2015 flew by, a blur of words and new stories. More new stories revealed themselves to me this year than in any other year of my life. There was a series of six novellas about sister-witches, three of which have been drafted. There was a retelling of Snow White and a story about a hedge witch with hints of Little Red Riding Hood thrown in. And there were more.
If 2015 was a year of story beginnings, hopefully 2016 will be the year those seeds take root and come to fruition. Not all of them, no, but at least a few. I have started a lot of first drafts that need to be finished, and I have a couple stories that I hope to start querying in 2016.
So here’s what I accomplished this year:
- First and second drafts of a novella, A Prince in Patience Point
- A third draft of Good Old-Fashioned Magic
- Second drafts of Stolen by Magic and Called by Magic, the first two novellas in the Cabot Sisters series
- A first draft of a short story, “Into the Faerie Forest”
- Started drafts of three novels, The Phoenix Feather, The Hedge Witch and the Wolf, and The Broken Mirror, along with drafts of a couple shorter works.
I’ve also read 64 books to date and am hoping to finish a few more before the year ends. I also was a first-place winner in the Pages from the Heart writing contest—my first professional win in a writing contest (not counting those from my undergraduate days).
So there you have it. A year of new beginnings. I don’t know why these stories chose me, and I don’t know that all of them will make it to the finished draft stage. I’ve learned that sometimes an idea fizzles, and we can’t always reignite the spark. That’s just part of the creative process. But I do hope to get a couple drafts of novels done soon, in addition to my novella-length works.
Here’s wishing everyone a very happy end to 2015—and best wishes for 2016. Thanks to everyone who has commented on the blog over the past year. Having the support of a writing community can make all the difference.
A Round of Words in 80 Days is the writing challenge that knows you have a life. Click here to cheer on fellow participants.
Denise D. Young 
You had an active year. 🙂 I hope next year treats you well and that your wishes for your year, especially in regards to writing, come true. Keep being awesome!
It was definitely a flurry of new stories and plenty of words on the page. Happy New Year, Gloria! Catch you next round! Keep being awesome, too. 🙂
Sounds like you did very well for yourself. Hope you have a good 2016.
Thanks. Happy New Year!
Sounds like you’ve had a great year! Hope next year is good to you too
It was definitely busy. A new home, teaching a new course, discovering plenty of new stories. Happy New Year, Fallon!
Sounds like you had a great year. I also have a stack of first drafts. It’s more fun to write them than to edit. Have a happy New Year.
Yeah. First drafts are so exciting that sometimes the revision/editing phase seems like so much less fun. But I love the sense of satisfaction I feel after finishing a second or third draft–the feeling that a story is so much closer to what it needs to be.
Happy New Year to you, too! 🙂