There is a way of looking at this year that is triumphant, at least personally. But while I achieved some substantial and long-term goals, as I face the end of the year, my primary emotion is exhaustion.

This was the first year that I haven’t published anything since 2012. While I know that gaps are normal and healthy even, there’s some panicked part of me that feels like it was a year when I lost ground, but I know that’s just the 2021 speaking.

So in the last twelve months:

• I finished writing and then revised Chick Magnet.
• After that, I started querying agents. In April, I signed with Sarah Younger, and I can report that she’s AMAZING.
• I then revised Chick Magnet again, and Sarah took it out on submission over the summer. In October, we announced that we had sold it (and another standalone contemporary romance) to Montlake. The expected publication date is early 2023.
• Over the summer when I wasn’t frantically refreshing my inbox, I wrote about 15K for a novella. I also wrote proposals for Montlake, and, once they selected one, I began writing that book. I also worked to revise some things for rerelease (more news about that soon). All told, I wrote about 50K words in the last twelve months.
• I read 58 new-to-me books.

All together, it was a year of sporadic triumph and daily struggle, which makes it pretty much par for the 2021 course. Here’s to hoping that the balance will shift in 2022, and we can all lean harder into the celebration side in the coming year.

(I’ve been producing some version of this post for as long as I’ve been blogging my writing. You can read about my 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013 respectively.)

It seems impossible, but it’s that time again! Time for my year in review posts.

This was a marginally more normal year for me in media. In less I sneak a few more in under the wire, I read 58 new-to-me books (see my Goodreads year in review here), not counting rereads, and I listened to LOTS of music. Here’s my Spotify top 100, though I think this is skewed by the fact I mostly listen in the kitchen, and so it doesn’t include the music that I really become obsessed with as I always purchase that. Some of the biggest, buzziest titles didn’t work for me, but the things that did really, really did.

I add my normal caveat that this isn’t a best of the year list, but rather, a list of things I thought were especially meaningful and cool. These are not in a particular order. And as always, you can look back at my previous year in review posts: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016.

This was an odd year for media consumption. I read less than normal and was more meh about books and shows that, in regular times, I’m certain I would have loved. I avoided some big titles because I suspected they would annoy me, but despite that, I found plenty to enjoy and recommend in 2020.

As always, this isn’t a best of list. I don’t think I watched, read, or listened to nearly enough stuff to put one of those together. This is, instead, a list of stuff I happened to really love this year, and it’s offered in no particular order.

One of my most fervent hopes for 2021 is that I’ll be back to normal as a reader and viewer. You can read my best of lists from 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016 for a peek at what more enthusiastic Emma looks like. ; )

How do you spell “annualis horribilis”?

Oh 2020, you were stressful, frightening, and tragic, and no one will miss you. Before we journey on, however, a look back.

• In 2020, I revised “Appassionata,” and, with my anthology-mates, released He’s Come Undone. The collection is now out of print, but if you simply must have my novella, you can obtain it here. I won’t leave this up forever, but in 2020, we all need free books.
• I wrote a little more than 60K on a new contemporary romance. I intended to finish it months ago, and I wish I could triumphantly declare my writer’s block over. But…2020. So I’ll have to settle for diffidently telling you that I wrote 80-85% of a manuscript. I hope to complete it in the next week and to be querying by the end of January.
• Between that book, revisions, and other scraps, I wrote approximately 75K, my best word count in three years. Despite…2020.
• I also read 53 new-to-me books, my worst reading year in ages. But…2020.

Next year, my most fervent wish is not to have to write but…2021.

(I’ve been producing some version of this post for as long as I’ve been blogging my writing. You can read about my 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013 respectively.)