I can’t believe it’s almost 2015! Where did this year go? It definitely had its ups and downs, and I’m hoping 2015 is a much more peaceful one for everyone.
In terms of writing, I more or less wrote two books. I say more or less because I technically started THE SHADOW STEALER in 2013, and I also wrote 1/3 of A PROMISE OF MAGIC in, oh, I don’t even know, late 2012? But let’s just say I wrote two novels in 2014. I also published two novels! THE SOUL HEALER came out in April, and A PROMISE OF MAGIC was an early arrival, publishing in November (instead of January!). As for 2015, besides publishing THE SHADOW STEALER (February 27th! Less than two months away!), I hope to start and finish two brand new manuscripts. I’m not sure if this will actually happen, but as long as I finish at least one manuscript, I’ll be happy. I’m a little nervous starting something brand new that doesn’t involve Gabi and company because it’s really hard to let those characters go. But at least I can visit them whenever I want to in Tomodachi Life, right?
As for reading, I didn’t read as much as I did in 2013, probably because I spent almost the entire year writing/editing/revising THE SHADOW STEALER! I wanted to read 100 books, but I missed that goal by five measly books! (If you count rereading THE SHADOW STEALER at least five times and beta reading, then yes, I read over 100 books!) My favorite book of the year was HEIR OF FIRE by Sarah J. Maas. I waited for over two hours to get an ARC of it at BEA and it was worth it, oh my goodness. I loved it from start to finish, and I can’t wait for the next installment! In 2015 I’m going to try to be better about reading the stuff I own. I go to the library a lot and always end up with five or more books to read, which is ridiculous because I have three years worth of BEA books to read! So I’m going to ban myself from going to the library unless they have something I really, really need to read (which is basically every book ever). I already made up a list of 2015 books I want to read (and when they’re published), but I also made up a list of older books that I’ve been wanting to read but never got a chance to. A few are series that are complete now, so if I can get all three books in one library trip, I can binge read the series, which is something I love doing. I didn’t put too many books on that list, less than twenty, because I didn’t want to overwhelm myself. I’m interested to see how I’ll do in completing that list. Guess we’ll find out a year from now! Oh, and something else I’ve wanted to do for the longest time is reread the entire Harry Potter series. But it’s so hard to reread something when there’s so many other new things to read. But I really need to make time for this series! It’s been too long!
Other than that, I hope to attend more book events (I’m definitely going to BEA for its final year in NYC. And hopefully I’ll remember to buy NY Comic Con tickets before they’re sold out! I totally forgot this year and wasn’t able to attend.) and blog about them, of course. Unfortunately a lot of the events are at night on a weekday, and I can’t go, but I always keep an eye out for a weekend ones!
Do you have any bookish goals or resolutions for 2015? If so, good luck and to everyone, Happy New Year!
Melissa Giorgio 