My Year in Review 2015 + News for 2016

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LoisLanefinalcoverI hardly even know where to start with this year — a busy, crazy, very good year. And a year that pushed me to a big decision I’d put off for a long time (more on that toward the end — no skipping!).

I started 2015 writing the first of the free Lois Lane prequel stories (now available for your kindle), and then it was full steam ahead into the release of Fallout. While all that was happening — including the release — I was hard at work on the sequel, Double Down.

Things like this happened:

And I did a ton of interviews; some of my favorites are linked here and here. I also got to go on tour with four of my favorite ladies in the universe. dangerousladies

Here’s hoping we can reprise Dangerous Ladies this year at some point. And you might find a little easter egg reference to it hidden in Double Down. I also went to some fabulous events and heard from a lot of readers, and was completely humbled by the reactions and support. Over the summer, I concentrated on writing the first draft of the companion novel to Girl on a Wire, which is titled Girl in the Shadows (I will have a cover to show you extremely soon!).

On the personal side, things were so busy and I was doing so much writing and publicity for Lois (while still going to my day job) that I started to have horrible back issues that ended up being a rib out of alignment. This took a couple of months of physical therapy to fix. In June, our beloved Emma the Dog went in for what was meant to be a routine, benign tumor removal only for us to be informed that she had malignant cancer, a giant tumor in her liver, and might only make it a few weeks, a month or two at most. This was also the day we got the offer on our middle grade book, because life is funny that way.

Somewhere in here, I realized that it was not actually normal to feel incredibly anxious ALL THE TIME. Finally, after nearly having a full-blown panic attack while we were in Atlanta for DragonCon and Decatur Book Festival (you probably didn’t know if you were there, I am good at covering), I went to my doctor and asked for anxiety meds. To say I should have done it far, far sooner is an understatement. We also celebrated our eleventh wedding anniversary in Atlanta. Best decision I ever made (the marriage, not celebrating in Atlanta;).

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All these stories make up a happy ending to this year. I discovered aerial silks, which I’d probably have remained too chicken to try without the anxiety meds, and the local fitness center I go to for aerial yoga and et cetera is now one of my favorite FAVORITE places. Also, I managed to finish another book without anything like the usual body woes. Magic. Me at my very first class:

IMG_1447 Emma the Dog started doing very well on a prednisone regimen and continues to do so. Just last week, she indulged in chocolate intended for a publishing house. (She recovered overnight and went desperately seeking more chocolate only to be DENIED.) IMG_1766

We finally got to tell y’all about the middle grade right before Thanksgiving. Writing this together completely creatively revitalized me at a time I was feeling burned out. It’s just so much fun, and I hope everyone else thinks so too.

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So, to recap writing-wise: I wrote two Lois short stories, Lois Lane: Double Down (92,000 words) and Girl in the Shadows (105,000 words) and co-revised Welcome to Hotel Monster (about 77,000 words) this year. While still also going to my day job of some seventeen years, which I have really hesitated to leave, though I’ve considered whether it was time for the past couple of years. I enjoy it. It makes a difference in the world. I have gotten to work with some amazing people. It was never dull.

But…it’s time. Some of you already know this, and I gave notice last week. Yes, I’m FINALLY taking the plunge and becoming a stay-at-home writer type. I’m SO excited to have more balance and to be able to focus more and really take advantage of the opportunities I’m lucky enough to have right now. My last day in the office will be next Wednesday. I’ll be snagging some insurance on kynect and working from home. I have a lot of projects I’m excited for, including a comics thing that I can’t wait to tell y’all about, and I’m playing around with a new novel idea or two. There’s a lot of travel coming up in 2016, plus two book releases plus the one I can’t divulge yet. Plus another middle grade to write! I’m also working on getting updated, redesigned editions of Blackwood and The Woken Gods out in e-book during the first couple of months this year.

I think, however, even with so much going on, that I’d still have been too scared to make the leap if it wasn’t for another opportunity that popped up at just the right time. I’m going to be working for Subterranean Press as their social media consultant starting in January. Oh, what fun we will have together on the twitters and the Facebook! Bill and Yanni are two of the most wonderful people in publishing, and I’m a long-time fan of theirs and the work they do. I’m THRILLED to get to be a part of it. Subterranean_press_logo

This also means I’ll be at ConFusion in Michigan at the end of January. And allll of this means that 2016 is going to be my year of embracing risks and twirling around in the air and who knows what it will bring, what life will look like by this time next year, and exactly what I’ll have written by then? Not me.

That’s the most exciting part. This is going to be fun.

(Also: buy my books. For everyone you know.)

2 thoughts on “My Year in Review 2015 + News for 2016”

  2. Pingback: End of the Year Wrap-Up 2015 - Holly Black

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