Last year rather than give my usual “by the numbers” look at the year that was ending, I decided to look forward to the year of 2024 with WONDER as my theme word.
And, oh boy, was it a good year for that word!
I think I spent the majority of my days of 2024 in a perpetual state of wonder. Or maybe more accurately I was in a state of… “What in the name of Hades just happened?!!”
Professionally, this was one of the most incredible years of my entire career. Getting to talk to and meet and spend time with so many readers and authors, getting to travel to other countries (my German book tour was amazing!), hitting bestselling and best of lists, getting to see my words wrapped up in such beautiful packages (spredges and end paper art and foiling, oh my!). Let’s just say I checked off a whole host of author dreams in a single year, and I still can’t quite believe it’s real. As always, the relationships I’ve made and grown are by far the best part. I love what I do so much, and know exactly how lucky I am to be able to do it!
Personally it was also a wonderful year, with leaps and bounds made in some of the areas we had struggled with so much in 2022 and 2023. The highlight for our family was finally taking the European vacation we’d been saving for seventeen years to go on. Like everyone, there are still storm clouds looming, but those never entirely go away, I guess. However, the good has far outweighed the hard this past year.
So since choosing a word theme for the year worked so very well for me in 2024, I’ve decided to pick a theme for 2025 as well!
My word for 2025 is GRATEFUL.
To get to do what I do… to be able to disappear into these worlds and characters, to write full time, to travel and meet people, to have readers love my work and have fun talking with me about my books, to enjoy good health, to have my family healthy and prospering…is incredible! Yes, a LOT of hard work and mistakes and effort and planning and worrying go into making those things true. But it’s also a HUGE amount of luck and timing and outside forces we have no control over. And not all of life is easy. In fact, there are some major struggles we still face. But looking back at the struggles we’ve come through, I can see how much we’ve grown in those as well. So this year I want to be grateful. For ALL of it. Especially for all the people who walk with us along the way, whether its for years or only a few steps.
I’m excited for 2025 and hope you are too!
Happy New Year!
A FEW OF THE NUMBERS
- Author Dreams Unlocked
- A book published in hardcover with sprayed edges, 3D effects, foiling, end paper art, and chapter art
- I went on a book tour in the US and in Germany!
- Contracts signed to publish my books in 15 languages, distributed in 22+ countries (most coming in 2025!)
- Sold out at Amazon the week of release
- My books on center tables at Barnes & Nobles
- #1 New York Times Bestselling Author (5 weeks on the list)
- #1 USA Today Bestselling Author (5 weeks on the list, returned for an extra week in November)
- #1 Publishers Weekly Bestselling Author (7 weeks on the list)
- #1 Globe & Mail Canada Bestseller
- Spiegel German Market Bestseller
- Barnes & Noble’s Best Books of 2024
- Indigo’s Top 100 Best Books of 2024
- Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee for Readers’ Favorite Romantasy of 2024
- My book was advertised on billboards in Germany
- New Releases – 3
- Re-Releases with New Covers – 4
- The 4-book Inferno Rising series
- Languages – 7 (with many more to come!)
- English: US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand
- French
- German
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Spanish
- Ukrainian
- Words Written – 218k
- I would like to have written more, but now I’m working around a lot more travel. I’m getting that figured out for 2025 so I can hit my usual 300k+ goals!
- I finished The Things Gods Break first draft!
- Fests / Cons / Signings – 28
- So many wonderful people, events, signings. Thank you for inviting me or coming to see me or swinging by to meet a new-to-you author!
- Podcasts & Virtual Events – 20
- The virtual events were for the most part not recorded, but so much fun
- You can find the podcasts here!
- Writing Retreats – 3
- Florida Beach House
- Caribbean Writer’s Cruise
- New Orleans
- Workshops & Articles – 12
- I love to exchange and share tips and ideas with other writers!
- Workshops I Delivered – Organized Author Life, Getting Started Q&A, Big Ol’ Beat Sheets, Analyzing Your Genre, Great Beginnings
- Articles – check out the list here
And to the friends and family who made my year so special. Some of you I talked to almost daily, some just here and there, some are new, and some have been in my life for a while now. Please know how special you are to me, how much joy you bring to the world, and how much I love you!