A.J. Maguire

Tag: New Year

  • 2022’s Yearly Wrap-Up

    We are coming up on the holidays and I am about to take a step back from Blogging so that I can concentrate on family and reading and winding down, so this will be my last real post of the year. That means I get to talk about all the amazing things I managed to get done this year AND what I hope to accomplish next year.

    This is my happy post because I get to brag a little.

    And I do enjoy making goals for next year, even if I don’t manage to get them all done.

    DRAFTS

    We will start with the number of drafts I got finished in the year because honestly, this is what takes up the most time. I started the year with The World Beside Us, the second of the Nora Grayson novels. The first draft is completed and I managed to run it through the first revision pass, but it still needs another two or three passes before it is up to par and will be ready for publication.

    Then I picked up Melody of Bones again, which I know I promised was a “little darling” that had been slain but let’s face it, an entire book as a “little darling” is hard to accept. It was literal years of my life I was trying to kill off and that didn’t seem at all fair. So I found a serial novel place called Novel Cat where I was able to sign the book and it is presently available in completed form. There are some charges you will have to pay to read the whole thing, if you’re interested, but it is relatively cheap. You can find my dragon Pru and her story HERE if you are interested.

    Then we come to Paw Prints on the Wall, which went through several drafts before it became available for purchase in November. This story is near and dear to my heart and I am so pleased that people have been enjoying it. There are already a couple of reviews out there and I am hopeful that more people can find something that touches their hearts in the story. You can find it HERE if you are interested.

    And to wrap up the year I have written (am nearly finished with) Last Child of Winter, which is a tale about a fairy talent show that I am super excited to see out in the world. It’s got fae folk as refugees on Earth and is a kind of mystery/love story/horror story all bundled into one. I adore it.

    Or at least, I haven’t been working on it so long that I’ve hit the point where I hate it yet. Because that’s part of the writing process too. Don’t worry, by the time the editing process is done I’ll love it again.

    BEYOND WRITING

    Also this year I started podcasting this very blog. Which means you can read it OR you can have me read it to you. It has been interesting learning how to get all this done. I’m still a little wobbly when it comes to vocal editing and annunciating every word the way my high school drama teacher always taught me to do, but I will get there.

    For those curious, this is the first step toward audiobooks. I have had several requests for this, and I have some vocal talent lined up for Tapped and Enemy Souls, but it is a process. With any luck, the first audio version of Tapped will be ready about the same time that the third book in the series – tentatively titled Tango Five – is ready for publication next year.

    Which brings me to NEXT YEAR…

    The first three months of 2023 are going to be dedicated to the completing Last Child of Winter, which is turning out to be bigger than I thought it would be. After this I will turn my focus to producing the audio version of Nora and the Big Werewolf Wedding. I am hoping for this to take no more than 6 weeks out of the year, so by the middle of May I should have something decent to present for Beta-Listeners. And then there will be announcements for a release date of the audio and print versions of the book.

    For my second novel of the year I want to dive back into science fiction and get the next Tapped novel finished. Right now it is tentatively titled Tango Five, but that is likely to change mid-draft.

    Titles are hard, alright?

    I would also like to have edits for The World Beside Us completed, and to have a rough draft of the third novel in her series done.

    I’ve learned that three major projects a year is plenty for me. It is an achievable goal and I do so enjoy achieving goals. But here are some things I would also like to complete, and/or at least begin working on:

    The Little-Big Book of Testimonies – Christian Fiction

    Nora and the Minotaur’s Wife – Short story

    Fantasy Anthology – Possible Christmas 2023 release because I only need a couple more short stories to fill the pages. This is basically because you cannot get Torven in print anymore thanks to new guidelines/rules at Amazon. You can still get that book in digital format on Kindle.

    The Debrief – Prequel Novelette for the Tapped series. This one’s been waiting in the back of my head for several years now and just needs a clear conclusion.

    And that’s it. We will see what 2023 brings because I am old enough to know better than to think it will all go my way.

    Happy Holidays, everyone. I hope you stay warm and safe and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

  • A Look At 2014

    Woot! It’s time to make my list of things for next year!

    Really, I love this post. It gets me all excited for what I’m about to work on. I did spend a lot of time playing with this new computer and its handy little calendar, so I have a lot of big ideas to put up here.

    So, without further ado, here is my list for 2014.

    #1) Graduate. (That’s right, people. In May 2014 I will officially graduate from Northwest Nazarene University with my Bachelor of Arts.)

    #2) Submit Persona to the ABNA contest in January. (That’s the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. It’s worth a shot, you know?)

    #3) Implement edits from developmental editor (Yay, Gabriel Fitzpatrick!) on Tapped. (Yes, that book I finished last year that went out to Alpha/Beta readers and a supremely wonderful editor will be edited during the first 5 months of 2014. It wouldn’t normally take that long to do edits but … you know … I’ll still be in school around that time.)

    #4) Finish Residual Haunting. (Yep, that’s the novel I started for NaNoWriMo this year.)

    #5) Revamp the synopsis and query letters for the revised Tapped novel. And then Send. Out. Those. Queries. (Non-negotiable there.)

    #6) (Starting in September) Revise Persona and start formatting it for publication.

    #7) Participate in NaNoWriMo again. (Hopefully I’ll win, too. I won’t be in school anymore so I won’t have that excuse if I lose.)

    #8) On December 2, 2014 Persona will be released as my first self-published novel. (This would be my big, scary, impossible goal for the year. I’ve never released something on my own and it’s going to be a challenge.)

    #9) I would really, really, really like it if I could climb a mountain. (Let’s hope that I get a car that works and the state of Idaho doesn’t catch fire again.)

    #10) If I can swing it, I would love to be a Secret Santa for someone next year. I’ve had one this year and it has been wonderful fun.

    … And there you have it. My goals for 2014.

    There are a lot more on there than last year, and most of them have to do with writing. Yes, that is deliberate. After graduating I intend to make a big professional push in that direction. That’ll mean marketing and all that jazz as well — which I admit I have no idea how to do.

    But I figure I went to school so I could do what I love. And what I love is telling stories that examine who we are as people, that expose both the ugly parts of us and the beauty we are capable of. The degree that I’ll have is really just another tool to help me tell those stories.

    So here I am rolling up my sleeves, getting ready for one awesome 2014. I hope everyone is as excited as I am for the future.

  • Bring it on 2013 …

    As my last post talked about the goals I made through 2012 you can probably guess that this post is going to be full of goals for 2013.  And you’re right.  As I said, a friend of mine got me hooked on this and it has been remarkably helpful in my writing life.

    So!  In 2013 I want to …

    1) Submit my edited copy of Dead Magic to DDP on my deadline of March 1st. — This shouldn’t be a problem.  Honest.

    2) Finish Usurper. — This might be a problem.  Could take me the whole year to do with school and all that.

    3) World Build and (hopefully) complete Tapped. — This shouldn’t be that much of a problem.  There are only 6 or 7 chapters left … though the plot sorta exploded in my face last week and I have to revamp the ending.

    4) Climb 2 Mountains.  — I lowered it from three because, let’s face it, I never make it up three no matter how much I want to.  Plus, I have an internship that starts June 1st and runs through the summer, so my time will be limited.

    That’s it.  Those are my goals for 2013.  Anything else that happens will be icing on the cake.