My goodness! I was sorting through old posts, seeing what topics I’ve covered, and realised that I haven’t actually updated you all on my 2021 plans! So, apologies for the late new year’s post, but here we are. 🙂
The biggest thing that I’ll be doing this year is the Million Word Challenge. The whole point of the challenge is to write a million words in a year, which seems like a lot. But, having done math (what?!) the challenge breaks down to about 2740 words per day. Okay, you know what? I think I can manage that!
I decided to take this challenge for a couple of reasons. One, I really miss having lofty goals for writing. Several years ago, I used to write 3-4k words per day (minus weekends). Somewhere in there, I started writing less and less, to the point where 1.8k was an average day for me. That’s still a lot, I know, but I really miss diving so deeply into a story. The second reason is that I’m so tired of being beaten down by this autoimmune disease. I want to prove to myself that I can still do all the things that I love, even if it does take me longer or is harder than it used to be. I want to be able to stand tall despite my illness and be pleased with the work. So I’m giving it a shot.
Also, I just have so many ideas floating around my head that I want to write.
The general plan for this challenge will be to write books as Evelyn Grimald (romance, fantasy romance, cozy mystery) and also as E.G. Stone (fantasy, sci-fi, etc.). It is possible that I will be writing as Evelyn Grimald Stone for some more serious titles, but I haven’t quite gotten that far yet.
At the moment, I am working on an upcoming light fantasy romance, the first in what I hope to make a series. It is called Keeper of the Wild Places and features a sort of historical setting where the wild is being protected by one of the last Keepers, as she stands between it and the encroaching world of civilisation. I’m exploring a lot of different things in this one, and I haven’t even figured out all the elements yet, but the general theme that will run through the series is forgotten magics. So far, I’m enjoying it thoroughly! I will definitely give you snippets and character introductions soon.
I am also working on a full-on fantasy piece (no romance) called The Strategist, as E.G. Stone. This book is the first in a fairy tale retelling series where the main characters are dealing with actual real-life problems. I’m starting with chronic pain and fatigue because that’s what I’m dealing with at the moment, and I am noticing a lack of such things in the fiction world. I will then move on to social anxiety and then Battered Person Syndrome and PTSD.
After those two, I have a few more slightly-definitive book plans, but mostly I will go where the wind takes me. I am absolutely thrilled to be attempting this challenge and I am really enjoying it, thus far. Of course, that hasn’t stopped me from reading books, either. Book reviews abound!
So that’s my plan for 2021! I have a few other things in the works, but I’ll keep them quiet until closer to the release date/launch dates. Do you have any big plans for this year? Or are you content just to sit back and drink tea? I will admit, the latter does have its appeal. Perhaps I’ll grab a book and a big cup of tea and see what happens. 🙂