2020 Annual Review

Oh, 2020. What a long, strange trip you’ve been. The space-time continuum has been out of whack. It feels like I just sat down to write my 2019 year-end review, and also feels like a year since Christmas last week. Fridays are Mondays, weeks are minutes, days are years. But through it all, through pandemic and isolation and quarantines and fear, there has been routine and ritual, habits created and broken. It was a weird, long, difficult year, but a good one, for all that. My heart breaks for those of you who’ve been hurting, who’ve been alone, who’ve been isolated, who’ve been ill, who’ve lost people. I’ve been with you in spirit, and I hope you’ve felt that small presence beside you.

LOOKING BACK ON 2020, THE YEAR OF ENOUGH

This year, I’m working a mindful theme as well, using the word Enough. I’m a terrible perfectionist, and I can lose time trying to fix things that don’t necessarily need to be fixed. I battle with myself over little details that most people would never notice. Granted, I do have OCD, so its hard for me to shut off these little buggy things like an extra space between an emoji and the next letter. I mean, that’s ridiculous, and NO ONE CARES! I’m going to work on desensitizing myself so I can focus on the things that matter, instead of the things that don’t.

But it’s more than that. So much more. Enough is a tree with a hundred branches for me. It’s getting enough sleep. It’s getting enough exercise, eating whole, fresh foods. Making sure I have enough water throughout the day. It’s breathing enough. It’s recognizing when I have enough consumer goods, enough books to read, enough in my closet and pantry. It’s recognizing when I’ve been online too long, It’s being at peace with the little things. It’s standing up for what I believe in. It’s pushing back when I feel threatened or used. Enough is all about intentionality for me. Mindfulness. Boundaries.

And it’s about finding beauty and peace, doing away with not having enough time to do some of the little things that make me happy. It’s recognizing when my creativity has run out for the day and going for a walk then reading a book. It’s putting down my laptop and snuggling the cats, or putting down my iPad and chatting with my husband instead. It’s about forging a new path.

Enough. Enough.

It should be an interesting year. It’s probably my hardest challenge to date.

SO HOW DID I DO?

Irony, thy name is annual word themes. Aren’t we all feeling like enough is enough after 2020? 

I went into the year with a bit of a chip on my shoulder. I knew I needed to make some major life changes, and I was determined to conquer these issues. Reader, I did. A few decisions were gut-wrenchingly awful, a few were easy. The first quarter of the year was a stressful mess, magnified by professional changes and the looming pandemic and a book that didn’t want to cooperate. By the second quarter, though, the world was locked down, the issues resolved, and the book...well, it STILL wasn’t working, but one thing at a time. 

Being locked down gave me a new perspective on what mattered most to me. It definitely affected the consumer purchases and little indulgences that previously permeated my life. Not having to worry about things like getting my nails done or having regular haircuts helped me accept all the weird idiosyncratic things about my natural state that I sought to enhance for so many years. So big win there. 

WHAT WENT RIGHT, AND WHAT WENT WRONG?

A lot went right this year. I wrote 1.5 pandemic books, and 2.5 short stories. I toured GOOD GIRLS LIE in a whirlwind week of travel that was one of the most rewarding tours of my career. I moved to the wonderful Curtis Brown literary agency after signing with the delightful Laura Blake Peterson, and revamped my physical being by hitting my move goal 215 days in a row (so far). We moved house, put in a gym, learned how best to isolate without going mad, and found the best masks. I did not gain the COVID-19. All go into the positive column.

Finishing any kind of creative work during a pandemic deserves gold stars, and I award one to myself for rewriting and finishing HER DARK LIES and getting a third of the way into a new story. A WORD ON WORDS has continued into its sixth season, and we’re now shooting from home until we’re cleared for on-location work again. We added full-length interview transcripts, which truly enhances the experience. The GOOD GIRLS LIE tour was incredible, and I was able to take a long weekend in DC with Randy just before the shut down happened. And of course, let’s not discount the fact that we’re both healthy and blessed to be able to work from home. Lockdowns were made for introverts. The universality of this one has restored my faith in humanity. We’re getting through this together. It’s not easy. It’s not fun. But we’re doing it. 

I have to be honest — I had some *spectacular* fails, too. Reading has, sadly, been a misery. Very few books held my attention for long. I have a list of DNFs that I know in another moment in time would have brought me great joy. I stuck with audiobooks, and some great podcasts, and streamed a LOT of great TV. That led me to discover the very cool audio subtitle feature on Netflix. I watched two seasons of The Crown with the audio subtitles on which became its own masterclass in storytelling.

I struggled mightily with my work in the first half of the year. I don’t think I’m unique in this. The last vestiges of surgery brain coupled with COVID destroyed my focus. I abandoned two short stories that just weren’t coming together and ended up having to drop the majority of the manuscript in favor of a totally new storyline, which necessitated several rewrites. These issues weren’t fun, and I’ve been very relieved to feel like I’ve gotten my mojo back in the past few months.

Ironically, once we locked down in late March, things did get better. I spent almost all of January and February watching the looming crisis and trying to get people to take it seriously. The knowledge that we were all onboard social distancing let me relax and settle. 

We spent much of the summer housesitting, just for a change of scenery, and discovered how loud our home in Nashville was. We decided to remedy this in the Fall by looking for a new place, but were surprised when a house came on the market in the neighborhood we wanted to move into only a few days later. It stayed on the market long enough for us to return to Nashville and put in an offer, which miracle of miracles, was accepted. (Nothing stays on the market for more than a few hours in Nashville right now, we’re that hot.) It needed a lot of work, some structural, some design preferences, and the moment I finished the book, I took two months off so we could tackle the renovation, sell our house, and move. Now that the work is behind us, we love it. It is quiet and calm, the cats have lots of places to run and snuggle, and Randy and I have our own offices that are on separate floors. Such blessings, I know. I am beyond grateful.

Let me circle back for a moment. Yes, you read that right. I took two months off.

Friends, I needed the break. I’d needed one for a while. I was hoping to recharge during my annual Lenten sabbatical, but because of COVID, I wasn’t able to unplug at all. Taking time off social media is one thing; taking time off writing is another. But I didn’t have a choice. I’d completely blown through my deadline, my psyche was bruised, my well drought-empty. It was either step away or flame out, and I used the move as the perfect excuse to do a massive reset.

It was weird, not writing every day. Instead, I did mental work on the next book, let characters come to me as they pleased, introducing themselves and letting bits of their lives slip into conversations like new friends at a fun, extended cocktail party. I painted and thought. I directed and planned. I packed and plotted. But I didn’t worry about sitting down and pushing out the words that would bring this story to life. Instead, I jotted down scenes as I went, and when I was ready to work again, there was almost of full book’s worth of scenes to tackle. I’m seeing how this method (40 Scenes) might become part of my practice instead of a one-off situation. It has made the writing go very smoothly.

2020 has been difficult, no doubt. Nashville in particular has suffered greatly, from tornadoes and bombings and Derechos and curfews and lockdowns. I am filled with gratitude and wonder that I’ve been able to accomplish as much as I have, considering.

All in all, Enough was the perfect theme for the year. I feel like I’ve made real, actionable changes to my person, my work life, my home life, my career. I may not have reached or exceeded my normal goals, but I found myself again, and that’s worth more than any manuscript. 

NITTY GRITTY: AKA NERDOLOGY

2020 Word Total: 637,500

Fiction Total: 182,788
Non-Fiction Total: 84,712
Email: 370,000
Fiction Percentage: 46%
Books Read: 65

2019 Fiction Total: 233,555 (Fiction 31%)
2018 Fiction Total: 200,430 (Fiction 24%)
2017 Fiction Total: 274,410 (Fiction 30%)
2016 Fiction Total: 217,228 (Fiction 25%)
2015 Fiction Total: 203,749 (Fiction 28%)
2014 Fiction Total: 291,114 (Fiction 36%)
2013 Fiction Total: 270,000 (Fiction 34%)
2012 Fiction Total: 265,000 (Fiction 34%)
2011 Fiction Total: 252,300 (Fiction 35%)
2010 Fiction Total: 198,383 (Fiction 32%)
2009 Fiction Total: 135,738 (Fiction 27%)

Original Books Published:

Technically none, though GOOD GIRLS LIE released December 30, 2019, so all touring was done in 2020

Reprint/Repackage:

GOOD GIRLS LIE (mmpb)
THE LAST SECOND (mmpb )

Conferences/Festivals/Bookstores:

GOOD GIRLS LIE Tour 
PLA
Virtual Craftfest
Thrillerfest Virtual Winter Thrills
Innumerable Zooms, Podcasts, and Online Get-Togethers

Major Projects Worked On:

HER DARK LIES; Novel #25; LOUCHE 49; SECRET PROJECT #1; SECRET PROJECT #2; ALL FALL DOWN (Sam #5); untitled short stories.

A WORD ON WORDS: 

Renewed for a sixth season
Shows Taped: 8

Projects Optioned: 1

Books read: 65

More Awesome Stuff:

PW Starred Review for HER DARK LIES
Moved to Curtis Brown
Incredible cover and early reception for HER DARK LIES

THE YEAR AHEAD - 2021, THE YEAR OF CONTENT

It’s been a long time coming, but the level of contentment I feel in both my life and my career is off the charts. The work I’ve done over the past several years to revamp my world has paid off. Now it’s time to focus on new work, letting the words flow instead of trying to force them, walking away when the work is done. My approach to the Year of Content is four-fold: Reading for enjoyment, exercising for wellness, living with humility, and creating with intention, as the world slowly returns to its normal axis. 

Welcome to my homonymous year! I held off on deciding my word for 2021, decided I’d see what struck me on New Year’s Eve. I’d been playing around with Peace, but it didn’t fit, not in these still uncertain times. And in truth, I’m far from peaceful. Waiting for the ball to drop with my husband and Champagne and the kittens stretched out by a cozy fire in my new house, a word came to me unbidden—CONTENT. I am content. Settled. Happy. Clear-headed, and clear-eyed. 

I’d planned to predominantly use “content” as an adjective, but it’s also going to be the year of content. Generating content is not only my job, but my prime objective, and my 2021 plans include a lot of writing. The authors I admire the most are the ones who are crushing it with original, innovative content. Without a lot of the distractions that have dominated my thoughts and soaked up my creative time the past few years, I feel like I will be able to create more and do it more easily. Fingers crossed!

2021 Book Releases (as of now):

HER DARK LIES (March 9, 2021)

2021 Plans:

I have several projects in the works that I can’t talk about yet, including the topic and title of my new standalone. I have to finish a short story by the end of January, and want to get a (rough) draft of the novel done before HER DARK LIES releases March 9. I’ve been having major issues with Facebook, so I want to explore ways to maintain the connections with my readers there while converting people to my newsletter. The Literati is growing, as is Instagram, and I’ve reworked my Twitter to be a (mostly) enjoyable experience instead of a frustrating one. I have some Two Tales Press work to do, and I want to get The Wine Vixen up and running again, with a recipe section of my archives. I’ll need to explore a new book idea mid-year, and of course, the elusive finale to the Sam and Taylor series looms. 

But all of this takes a backseat to the primary content generation of standalone suspense novels. New words, new ideas, new stories and worlds. Being content will allow me to generate content. In that aspect, I predict it’s going to be a great year.

Thanks for joining me on this journey, as always!

THE DEETS

For the past several years, I’ve been doing annual reviews of my life and work, based on the format from Chris Guillebeau’s wonderful Annual Review on his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris’s system is exceptionally detailed, more so than I really need, but the gist is there. It’s a great system for those of us who are self-employed and want to do an assessment of our work for the year. Here’s the link to the actual post. Go on over there and take a read. I’ll wait. 

And if you're interested, here are the links to my previous annual reviews for 2009 (Too Damn Much), 2010 (Evolution), 2011 (Depth), 2012 (Simplicity), 2013 (Pencil), 2014 (Making Do), 2015 (No), 2016, (Lent), 2017 (Flow), 2018 (Joy) and 2019 (Enough).