A Year of Creativity

Published on by Joan Hall

Hey, readers. I almost didn’t write this post after looking back at my 2022 goals. I’d planned to write and publish two books last year, a short story collection and the second book of the Legends of Maderia series, but I didn’t publish a single title.

When I read Staci Troilo’s plans for 2023, I felt inspired to post this. I hope to look back in January 2024 and see that I exceed my goals. So, here they are.

Writing and Publishing

Menagerie releases next week and is now available for preorder, so I’m already ahead of 2022 on publishing. Writing these stories took most of the year, which obviously wasn’t a good year writing-wise (or at least productivity-wise). Honestly, the eight months I worked at my previous job were probably the hardest in my twenty-plus years there. Maybe it was because I’d planned to retire. It took a few weeks to “recover.” That’s behind me now, and I love retirement.

I’m ready to delve into the pages of Blood Red Dawn, the second full-length novel of the Legends of Maderia series. The goal is to publish it later this year. I had planned to write four Legends books, but I’ve decided to stop at three. I “might” write another short story to go along with the series, but I haven’t decided. Book Three’s title is Edge of Twilight. My plan is to write the draft this year and publish it in early 2024.

The previously planned fourth Legends book will become a stand-alone novel. I’m excited about it. I’ve not written a stand-alone book, save The Stranger which is novella length. I also have three stories that I planned to include in Menagerie, but when I began writing them, I realized they needed to be longer than 10K words.

One of those stories is part of a secret project that you’ll hear more about later on. As of now, there’s no release date planned. A second story will become another stand-alone novel, and the third a possible novelette or novella.

Blogging

I plan to continue my Mystery Monday/Legends and Lore posts. I enjoy researching and writing those. The first one of 2023 will be next Monday. I also plan to make this a weekly post rather than twice a month. I already have a list of topics that I hope you’ll find intriguing.

Hosting

Along the line of blogging, I love to support other authors, and I’m happy to do so here. If you have a new release and would like for me to host you, just contact me. A contact form is at the bottom of this page.

Newsletter

One of my goals for the year is to build my mailing list and publish a monthly newsletter. I’ve had good intentions on this for a while, but always fall short. This is going to be the year I succeed. If you’re interested in signing up, just click this link. Future plans for the letter will include some giveaways and possibly some unpublished short stories that I’ll send only to subscribers.

Creativity

I’ve been thinking a lot about the word, creativity. As an author, I automatically think of writing when it comes to being creative, but the word encompasses much more. I’m declaring 2023 as the year of creativity and I want to keep my creative juices flowing. See you next week, and I hope 2023 is a productive year for you as well.

48 thoughts on “A Year of Creativity”

  1. Wishing you success on Menagerie. I can’t wait to read it.

    I hope to be any kind of creative this year. I put so much off last year, anything would be an improvement. I applaud your goal setting. Something I need to consider.

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  2. Robert Browning said “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” I think setting goals is always a great first step in that regard, even if we adjust them now and then. And if there are a few we don’t reach, well … perhaps that’s exactly what heaven’s for. 😊

    Good luck with yours this year, Joan, and I hope you achieve most (if not all) of them. Here’s to a Happy, Healthy, and Productive 2023, my friend! 😀 ❤

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      1. I’ve always loved it, too, Joan! It’s definitely a positive and encouraging way to think about it. Thanks for your well wishes, too! Let’s hear it for 2023! 😀

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  4. The definition of a goal is our aim or desired result. When we set a target, plenty of factors may disrupt or distract us from getting to where we want to go. That’s part of life. It hardly means we’ve failed; we simply reload, adjust our ambitions if needed, and try again. Best of luck in 2023, Joan.

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    1. Thanks for the good wishes, Pete. You’re right. Life sometimes gets in the way, so to speak, The important thing is to not give up, even when we do have those setbacks. Best wishes for you this year as well.

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  5. I love this post so much, Joan! It changes our perspective, sometimes, by looking back at the year past. Sounds like we have lots to look forward from you in 2023!! I’ve gotten my copy of the short story collection pre-ordered and am thrilled there will be another novel in the Legend of Maderia series! Best Wishes!

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  6. It’s always great to have goals set, Joan. I have no doubt you’ll tackle these head on, and I look forward to all the and succeed. I can feel your creative energy and excitement bursting off the screen. Here’s to a wonderful 2023!

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  9. Your goals inspire me to do something similar. They are great, Joan. I’m excited to read Menagerie. I’ve preordered and can’t wait. Congratulations! 🎉🎊🎉

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    1. It helps to set goals, Gwen. The key is not to beat yourself up if you don’t reach them. Life happens and sometimes even with our best intentions, we can’t do everything.

      Glad you’re looking forward to Menagerie.

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    1. Congratulations, Jill! There’s nothing like retirement. I love it. Judi Lynn warned me I wouldn’t have as much time as I thought. She was correct. Sometimes I wonder where the time goes.

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  12. Last year my resolution was to try to work more on my WIP and that didn’t go as planned. I only got around to working on it a couple of times. 😅 I think I will try again this year, though, or at least try to get more creative writing of some type done.

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  15. Thanks for the shout-out, Joan.

    I know you didn’t publish last year, but you worked HARD. Now it’s time for the payoff. Congratulations on Menagerie, and best wishes on your goals for this year.

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