Time for the last IWSG meeting of December 2022! Greetings from a freezing cold Scotland, and I hope you're managing to get into some kind of spirit. Hosted as ever by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the aim of the group is to offer a safe space where writers can share doubts and insecurities without fear of being judged. This month's co-hosts are Joylene Nowell Butler, Chemist Ken, Natalie Aguirre, Nancy Gideon and Cathrina Constantine.
As we near the end of the year, I have to say it's been one of the best years of my writing life, as I signed my first contract for a traditionally published book. There is still some way to go, with the release date not until August next year, but I have to say I'm thankful for the fantastic relationship I've built with my publisher. They favour a slow-burn approach, laying the groundwork over many months by making meaningful connections with reviewers and influencers and focusing on a handful of excellent titles rather than rushing to get many books out to market and not giving them the attention they deserve. I'm loving being on this journey. Don't forget, if you haven't added The Becalmer to your TBR yet, you can do so here!
In terms of writing progress, I spent the year writing a draft of my next project, which is out with CPs, and I'm kicking around ideas for something else that I'll hopefully get a jump on before the end of the year. This brings us in to our IWSG question for this month:
It's holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?
I don't really think about goals at this time of year, in terms of catching up on any I might have set. It's more about looking forward to next year. If I was seriously behind on something I wanted to do, I don't think the holidays are the best time to fix that! And it's not a good idea to set hard and fast goals for the year and then kick yourself for not completing them. Instead, it's a time to look back on what you did accomplish and to ponder what you might want to do next year. The actual writing tends to slow up a bit over the holidays but I'm still hoping to get a bit done.
Check out other festive posts at the group here.
