Here they are, my last two book releases of 2022!
At the end of 2021, I started putting together my writing and publication schedule for this year. I knew that the Rag & Bone series would be finished and published, but beyond that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. I started going through a backlog of finished, but then unpublished or edited, novels and realized I had quite a few things just sitting there. Why in the world was I hoarding so many finished stories? I had no answer for that, so I decided there was no time like the present.
That is more or less how I came to publish seven books this year!
The first was Lola, a standalone I had written ages ago but hadn’t touched again. I delved right into in December of 2021, got it edited myself and off for second edits, and then started on Ashes (Rag & Bone 2). Ashes was also already finished, and just needed rewrites and initial edits. It ended up coming out in March as intended, and I started actively writing what was then called Incipient, while also editing Heart of War.
Also in this time frame I and M.J. Kerr finished our standalone co-authored novel, The Chemistry of Us, and it was released in February. It’s my first, and currently only, release written with a co-author. It was an interesting experience, and one I would absolutely try again in the future.
I suffered a huge set back when the file for Incipient corrupted and could not be recovered. It was over 25K by that point, and it was (in my opinion) SUPER well written. Either way, the file was lost and I had to start over. I don’t think that the second version was quite as good as that first one, but I did my best to recreate what I could. The story still finished how I wanted, and readers seem to have liked it, so I didn’t let myself get too down about it. The book then became Genesis (Rag & Bone) 3 and was published in July.
Things went a little off the rails in August. I did get initial edits done, but had a hard time getting second edits. Especially for Bookish. In the end I edited it myself, and had someone else glance through it before publication. Am I worried here may be errors? Yes, I am, but unfortunately I am not at a place in my writing career where I can really pay for expensive extensive editing. It is what it is! I think the story is still good, and a great one for middle grade readers.
It was supposed to come out in September, but I was on vacation and didn’t have a cover yet. Autumn People (now called Autumn Boys) should have followed in October, but again life happened and it didn’t happen right then and there. Instead, both books made their debuts at the tail end of November, with the eBooks releasing yesterday (December 2nd). They are my sixth and seventh books of the year respectively, and while it feels good to have the backlog cleared some it was also really hard. I’m not sure I would WANT to do that much again in a short period of time.
That said, I am working on my schedule for next year already. I’ll have it up with an end of year wrap up post here. I just really wanted to talk about Bookish and Autumn Boys, and how proud I am of both stories. I wrote Bookish for all the kids in my life (my cousins have a plethora of littles between them), but I am ESPECIALLY enamored with Autumn Boys. It’s my first true horror release since I decided it was going to be my main genre, and I just think it’s the best thing I’ve put out yet. I’m so excited for the start of the Dreadful Seasons series, and for all of you to get to read all four books.
