For 2021, I placed one huge writing goal on myself: 500,000 words. For a regular year, that would average 1370 words per day. Except I didn’t make the goal until I was a couple of days into the year, and January turned out to have a lot of difficulties for some reason I’ve long-since forgotten. So by the end of the first month, I was only at an average of 980 words per day. It took until mid-October before I was able to pull that daily average up to where it needed to be. August-November were the best months, in which I was extremely consistent and usually well above what I needed. This let me taper off during December and relax a little. Also, partway into the last month, I discovered an error in my spreadsheet and found out I was much further along than I’d thought all year!

The end result is that I crossed the 500,000 word mark on December 29th. The goal was reached. I wrote half a million words in one year.

Here’s a summary, as best as I can remember it:

During January and the first part of February, I finished up Until All The Gods Return, the third book in the Heart of Fire series. This one was published in May.

February-March, I wrote Incarnadine, the second book of the Dragontek Lore series. I also wrote a short story in that world, for the newsletter subscribers. This was published in July.

April-July, I wrote Until All The Stars Fall, the fourth and final book of the Heart of Fire series. In case you missed it, this one came out this month!

July-August, I wrote Auric, the third book in the Dragontek Lore series. I’m planning on releasing it in February.

September-October, I wrote the fourth book in the Dragontek Lore series.

October-December, I wrote the fifth book in the Dragontek Lore series, and then started on the sixth.

For 2022, I’m planning a smaller writing goal – probably 350,000 words. Why? Because as you can see from the list above, I’m way behind in revising and editing! I have three books written that aren’t ready for publication yet. 

I also need more time to plan ahead for the next big epic fantasy. I’ve written a few scenes, and just gotten started on the world building. I need to do a lot more preparation on this one before I can really dive into it.

So where does 350,000 words get me? Well, first of all, I have about 60K words left to write in Dragontek Lore book six. I should go ahead and write book seven (the last one) as well, so that’s another 75-80K (all numbers are wild estimates). 

By then, I should be able to start the next big fantasy, and assuming it’s around 120,000 words, that leaves… another 90,000 words toward the end of the year. What will I write then? If things go well, I may launch into the second book of the epic fantasy. But that may take more work. I might have to write something different for a while. It’s not clear yet.

I am extremely happy to have finished the Heart of Fire series. It was a huge project, but it all came together in the end, and so far, readers seem to be happy with the finale.

It’s very hard to say goodbye to Marshal, Seri, and their friends. And maybe we’ll see them again. One possible later project is a return to the world of Antises. There is plenty of room for more stories set in that environment, and with some of those characters. At the same time, I’m reluctant to rush back into it just yet. I need time to ponder it. If I do write more, it has to be for a good reason, a good story. Maybe it’s waiting to pop out sometime soon. We’ll see.

In the meantime, thank you so much for reading my stories. None of this happens without you. If the books don’t sell, I don’t have money to make more. So tell your friends. Tell your enemies. Post a review on Amazon, or Goodreads, or B&N, or a blog post. Spread the word.

Let’s explore more amazing worlds and characters… and dive deeper into life!