From Vampbard:
This year for reading was…weird for me. As I look through all the titles I read in my Kindle folder, I have 41 titles I read. Not too shabby. We won’t talk about the manuscripts I edited because that makes my count…a lot.
There’s four Black Dog books by Hailey Edwards in there (might be five by the time this publishes…). Pssst. If you haven’t heard me before now, GO BINGE READ THESE!!!
Tamsen Parker continued her Compass series with True North and Due South this year. As of this writing, I haven’t read the latter, but my review was published 12/22/16!
I also discovered Jessica Peterson and Tessa Bailey. Someone should’ve pointed me in this direction a LONG time ago!
And then…there’s all the deliciousness of Christopher Rice’s Desire Exchange books. OMG, you guys. If you haven’t picked these up yet, get on it. I really liked Mr. Rice’s voice and his characters sat on my chest and gave me the feels.
Sylvain Reynard. Three titles this year. New-to-me author. I was itching for something different, and I had the first title in my TBR already. Waiting for me to give it a reason to read. I missed the paranormal, I think. My gateway to romance was, after all, Twilight.
Besides reading, I did manage a few things, though. I retired from teaching after 24 years in the classroom. Well, semi-retired. I still go in one day a week. Oldest got married and I lived to tell the tale. I am editing a local magazine in addition to fiction. Surprisingly enough, I managed to publish two novellas this year, as well. Info is on my author website, Deelylah.com.
This year was pretty sucky on a death level. In the world of literature, I mourned Gloria Naylor, Elie Wiesel, Lois Duncan, and Harper Lee. I’m always a musician, and music is my muse. Losing David Bowie, Prince, Glenn Frey (The Eagles), Keith Emerson (Emerson, Lake & Palmer), Leonard Cohen, Buckwheat Zydeco, Preston Hubbard (Fabulous Thunderbirds), Maurice White (Earth, Wind, and Fire), Paul Kantner & Signe Anderson (Jefferson Airplane), Mic Gillette (Tower of Power), and Robert Stigwood (manager for the Bee Gees and Cream) actually made me slightly depressed. I know they’re mostly older people and I’m of an age where my idols and those I admired in high school and college—which followed me into adulthood—are in their golden years. It’s bound to happen more and more.
In 2017, I want to write and publish more, take care of myself better, and make sure I have time for being present. I want to read more indy authors (yes, I’m looking at all of you indy authors who have a professionally edited manuscript), try historical romance again, and work on the Sekrit Writing Project I’ve had going since 2007—hint: paranormal. I want to be in the moment, and have the courage to stand up for what’s right, as well as stand against what’s wrong.
That means you guys might need to come up with bail for me.
Happy New Year. May the upcoming year be full of love and laughter.
