It has been a year of transition and challenges for us here at Serenity. Big changes have happened. I entered a partnership with Oliver Heber Books for many of my title. We took the ebook editions of the Texas Brands, Oklahoma Brands, and McIntyre Men to Kindle Unlimited, but we also got them back into mass market paperback editions via bookstore-friendly Ingrams, which means they can be carried by every bookstore out there in one form or another. This has been a positive change, and I'm seeing a much needed uptick in revenue from these moves.
I also got back the rights to my entire (mostly) Wings in the Night series, the books of my heart. This was the one series I didn't partner with OHB on. I decided to self-publish them and see what I could do. I came up with incredible, eye-catching new covers, and decided I would re-release them every other Tuesday for about a year. I wanted to give old readers a reason to buy the new editions so I committed to writing an original short piece as a bonus read in each one. Naturally, they're about Rhiannon, and they are gradually telling her origin story (to me as well as to you!)
We had some injuries this summer, too. My husband started a new business and almost immediately suffered a hand injury with minor nerve damage that required surgery. The day he got his stitches out, I broke my wrist. I am still meditating on the metaphysical reasons behind those things. But we recovered, and came back more productive than ever--both of us.
Now we are looking ahead to 2023 and here's what I have in mind for the new year.
Obviously, my breakneck pace of every other Tuesday releases for Wings in the Night will continue until the entire series has been re-launched, which should happen in June. I plan to release both Fear the Reaper (a serial, currently in Kindle Vella) and Young Rhiannon in the Temple of Isis (all in one book) at that time as well. I have a half-written sequel to Fiona: Origins I'd like to finish and another Brown and de Luca novel as well. The Fatal series has nice momentum I'd be dumb not to follow up on the minute the next plot comes to me, too.
I'll be able to get a LOT more writing done once the Wings re-launch is complete, so I expect a highly productive second-half of 2023. Maybe after a few days off. When I upload the final existing Wings in the Night, I'll be tempted to head to a spa, or at least pop the cork on some sparkling cider. This has been a major undertaking!
However, the new stuff can't be put off. I have two new projects in the pipeline.
First, FATAL PHANTASM, Book 4 in my Fatal Series, releases in just over 4 weeks on January 31st. I finished work on this just at the cusp of the holiday season and decided not to start the next project until after the 1st, so I'd have time to enjoy the holidays. However, the Wings in the Night books did not give me a break.
The second thing is the next project. I've been waiting for inspiration to come to me on what to start writing next. It is really difficult with so many series, each with its own set of fans who want more. This is the best "problem" any writer could imagine having, mind you!
I have very few series I consider "done." The Oklahoma Brands are complete. The Secrets of Shadow Falls and linked Mordecai Young series are done. I think the By Magic series is done. The Portal series is done.
But Wings in the Night, The Immortals, The Texas Brand, and Brown and de Luca, all have more books to go. And you will get all of them, providing I live long enough.
You know what's even harder? I get new ideas all the time for books that aren't part of an existing series. New stuff, brand new. I'm dying to write some of those, too. There are a dozen new notions in my "idea file" just waiting for me to find time to work on them. And some of them are going to be amazing.
I think I have to give myself permission to play around with the new stuff. But at the same time, I'm feeling inspiration for a new story--a new set of stories, actually--in one of my oldest series. But I have to play with this notion a little to see if it's going to take root before I'll know for sure. So I won't get into details just yet.
I'd like to have a list of new releases with dates to leave for you here today, but I'm not there yet, other than a Wings in the Night every other Tuesday for the first six months of 2023 and FATAL PHANTASM at the end of January.
And I'll be writing something new starting this Monday. A brand new book for 2023. Weee!
I hope your Christmas, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Hanukkah were amazing. I hope you are home, snug and warm, safe and well-fed. I hope all of you whose travel plans turned into nightmares are able to look beyond the "problem" to see its deeper meaning. I always find that helpful. Sometimes being stuck away from family just makes us appreciate being stuck with family a little bit more. There's a reason for everything.
In the midst of disaster, instead of freaking out, look for the deep, spiritual message it has brought.
That's all for today, and probably for this year.
Thank you for the ride, 2022. Go with thanks and love.
Welcome in 2023! Let's make this the best year yet!