December was both a slow and hectic month for me. Slow in that I was out of commission with a nasty cold for the first 1/3 of the month and hectic because the holidays coincided with the deadline for the final draft of STEEL MAGIC. (But it was submitted on time! Go me!)

December Wrap-Up:

• STEEL MAGIC final edits done and submitted!
• Steel Empires series bible started with character names and places from book 2! (Typing it up from the various pieces of scrap paper they’re written on is a different matter…)
• Read my critique partner’s full short story collection and absolutely loved it. I can’t wait until she has it in a position for me to brag about it more.
• Posted one of my Star Wars book reviews (5 stars for Claudia Gray’s LOST STARS!) before my husband and I saw the premiere and then had no more time to read for pleasure the entire month. On the plus (minus?) side, my husband keeps buying all the Star Wars tie-in novels, so you’ll get to see lots of reviews of those from me.
• I only poked at book 3, STEEL BLOOD, a little bit, which leads us to…

January Goals:

1. Finish STEEL BLOOD. Luckily, I’m attending a writing retreat this month. That will give me both the time and creative energy for the final push.
2. Finish edits on prequel story 1 (STEEL FORGED 1: THE RELUCTANT MASTER), which has been languishing during the writing of book 3 and editing of book 2.
3. Possibly start the rewrite of prequel story 2 (STEEL FORGED 2: THICKER THAN BLOOD).
4. Type up and begin to organize Steel Empires series bible.
5. Proof a novel for my publisher. (And possibly a second.)
6. Blah blah book reviews blah blah I know you are so bored of hearing me claim that I am going to write book reviews.

I recently had somebody ask why I do these monthly update posts. Two reasons:

(1) Accountability on my part. It’s a lot harder for me to slack on my projects if I feel like a lot of people know what I’m supposed to be working on.

(2) To remove the mystique of the writer. Since I attended a graduate program on writing, it means that I have a lot of friends who are also writers. What we do and go through is completely normal to me. But in the rest of my life, I am the only writer that many of my friends know. The concept of not only writing a book (or multiple books) but also all the work that goes into publishing and marketing it can sometimes be like magic. It’s really not, and I consider this my small way of educating the interested public.

But that’s it for now. Message me on Twitter (@hannaedits) if you want to talk Star Wars!