Hey everyone, as the year winds down, I wanted to do a quick review of what I wrote, what I published, and what I’ve been through for the year.

I released four books this year: Sorcerers of the Black Fortress, Common Valor, Valor’s Strike, and Forsworn Valor. All told, around 460,000 words published, or around 1,500 pages.

I wrote seven novels and a short story this year (along with some progress on other stuff that’s not yet finished), with a total word count of 685,000 words, or around 3,500 pages. It was a very productive year for me, and I’m happy with what I managed, though I think I can do better.

I hit a personal milestone of having 40 books published by the time I turned 40, which feels like quite the accomplishment to me, though I am sure there are people out there saying “Those are rookie numbers, gotta bump those numbers up!”

I have three novels that I’ve finished this year and not yet released, two of them will be out in the first few months of the new year, and the third, under contract, should be out in the first quarter of the new year.

My regular readers may have noticed a pause in releases and in blog posts. We bought a house and moved into it during spring of 2023. That was the second move in two years, my 27th or 28th move as an adult (I have sort of lost count, not enough fingers and toes). It’s certainly not as bad as years where we’ve moved three times in one year, but it definitely impacts my writing (and my mental health, but that’s a discussion for another day).

Part of the pause was also from a desire to get some breathing space as far as having books ready to go, including covers, editing, and all the rest. Indie publishing can be a bit like a treadmill, with the need for releases, and having those books ready to go three to four months out does wonders for my mindset as far as writing. I know when a book is ready to go, where it falls in any given series, and what comes next for my writing order. That means I’m not constantly stressing myself out as far as getting books done on time (and consequently, falling further behind).

My goal is to keep that breathing space, which also allows me some time to work on multiple projects, ideally knocking out 2-3 books on any given series before switching over to a different one. So far it is working, though I have to be ever mindful of the advancing pace of time.

In my day job, I’ve been promoted, which brings with it added responsibilities, more stress, longer hours, countered by more pay and ideally the ability to have more impact. I have jokingly said before, I don’t have a military career, I am just really into method writing. Ha. Haha.

For those who follow my YouTube channel, that is an accomplishment in itself, with me foraying into the world of visual/audio media. I have some ideas and plans for the future, time is the main limiting factor there, because time I spend filming, editing, and working on that is time I am not spending with my family, writing, or working the day job.

As 2023 closes out, I have a roof over my head, my family is fed, and I am grateful for those things. I hope that all those reading this can say the same. I am grateful for the writing I’ve managed and for ideas and inspiration that I carry into the new year.

That’s all for now, thank you for reading!