End of Year Thoughts - Goodbye 2024

Well, we've made it to the end of another year! It is amazing how this time of year can make us reflective and full of forethought. I don't know if there is one word that describes that kind of thinking. I guess I have something to look into, but I digress. On this website, the end of this year means a wrap-up of my reading, writing, and future plans. So, let's dive in.

Reading - A Year in Review

I broke my regular reading habits this year, and it shows because I only read 59 books. I read a lot of audiobooks. I don't know how many because I didn't track them, but I have started a Story Graph to go along with my Goodreads so that I can track that, too, next year. You already knew that my most-read genres would be fantasy and suspense novels. However, this has been my highest non-fiction year since graduating from college. I am starting to dive back into books as a tool for learning. I have been grabbing them to learn about my curiosities and the ones I regularly get for professional development purposes. I love the switch-up. Ideally, next year, I want to continue the trend. I also read a lot of out-of-my-comfort-zone genres for the sake of expanding my classroom library. I, unfortunately, have found very few additions for this year because of the amount of explicit material that shows up in YA. I should start detailing which books I'm reading and why they do or don't make it on my classroom bookshelf. It could be helpful for people to find books they are into or parents who want to be aware of what is in the books their kids are reading. It also would make this part of my reading catch-ups make more sense. Next year, I want to read at least four books each month. The goal would be one for fun, one for learning, one for classroom bookshelf contention, and one just because. The one for fun is self-explanatory. The one for learning is to continue my nonfiction trend; more on that in the Future Plans section. The one for classroom bookshelf contention will be cycling through genres I love and do not love so that I can round out my shelves. The one "just because" will be a random book I happen to pick up that month; gotta leave room for chaos.

Writing - A Year in Review

I am pretty happy with how my writing has gone this year. I finished three drafts, two of which were editing drafts on Project G and the other of my NaNo project for the year. I have also made progress on several other projects that are not at a completed draft stage. Project G just came back from my alpha readers. I won't say what they said here, but it was positive. If you want more specifics, you'll have to cave in and sign up for my newsletter. However, I will say that getting the alpha feedback is on track with my publication plans. I have big plans in my writing sphere next year, which I will get into shortly. However, one gripe I have with my writing journey this year is that I created a whole priority list for my projects and then promptly ignored it. I was hoping to have a few more completed drafts by this point. I hope my writing plans this year will help me stay more on track. My querying has not been fruitful to date though I have received partial requests on Project EST. More info in the newsletter, but I'm starting to have some focus shifts to aid this project.

Future Plans

2025 is here! So, let's talk about the exciting "what's next" for ESSauthor. Firstly, I am working on rebranding my social media and website. If you're reading this post, you'll have already seen the updates on the website, and they will soon follow across all my platforms. Speaking of platforms, I plan to be more active on each of them this year. I tend to let myself be swept away by the school year and not post for eons. However, I hope to structure my time for success this year. It means some of my content will be set up way ahead of time as evergreen content just in case time starts getting away from me. However, I believe it is a positive step forward from ghosting my platforms every time school gets to be a little too much. For writing, I am going hard on the self-publishing learning this year. Project EST is a little too niche, according to the feedback I'm getting, but I am not giving up on it yet. However, It is pushing me to consider other avenues for Project G. I have always thought of being a hybrid author, and maybe I will flip, which I do first. I'm solid on the making my manuscript into an actual book part. However, the formulating a business and legal side of independent publishing is less familiar to me. So, I am going to be working hard on learning, and by this time next year, I will be in a very different place in my author journey. Overview goals for 2025, Project G ready for publication, DU Series fully drafted, Project OG re-evaluated, and Project EST queried successfully. It is a tall order; realistically, I don't know if I will get through all those projects in one year (leave room for chaos). However, the firm priorities will remain Projects EST and G. I am excited about the prospects of where I will be this time next year. I pray that you, too, are entering 2025 with hope.

May you leave 2024 with peace and enter 2025 with courage—blessings on you and your families.