Two Thousand and Twenty

Wow, what a year it's been! I published some books, won some awards, and even started a newsletter with some friends! At this time of year, I like to look back on the goals I set for myself last year.

1. Two books to finish writing.
2. Publish at least two books this year. (I say at least, because I think I can squeeze out three, but I'm not sure.)
3. Finish editing that series!

So what did I actually do in 2019?

1. I had set myself a goal of writing 2 books because I wasn't sure how I'd managed throughout the year. But then I got a ball rolling and wrote...*drumrolllll* 4 novels and 3 novellas! That's 7 whole new stories that didn't exist before 2019.

2. Of those 7 books, I published 4 of them (2 novels and 2 novellas), plus 2 other books that had been written in 2018. So I wrote 7 books and published 6 books in 2019. Even I have no idea how I did that. Check out all the books I published this year:

3. Ah, the series! The series that I've been talking about for years. Well, I'm happy to say that I'm a good chunk of the way through editing it, I've built covers, I've written new content, and I'll be releasing it soon! If you want to keep track of my progress with that a) sign up for the Indie Wordsmiths newsletter and b) check out the Onepian Chronicles here:

4. I won a couple of awards for Knockout Girl back in June! The Indie Originals awards I won were for Best Young Adult Novel and Best New Author. You can see a complete list of winners here.

5. I also recently started a newsletter with some other writerly friends. All of them have been personally vetted and are more talented than me. We cover a variety of genres, like fantasy, sci-fi, contemporary romance, urban fantasy, and YA, so if you want to keep up with us feel free to sign up! You'll even get a free sample that showcases all of our writing styles. Also, if you want to know more about my friends, check them out here:

• Lea
• Matthew
• Michelle

And now for my 2019 goals! Or should I say...goal. Because I really only have one goal this year: make it to 20 published books by the end of 2020. Currently I'm at 8. Wish me luck!


Happy New Year and happy reading!

- Natasja

NaNoWriMo 2019!

NaNoWriMo 2019 is starting this Friday, Nov. 1! This will be my ninth year entering and so far I've got a streak of four years won in a row. Last year, you might recall that I finished my book in 12 days. That was The B-Boy, which was published and released in August.

My first NaNo was in 2011, when I wrote My Best Friend's Brother/The Summer I Turned into a Girl. I published that one the following summer and have since published a sequel. 

This year I'm hoping to tackle a few projects. Yup, you read that right. I need to get more words written than the requisite to win NaNo. I do have a complete novel that I plan to write during the month (more on that later), but I also have a couple of novellas and another book to finish before the end of the year. And what better time to get those done than during November?

Other things happening in November: both Outside Edge and Hooked are coming out near the end of the month, which will wrap up my Knockout Girl series! I'm excited and I'll probably find some fun way to celebrate. I'm also a little sad to say goodbye to Knockout Girl. So...don't be surprised if at some point I say I've got another book for the series, but it won't be any time soon.

 

I have a new project I'm working on but I can't elaborate on it just yet. I've mentioned it before, though, so if you scroll through my past posts and find anything related to spaceships and other planets...you might have a piece of the puzzle.

Anyway, if you're even remotely interested in doing NaNo this year, head on over to https://nanowrimo.org/. It's loads of fun, even if you don't make it to 50k words. There are local write-ins, chats with other writers, pep talks from published authors, and badges to collect! If you're trying it this year, feel free to add me as a buddy. Just search for Natasja and you'll find me.

Happy writing! I'll check in at some point next month.

- Natasja

Goals and Resolutions

We're halfway through 2019 so I'm reflecting on the resolutions I made. For anyone wondering, here they are:

1. Two books to finish writing.
2. Publish at least two books this year. (I say at least, because I think I can squeeze out three, but I'm not sure.)
3. Finish editing that series!

 To recap, here's what I've actually done so far this year...

1. Goal complete! I've actually written two books and a novella and I'm halfway through another book. Two of these books I didn't even know I was going to write.
2. Goal complete! Standup Guy was released in February and My Brother's Best Friend/Learning to Sing Like a Girl was just published this June. However, I still have plans for at least one more book and a novella.
3. Ah....the series. The sci-fi one. I'm still working on that. It's been pushed aside a little as I work on my Knockout Girl series, but I've had several requests for when I'm going to get around to publishing it. Some day! But probably not until next year.


I'd say I'm doing pretty well this year. Looks like I'll have to give myself harder goals for 2020.

Happy reading!!



- Natasja

Updates, and writing, and editing, oh my!

Hello, all! I'm looking back on my New Year's Resolutions that I made for 2018. In case you can't recall (or can't be bothered to click the link), here's the list:

1. Three books to finish writing.
2. One book to write for nanowrimo.
3. An entire series, consisting of eight books to edit.

And here's how I'm doing...

1. I have finished writing one book so far. Not sure I'll make it to three even with Nano's help, though.
2. Nano hasn't come up yet. I briefly considered doing camp nano this July, but I was just too busy for it.
3. I'm actually working my way through this series, with the help of a couple of wonderful critique partners. One book is fully edited, a couple others are mostly polished and a couple don't even have titles. One needs a complete rewrite and I'm three chapters into it, sooo...

There's that! If you don't hear from me for a couple of months again, it's just because I'm doing lots of writing.

- Natasja

Two Thousand and Eighteen

Happy New Year!!

Time to party it up like this champ

Everyone likes to make resolutions at this time of the year. I kind of do that by telling myself (and my alpha reader*) how many books I will finish writing and how many I will edit extensively. So what's on this year's list?

1. Three books to finish writing.
2. One book to write for nanowrimo.
3. An entire series, consisting of eight books to edit.

So, you know, no big deal.

Here's to a great 2018 for you, me, and all the fictional people in my head!

- Natasja


*What's an alpha reader? It's a person who reads all your stuff, first draft or otherwise, laughs at the ridiculous mistakes you make, and yet still tells you that you're amazing.

2013 (Or, Why the World Didn't End)*

I've never put a great deal of effort into celebrating the birth of a new year, but that doesn't mean I don't remark on time passed. I guess I don't find it as significant an event as others, but it is still fun to say that I've lived in two different millennia. And of course, I got a kiss from my husband at 12am. (12:01 by my clock, but who's keeping track?)

Nonetheless, I have to say that I had a pretty fantastic 2012. What did I do again? Oh yes, published a book, got married, and upgraded my job. But that was just my summer... (You'll have to forgive me my tiny moment of bragging.)

After all that, however, I'm still hoping for another fantastic year and years to come. My husband asked me what resolutions I was making, and I told him none.** Though maybe I should be more honest and say this: I still plan to send out Less Than Perfect to publishers, but if none choose me by the end of the year, I will publish it on my own. And that, my loyal readers, if my promise to you.

Happy New Year to you all. I hope 2013 is your best year yet!

- Natasja

*You were seriously worried, weren't you?

 

**I also ascertained that there are two types of people when it comes to New Year's: those who make resolutions and don't keep them, and those who don't make resolutions and don't have to worry about failure. I am the latter.