The second year of the pandemic is drawing to a close. This has affected pretty much everything in our lives, right? For the most part, we’ve learned to live with it. We had high hopes a year ago that this would soon all be in the rearview mirror. Now, we’re beginning to wonder if life as we once knew it will ever resume.
We may not know the future (probably a good thing) but we definitely know WHO HAS the future in His hands. We can trust our Lord, even when life is unsettling and just plain hard.
Write 6.5 and publish 8 titles in 2021
In 2021, I wrote about 305,000 words of fiction and published about 370,000 words, clearing a little of the ‘backlog’ of words previously written.
Written in 2021:
• Joys of Juniper (about 35,000 words of Urban Farm Fresh Romance 11, started in 2020)
• Sapphire Sentiments (40,000 words — Pot of Gold Romance 3)
• Amethyst Attraction (40,000 words — Pot of Gold Romance 4)
• Let Me Off Easy, Cowboy (55,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboys Romance 3)
• Together in Thyme (55,000 words — Urban Farm Fresh Romance 12)
• Kiss Me Like You Mean It, Cowboy (60,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboys Romance 4)
• A Wide and Pleasant Place (20,000 words of Farm Fresh Market Romance 1 — will finish in 2022)
You can always follow along with what I’m currently writing on my Coming Soon page or, of course, by being a newsletter subscriber.
Published in 2021:
• February: Give Me Another Chance, Cowboy (55,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboy Romance 2)
• April: Joys of Juniper (55,000 words — Urban Farm Fresh Romance 11)
• May: Topaz Treasure (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 1)
• June: Ruby Radiance in the Love’s Treasure multi-author set (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 2)
• July: Sapphire Sentiments (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 3)
• August: Amethyst Attraction (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 4)
• September: Let Me Off Easy, Cowboy (55,000 words — Cavanagh Cowboy Romance 3)
• September: Ruby Radiance (Pot of Gold Geocaching Romance 2)
• November: Together in Thyme (55,000 words — Urban Farm Fresh Romance 12)
Series Bundles Published in 2019:
• January: Urban Farm Fresh Romance 7-9
Audiobook Goals
I had no audio goals for 2021. Good thing, since I did nothing.
Communication Goals
I planned to maintain a regular blogging schedule here and on Inspy Romance. I didn’t succeed here on my blog, but continued to blog monthly at Inspy Romance. I also planned to send a newsletter out 2-3 times per month, and achieved that, also. I planned to stop by my Facebook Reader Group 1-2x a week, and that’s another goal I over-achieved on. It’s become a great place to hang out!
One of the big challenges of 2021 was the death of my friend and fellow-author, Marion Ueckermann. She passed away of covid in South Africa in June, leaving a big hole in the Christian writers community. Marion’s passing reminded me that none of us knows the day or hour when our Lord will call us home, and we need to live for Him every day, loving those He’s put in our life, making the most of every situation.
I’ve been posting my annual goals to my blog for quite a few years, if you’d like to have a look. Before 2009, my reporting was a bit haphazard, so after poking around for a while, I decided “back then” wasn’t relevant! Still, if it would amuse you, here’s the list:
2019 goals | 2019 in review
2018 goals | 2018 in review
2017 goals | 2017 in review
2016 goals | 2016 in review
2015 goals | 2015 in review
2014 goals | 2014 in review
2013 goals | 2013 in review
2012 goals | 2012 in review
2011 goals | 2011 in review
2010 goals | 2010 in review
2009 goals | 2009 in review
Do you set annual goals? How did you do keeping them in 2021? Check back next week to see my plans for 2022!