When I decided to buckle down and get serious about writing in late 2013, I came up with some goals. The short term goals have changed from year to year, but I always knew becoming an author was a long game. With that in mind, I said to myself, “Self, you get to make this your primary focus for the next 5 years. At the end of 2018, it’ll be time to take a hard, honest look at the progress you’ve made and where you think you are going.”
Well 2013 self, things are looking bright.
Despite moving 5 times in 5 years, which included see-sawing across the Pacific a couple of times, I have four publishing credits to my name so far. I wrote over 800 blog posts across various platforms, many of which have now been compiled and expanded to create The Steampunk Handbook, an exclusive free book for my newsletter subscribers. (Not subscribed yet? Sign up here to get your free book!) And last but not least, I’ve completed two novels that I am very proud of. Back in Sept, at almost exactly the 5-year mark, two different publishing houses offered me contracts for my books.
That’s right folks. Not only is Riftmaker is coming your way Feb 14, but No Rest for the Wicked can be on your bookshelf Mar 28!
No Rest for the Wicked is about a con woman in the 1870s who wishes her past, not to mention her partner, would just stay buried. Basically, picture the Ghost Whisperer with the personality of Han Solo crossing Gaslamp America and solving mysteries. I have been drooling over the NRFTW cover art for the last couple of days, and I’ll unveil it for you here next week after my newsletter subscribers get a sneak peek. I’ve started work on the second book in the Mistress of None series (working title: Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained), and I’m dedicating January and February to completing the first draft.
Of course, with great book releases comes great responsibility (er… something like that). I’m currently looking for bloggers to participate in the blog tours for both Riftmaker and No Rest for the Wicked. That means I’m making myself available for interviews and guest posts, plus you can get the books in advance to review for your own website! The Riftmaker tour will be Jan 24-Mar 6 (find out more) and the No Rest for the Wicked tour will be Mar 8-Apr 18 (find out more).
In March, I’ll be heading back to the good ol’ US of A to promote my releases at party in Ann Arbor, MI and appear as a special guest at the International Steampunk Symposium in Cincinnati, OH. It’s a great event that I adore attending, and I am so happy to be returning after having to take last year off due to a visa snafu. I’ll share the details of my lecture and reading schedule as I get them, and I hope to see you there!
Dr. Darqueling is an ancient Mediterranean historian, so this summer will bring us lots of travel. He’s going to start a new archaeology project in Italy in 2020, so our trip in 2019 will be to scout out the site and figure out the following years. He’ll also be returning to Greece in June/July, but this time around, yours truly is going to sit it out. Being the photographer and database manager had its perks, but I am dedicating this summer to fiction.
In fall of 2019, Our Write Side’s Steampunk anthology will be released. I am the project manager on this collection, and there’s still time to submit your stories! We’re looking for anything 3,500-10,000 words long in the Steampunk genre. I’m submitting a tale in the same world as Riftmaker, so fingers crossed it’ll be accepted! Find out more. Plus, I’ve just been asked to appear at a new book festival in Connecticut on my way to TeslaCon 10. What a great way to end the year 🙂
I’m writing this all down because I’ve found it is the best way to make something come true. I like to divide my plans into “goals” and “aspirations”, sort of like what I know I can achieve and what I hope I can do beyond that.
My fiction goals for 2019 are:
- Complete Book 2 of Mistress of None
- Complete a collaborative novel project with my writer buddy, Kathrin Hutson. (If you like dark fantasy and beautiful prose, check out her books!)
- Complete working title: Grimmer (a standalone dark fantasy novel set in the Black Forest in Germany)
My fiction aspirations for 2019 are:
- Release Book 2 of Mistress of None
- Begin Book 3 in the series (working title: All that Glitters)
- Decide if Riftmaker gets a sequel and make plans accordingly
- Keep an eye out for short story submission opportunities for existing and new stories
So, there it is. My plans for 2019 in a nutshell. I can’t wait to see how it goes, and I hope you’ll stick around for the ride.
Do you have any big goals or aspirations? Was 2018 a good year, a bad year, or something in between?
Phoebe Darqueling 