That was a massive process. Stick two artsy folks in a small house for many years, and you end up with all kinds of stuff. Once you think about moving this stuff, you realize that some of the stuff is crap, and out it goes.

Putting the house on the market was wild. There were a LOT of showings, which meant we were kicked out of the house for a few hours at a moment’s notice. For months.

All of this did not help my writing flow, obviously. I fought hard to stay ahead of things, but both writing output and marketing suffered during this time.

Still, in 2023 I managed to put out 13 books. In 2024 I managed 17 books.

I don’t react to stress well, and was jumpy during the entire moving process. Obviously, the state of being jumpy does not help writing flow.

Once we were safely moved in, the worst of the stress was over, but we took a long time to settle. I was hit by vicious allergies. The previous owners had a beautiful cat, whom I adored during the showings. But it turns out she’s one of fluffies that I’m super allergic to. I pretty much couldn’t breathe for most of May through July.

Still, I kept going as best as I could. My releases were spaced farther apart, which is Very Bad for the Amazon algorithms. I won’t get into the squirrely math, but authors who have steady, quick release schedules are rewarded – the system shows their books to more people.

I don’t mind that sales have taken a major hit through that whole process. They’ll bounce back. Especially since I have several HOT and interesting new series coming up this year.

My productivity continued to take hits due to plumbing problems, loud construction outside, and the day I had to run away to the library since a backhoe had to dig up a quarter of the front lawn to replace stupidly narrow pipes. (I’ll miss you, lovely lilac bush!)

It was a cycle of random things that seriously derailed my focus. Now that my office is mostly in order, I’ve been doing some serious hibernating this winter. Recharging, I hope.

At the beginning of the new year, I sat down with a calendar and tried to calculate how many books I could write this year. That list was far too aggressive. Then I realized that if I get sick again, I’ll be behind immediately. Which is not conducive to a calm mental state.

Not to mention, I want to spend a lot of time learning about my new city this spring. So I’m going to keep my release schedule reasonable. Do my best to get far ahead. Plan like crazy for this year, and next.

(Okay, this turned into a ramble instead of an annual wrap up. This is what happens when I mix green tea and lemon ginger tea together!)

2024 was a whirlwind, but I kept on writing, and kept up a semi-steady output of books that I’m proud of.

2025 should be 18 books - 6 of them as part of multi-author collaborations, which is always fun. There is also definitely a tiny chance that I catch up on making paperbacks. And box sets. And start with audio books.

But as always, I get the steamy ebooks done, then see what happens. This spring, I might prioritize popping down to the farmer’s market over fighting to get too far ahead. Or making new friends at the local pub rather than cranking out the covers for box sets.

Last year was all about the chaos of moving, managing anxiety, and dealing with seemingly endless health glitches. (I am apparently becoming totally oversensitive to bright sunlight. What the What?)

This year is all about balance. Steadiness. Endless cups of tea and listening to the birds outside. Enjoying the local library on days when I need to run away from the next round of updates on the house. (Some shoddy work needs to be reinforced. Ugh.)

This year is also about a lot of mountain men. The first series, though, is touching on my new hobby – plants! Oops… I’ll be back to rambling in no time if I start on that. But the titles of this 3-part series make me giggle every time I see them!

Okay… back to writing!