So. This has been a rather chaotic year for me, both personally and professionally.
Personally? I found a new therapist and life coach, who is helping me make the transition from full-time software developer PLUS author to…full time author. I’ve learned techniques to overcome anxiety, and I’m working on making my living and work spaces at home into ones that bring me joy. This is all very good.
Professionally? I had not one, but TWO novels released this year. The Hound of Justice is the second installment The Janet Watson Chronicles and came out from Harper Voyager in July. An SF/Political thriller with Watson and Holmes, re-imagined as two black queer women, in a US divided by a second Civil War. A Jewel Bright Sea, which came out in September from Rebel Base Books, is a completely different kind of book. Epic fantasy with a strong romantic element, set in the same world as my River of Souls trilogy, 500 years earlier.
But! But! That’s not all!! I won an award!!!!! A Study in Honor (book #1 in The Janet Watson Chronicles) won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Lesbian Mystery. I still can’t quite express how amazing that felt, when the announcers read out my name at the awards ceremony.
Which brings us to next year. I’ve learned over time not to make overly detailed plans because something always, always upends those plans. I do need to finish the sequel to A Jewel Bright Sea. I also want to get this proposal for my NotMansfieldPark novella off to my agent within the next few weeks. Beyond that, everything is possible.