Look Both Ways: the Obligatory Year End Blog Post

2015 is nearly over. Aside from being fifteen years deep into the era known as "the future" and me being firmly supplanted in middle age, what does this even mean? Loads of things, I guess, but I'm going to focus on a few things as they pertain to me because I am completely selfish that way.

On a personal level, 2015 had its ups and downs. I had some personal triumphs as well as setbacks. Though I am not one to talk about my personal life in a public setting, I would consider it a dishonor if I did not mention the most difficult moment of 2015 was losing Penny, our oldest dog, back in October.

I can only hope to look as pretty at 98

I wish I could say we've found a balance since then, but I'm still coming to terms with the loss and I know I'm not the only one who notices the imbalance. She was certainly one of a kind and she is missed.

Sorry for the downer, but life doesn't always give us sunshine and roses. Which is why I will continue my full metal assault on negativity. On both a personal and professional level, I plan to go out of my way to spread positivity, peace, and balance, even when doing so is difficult.

As an author, this has been a wonderful year in that I've finally found a community of like-minded individuals over at SupportIndieAuthors who are as tired of the negativity in the world as I am. Together, we have carved out  a positive space for all Indie Authors to meet and help one another. I can't say enough great things about this group and I'm looking forward to growing with them as we reach our first anniversary.

In my own writing, hoo boy! 2015 seems to have been the year of impatience. I managed to complete and publish three books in my current series, Rise of the Discordant, as well as reformatting the entire Eyes series for print. Yet even as I worked, other ideas were knocking at the door.

That is why going forward into 2016, I have no plans to promise anything besides the final book of the Rise of the Discordant series. At some point, not even going to spitball when, I will publish Frack You. But beyond that, 2016 will be the year that I work on what is most important and to me,what is most important is writing the best stories that I can.

In the works are a romantic sci-fi about a woman who finds out she is heir to the throne on an alien world, a young adult sci-fi thriller about a girl who finds out she was part of a secret experiment and is now being hunted, and an 18+ space opera about a woman who joins a group of underdog vigilantes not because she is a hero who believes in their cause, but as a means to get revenge against her tormentors.

I'm looking forward to giving status updates on whichever project I happen to be working on, obviously, but don't hold your breath. The last two years have been fun, but these next projects are going to hearken back to the style of the Eyes series and Kind of Like Life, which means much longer, more thought out ideas that will require a lot of planning and revising.

Of course, this does not mean that you won't hear from me or that you won't find new material. I will continue to update you all here on what path the robot apocalypse will take next and I even have a short story that I plan to post soon. And as always, I will continue to highlight amazing Indie Authors, so you will always have something to read, even if it isn't from me. ;)