2024 The Year in Review

There were definitely some unplanned happenings in 2024… but I guess that’s how we know we’re still alive?! While I did know that my husband would retire in the fall of ’24, I wasn’t counting on him being home from the beginning of April on due to a hip replacement, though I did know the surgery was coming “sometime.”

At any rate, I had big plans. My 2024 goals are listed here for your viewing (and laughing) pleasure.

I had planned to write 4.5 novels in 2024 and release 4.

Written in 2024 (253,100 words)

• A Great and Glorious Gift (the last 24,000 words were written in 2024 — Farm Fresh Market Romance 3)
• A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy (68,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 3)
• A Marriage Pact for the Cowboy (63,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 4)
• A Secret Baby for the Cowboy (62,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 5)
• Her Waiting Heart (30,000 words — Christmas at Maranatha Inn Romance 0)
• A Hidden Heiress for the Cowboy (about 6500 words of a projected 60,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 6)

So… I wrote three complete novels, one complete novella, and the equivalent of a second novella on two different projects. I’m okay with those results.

Published in 2024 (282,000 words)
• A Great and Glorious Gift (89,000 words — Farm Fresh Market Romance 3)
• A Sunny Sweetheart for the Cowboy (68,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 3)
• A Marriage Pact for the Cowboy (63,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 4)
• A Secret Baby for the Cowboy (62,000 words — Sweet River Ranch Romance 5)

I did publish the same number of works as I’d planned to (4), and they were even the same titles! Almost a miracle there.

Other writing goals:
I planned to release one box set (Sweet River Ranch 1-3) in 2024, and I did so. I had no plans for audiobook production, and I achieved that, too.

Communication Goals for 2024
• Blog here at least once a month, including more THM recipes, since they attract new visitors (um, not really many posts)
• Blog at Inspy Romance monthly (we shut down the group blog in April)
• Podcast at Story Chats weekly (we shut down the podcast in April)
• Send email newsletters every second week — yay, something I did!
• Post to my FB Readers Group several times a week — yay, something else I did!
• Post on my Facebook page 1-2x a month. Utter failure. Again.

What about you? Did you meet your goals for 2024? What do you expect 2025 to look like for you?

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: