Happy New Year! It’s time for one of those ‘The Year In Review’ posts, and since this is a writing blog it’ll all be about writing. Except, we did get two new kittens in 2023, so furry picture time!
My 2023 started out with a writing crisis. The fall of 2022 saw me stressed and low on energy, something I decided to address in the early months of 2023. And then a wonderous thing happened: I started writing again! Not only did this turn into a steady output of words. It resulted in more new words than I’d ever written in an entire year.
From late May to late October, I wrote and rewrote the manuscript for the second novel in The Shadow Lens series, which was record-breaking speed for me. I’m now juggling edits from my publisher, and the novel should be out sometime in late Q1-early Q2 of 2024. The Danish title is ‘Kampen om kraftfeltet’, which roughly translates into ‘The Fight for the Force Field’. If you’re an English reader getting the news here: Sorry – the novel will only be released in Danish. If you’re a Danish reader or parent looking for a fantasy book for children aged 10-14: Watch this space for more news.
2023 was also the year when I finished my first short story in a shared universe with four other writers. There’s only one other story finished so far, but maybe it’ll grow into a full anthology some day. Either way, it was an extremely fun story to write, what with the shrinking cathedral and the hidden doorways and all.
I also finished the edits for ‘Heather Country’, another short story that came out in the ‘Nordic Visions‘ anthology in October. It was this year’s only publication, but since I have a novel on the way in 2024, I’m okay with that.
In March, I attended the spec-fiction con ‘Vilde Universer’ in Aarhus where I moderated a panel about publishing first novel publishing. I’ll join the con again in 2024 with a panel/conversation about ‘cool writing in speculative fiction’. It’s a concept that has proven elusive so far, but I know we’ll get there.
The speed of writing also resulted in a couple of hundred pages of what I’m so far calling ‘The Huge Fun Fantasy Project’. I’ll be sure to keep you up to speed on that manuscript, too, as I’ll continue writing it throughout 2024 whenever I have time for writing something fun.
Finally, 2024 will see me editing the manuscript for my SF-noir novel, tentatively called ‘The Dark Ways’. In fact, I can’t wait to come back to this project once I’m done with the edits of The Shadow Lens sequel.