2017 Year End Review

This year has flown by. I’m rather shocked at the speed in which it has come and gone. There have been some great things that occurred. And some not so great.

I don’t do resolutions. Instead, I choose a word. For 2017, it was Balance. I needed to balance my work life and personal life, and I’m happy to say that I did it. It wasn’t pretty, and there were times it didn’t happen, but overall, I did it. 🙂

Here’s my annual Year End Review…

  • I released 11 new books
  • I released three compilations/anthologies
  • I re-launched my first series I ever sold (Druids Glen)
  • I released 10 audio books
  • I launched two new series (Heart of Texas and The Kindred)
  • I wrote 6 books and 3 novelettes and 2 short stories
  • I attended Apollycon, RT Booklovers Convention, and Thrillerfest as well as had three other book signings
  • I lost most everything in my home – including my car – with the flooding from Hurricane Harvey
  • My website was re-designed
  • I spent time with amazing friends and made so many new memories

 

JANUARY: THE PROTECTOR (Sons of Texas #2), The Druids Glen series re-launch, and EVERKIN (The Kindred #0.5) release. With two new releases as well as the re-launch, January started the year off with a very busy bang.

 

FEBRUARY: The only month out of this year that I didn’t have a release on the books, but with so many in January, it felt like they trickled into February.

 

MARCH: FIRESTORM (Dark Kings #10) release. I headed to Florida for Apollycon. It was my first trip in over ten months, and I was ready to have some fun with readers and friends alike – and I can tell you that we had a blast!

 

APRIL: DARK ALPHA’S LOVER (Reaper #4) release. My eldest turned 18, which was an event in itself. Overall, it was a quiet month – and I don’t get many of those.

 

MAY: BLAZE (Dark Kings #11) release. Went to Atlanta for the RT Booklovers Convention. With bittersweet pride, I watched my oldest graduate high school and start a new page of her life. The month was split between writing, getting ready for the release, and graduation. Did I tell you I accidentally put the wrong date on the invitations? Yep. So guess who had to order another batch? Me.

 

JUNE: THE LEGEND (Sons of Texas #3) release. It was a quiet month. That’s a rare thing in my house. Usually, there’s something going on or somewhere I have to be. But it was a nice, uneventful start to the summer. And it was a much needed one at that.

 

JULY: TALL, DARK, and DEADLY (Reaper Bundle), MOON STRUCK (LaRue #3) releases. I took the kids with me to New York for Thrillerfest, and used the time for meetings with my publisher, editor, and agent. I also did a book signing while taking in more of the sites with my kiddos.

 

AUGUST: DRAGON BURN (Dark Kings #11.5) and 1001 Dark Nights Bundle 11 release. August began like any other month. I was working while my son was getting ready to start school, and a hurricane formed. Nothing new there. But none of us expected the 1000 year flood that swept through. We got over 42” in a matter of a few days. I watched water fill up my house as we waited to be rescued by boat. I wasn’t sure what I’d come back to – or if I’d have anything to return to.

 

SEPTEMBER: 1001 DARK NIGHTS DARK KING BUNDLE and CONSTANTINE: A History release. September was horrible. It took two weeks before we were able to get back to the house, and then it was another week of cleaning out the carpet in the bedrooms, tearing out drywall and insulation that was soaked, and tossing out everything the water had gotten to – and with over 8” in the house, it got to nearly everything. But I had a home. So I bought a new fridge and mattresses, and we put the clothes we salvaged into boxes and moved back in. I had two chairs for the three of us while I tried to sort out a contractor and new furniture.

 

OCTOBER: WILD RAPTURE (Chiasson #5) and THE CHRISTMAS COWBOY HERO (Heart of Texas) release. October was a wild ride. I said farewell to the Chiasson series, but started a new series with TCCH. It was my first Christmas book, and I was over the moon to be asked to write it. Although releasing a Christmas book on Halloween was a first for me. 😉

 

NOVEMBER: EVERSONG (The Kindred #1) release. With the house still tore up and my parents living out of a travel trailer while waiting for their house to be fixed, Thanksgiving and the weeks leading up to it were…eventful. I hosted Thanksgiving, and while I didn’t have a table decked out with all the finery or all the dishes usually cooked, we were together – which is what really matters. And top it off, I got to launch another new series!

 

DECEMBER: MOON BOUND (LaRue #4) release. A crazy, busy month in any year, it was more so this year. After the flood, we got snow. SNOW!!! Enough that it piled up so that it looked pretty. In a place that gets snow maybe once every 15 – 20 years, it was weird to get it. Too bad it didn’t happen closer to Christmas. J

 

My word and intention for 2018 is SHINE. In anything and everything I do, personal or professional.

There is so much in the coming year that I broke down and bought a second planner – one just for work. Here’s a little glimpse of what I have coming…

  • There will be 11 new releases (4 Dragon King, 2 Reaper, 2 new Con short stories, 2 Kindred books, and another Heart of Texas)
  • There are many audio releases as well
  • I’m writing 6 books, 1 novelette, and 2 novellas
  • I’ll be attending 3 events – 1001 Dark Nights Cruise in January, Apollycon in March, and Readers on the River in September

Thank you for making 2017 so amazing. Thank you for your emails, the messages, the many replies to my posts, and the reviews. Thank you for coming to the FB parties, for showing up at the book signings, and most of all for buying my books.

Here’s to a magical, healthy, prosperous 2018 with love, laughter, friends, family, and many, many memories.

 

xoxox,

DG

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