2014 is coming to an end in less than a week, and we have a lot to look forward to. New Year’s Day is the biggest holiday in Japan. Nearly everything is closed, families get together and have a traditional meal, and many people spend some time praying at the local (or a famous) shrine or temple to wish for a good year. The picture below was taken in my wife’s grandmother’s house. You’ll see these everywhere in Japan.
So, what are our authors doing for the new year? Many people try to set goals for the year with New Year’s Resolutions, but for authors, these are more like deadlines, not just mere desires.
Question 8: The New Year is coming soon. What are your plans for 2015 in terms of writing?
I always have a lot of projects going on, so let’s see…I’ve spent the last few years working on my new epic fantasy, The First Empire, and it’s nearing completion. Yes, I’m a crazy person who writes all the books before publishing any of them. This series contains five novels, the first four of which are already written. I’ve outlined and started the final volume. Currently, I’m implementing beta feedback for, Rhune, the first book, and hoping to have the fifth book completed in March or April 2015. In this series, a group of ordinary people play a pivotal role in important events that occurred in the distant past of Elan (the fictional world which is the setting of my Riyria stories). The deeds of this group are lost to history as others usurp the successes for themselves. All this takes place 3,000 years in Elan’s past and tells the “real” story behind much of Riyria’s mythology. No prior experience with Riyria is required to enjoy this series to the fullest. That being said, veteran readers will discover I wasn’t 100% honest about much of the history I’ve told so far. For me, one of the coolest aspects of this series is the ability to explore the differences between myth and reality.
Next up is the third novel in my Riyria Chronicle series. I outlined this some time ago, but work on The First Empire has delayed its progress. The chronicles are continuing adventures with my two main protagonists Royce and Hadrian. Unlike The First Empire and The Riyria Revelations, these stories are standalones rather than part of an overarching storyline. As such, they can be read individually and out of order. I’m being cautious about having the Riyria duo overstay their welcome, so my plan has been to release a book and then gather feedback to determine if more should be written. With the release of The Rose and Thorn, it became evident people still want more of the pair, and I’m more than willing to oblige. Writing that book should take me through July or August.
That gives me enough time to write one more book in 2015; I might not get it completed, but it will certainly be well on its way by year’s end. I’m still trying to decide which project I’ll do. One choice is a standalone fantasy I outlined two years ago, which has been pushed back several times because of other projects. The other option is a sequel to Hollow World (my science fiction novel). When I wrote that book, I had five or six “follow on” stories in mind, and again, the feedback has let me know people want more about these characters.
My main goal for 2015 is to have a completed Jasper manuscript ready to sell. I haven’t decided yet if I’ll enter it in Amazon’s Breakthrough Novel Contest, but that’s a definite possibility. I also want to start on Jasper’s Legacy, the sequel to Jasper. This will likely be my next NaNoWriMo project. But mostly, I think I’d like to step away from the writing and read more books for most of the year. It’s been too long since I’ve finished a book.
Just to keep at it. Through NaNoWriMo I found out that I can find time to write and that I can be very productive in just an hour a day. I want to take that and apply it to my daily routine. Granted very little housework occured during the month of November and I can’t do that on a regular basis, the natives will revolt. But I can be productive in small bits of time. I also plan on stop hiding in my hobbit hole and send out queries like a good little writer.
I have high hopes for 2015 to be much more productive than this past year was on the writing front. After settling into my writing room that is currently waiting for paint and trim, I need to finish up edits on a fantasy romance novel and several short stories. Then it’s off into submissions with those projects and possibly self-publishing one of the two novels I do currently have completed. I will again be participating in A Story a Day In May, which is when I do most of my short story writing, edit those over the summer and get them out into submissions in the fall. Which brings me to NaNoWriMo in November and whatever new project I happen to come up with by then.
I hope to have my first novel published, and after that there are some ideas that have been kicking around in my head for years that I might finally get to writing.
Wow, this is a tough one. So many possibilities… I think my primary goal is to finish the novel I’m working on currently. I’m about 45,000 words in, and it’s time to call this one finished. I also need to submit more of my short fiction. I started to do that a bit this year, but I need to keep sending things out into the world.
Things can always change, but I have a broad idea of what I want to accomplish for 2015. I want to complete the first draft of all four books of the YA fantasy series that I’m writing, first and foremost. Then I want to work on editing book one, which I hope will take significantly less time than it took me to edit my first novel, and if all of the stars and planets align properly I would like to have that book available for sale by the end of the year. Ambition!
My plans for 2015 are 1) seeing my third Tebrey novel, The Madness Engine, published early in the year and 2) putting the final polish on the first book of another series.
I’m currently editing my third book, with a release goal of February. Once that’s out (or before, if I have to wait on the cover), I’ll get started on the rough draft of book four, which I would also like to have out in 2015 if the size of it permits, but which otherwise I’ll probably be writing and rewriting all year. Since there’s a bit of a paradigm-shift between books 3 and 4, I’m also considering writing some short stories to bridge the gap, but while I have some ideas, I’ve never been great at short stories. So we’ll see.
I wanna release the sequel to my debut novel, The Soul, early in the year and hopefully towards the latter half of the year get to publish another project – doesn’t matter what – but, if not, then at least finish up the first draft of my sci-fi/dystopian co-authored title Pride.
Looking forward to January answers from Linda.
I often begin the year with a lot of lofty goals. My goals are just as lofty for 2015. However, I think I’ve devised a way to manage my time. I plan to write for at least 15 minutes a day, whether that’s on Journey to Ariadne, flash fiction, or short stories. With that said, I hope to have all of Journey to Ariadne written in 2015. That doesn’t mean publication, though. I need to flesh everything out, and that’ll take time. While I’m doing that, I’ll also begin writing my short story science fiction series featuring a dying man and his desire to explore the planets.
I would also say that blogging is included in writing. I’ll maintain a post a day for 2015, as well. I’ve managed it extremely well since March this year, and haven’t missed a day. Some of those posts will include flash fiction, as well as some of my dreams written out as short stories. That should be fun.
In the new year, I’ll have a big post outlining 2015, not just for writing.
How about you?
What are your plans for 2015? What are you writing? If you’re not writing, do you have any other plans? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael J. Sullivan for participating this month. He had some wonderful answers, and I’m definitely going to keep my eye out for Moleskine notebooks in the future. Thank you very much!
I Read Encyclopedias for Fun 
Working up my goals this week. Lots have changed so I need to adapt my goals.
Yeah, I think you’ve had a lot of things to adjust to.
Reblogged this on On the Edge of Enlightenment and commented:
Authors Answer 8, plans for 2015.
Reblogged this on The War of Memory Project and commented:
Eighth Authors Answer! So far, all is still on track.