That’s a wrap! December 2020
December 2020 has been a month of recovery and reflection, and while my writerly pursuits have taken a back foot, I still read a stack of good books and made the most of the festive season. Come check out all the details and tell me what you’ve been up to!! →
December 2020 has been a month of recovery, reflection, and finally getting out of the house to see people I haven’t seen all year. While my creative pursuits have taken a back foot, it’s been a great way to bid 2020 farewell. Some of the key highlights have been as follows:
Rest and recuperation. I was dead-tired at the end of November, so I’ve spent most of this month taking things easy and recharging. Of course, life has still been busy heading into Christmas, but I took a step back from my writing, read a few good books, and generally just tried to rest.
Festive season. After everything we Melbournians have gone through this year, I feel very lucky to have experienced a mostly uninterrupted festive season. I was able to catch up with family and friends in person, eat some amazing food, and finally hit the shopping centres. It’s been fun!
Preparing for 2021. As the new year approaches, I’ve also been spending some time thinking about what I want to get out of the next 12 months. High on the list of priorities include moving into my own place, making a decision about publishing, and taking advantage of the opportunities that come my way!
This month, I ensured I achieved my blogging goal for 2020 by publishing 2 full blog posts to date, with a 3rd on the way. You can check out this content below, and keep your eye out for my final end-of-year review post coming out tomorrow!
Fitting with my theme over the last several months, I didn’t spend a lot of time reading other blogs this December. I haven’t spent much time online at all! Nevertheless, if you’re after some great content to round out your year, you can’t go past the following:
- Point of view errors! How to spot and fix them by K.M. Allan
- Building a fantasy language: The Primeal by Energyflux2012 @ Ethereal Seals
- How to create a writing schedule you can actually stick to by Madeline @ The Story Soul
- What’s in an edit? by Joan Hall @ Story Empire
Given last month was a big one with NaNoWriMo, and I’ve been completely exhausted, I decided to take a break from my WIPs in December. I did feel a little guilty at times, but it was definitely the right choice to make. The current status of my three key writing projects that span four separate novels is as follows:
Holding Up the Sky
“The weight of the sky—of the whole world—was pushing down, and it was crushing me.”
Status: Querying
Word count: 84,878
What’s new: One thing I did do this month was prepare and submit my contemporary YA novel Holding Up the Sky to an Australian publisher. I decided to just take a chance and do it! The plan from here is to make a few more direct submissions in early 2021, because you never know, and then in the second half of the year I’ll work towards making my publishing dream a reality!
Blood of Old (Graceborn #1)
“The Old has returned…and what once was, will be again.”
Status: Beta reading complete
Word count: 195,170
What’s new: In December, I finally wrapped up the beta reading process for Blood of Old, the first book in my fantasy series Graceborn. A massive thank you to all my betas, who took the time to read this book and provide feedback during this crazy year! I already have a bunch of ideas for how to take the story to the next level, and I’ve been working to compile an annotated manuscript ready for me to start editing in the new year!
First the Song (Graceborn #2)
The story continues…
Status: 1st draft on hold
Word count: 143,287 (68.2%)
What’s new: Taking a rest from the first draft of First the Song, book two in the Graceborn series, over the last two months has given me some much-needed perspective. A LOT of what I’ve written will have to change after I edit Blood of Old, so I’ve decided to put this one on hold for now. In the new year, I will be creating a new and comprehensive outline for books 1-3 in the series, and once that is done I will start working on First the Song again!
The Layers Beneath Us
Two boys. Eight days. A disaster in the making.
Status: 1st draft complete
Word count: 56,656
What’s new: I finished drafting The Layers Beneath Us, my new standalone YA contemporary novel, during NaNoWriMo this year. You can read all about the drafting process and check out a few snippets here. In early December, I gave this book a quick read-through, and was very happy with it for a rough first draft. I’ll now set it aside so I can focus on other projects in 2021, but I definitely plan to revisit it in due course!
Throughout December, I finished reading a total of 6 books, all of which I thoroughly enjoyed! I can now safely say that I smashed my 2020 Goodreads challenge goal of 40 books! Aside from the fact I chewed through two-thirds of the Spellslinger series this month, the titles I read were:
What have you been up to this December? Did you enjoy the festive season? Have you read a good book or made progress on your writing projects?
Rebecca Alasdair
I'm an Australian indie author who hoards books, loves dogs and coffee, and has a tendency of staying up all night!
5 Comments
Andrew McDowell
I certainly did enjoy the festive season. I have read some good books, and got a few more at Christmas to read! My blog post this month was sharing a Q&A I did with another author. I did not make the progress on the sequel to Mystical Greenwood that I wanted, but I did get a beta reader to read what I have so far. Mystical Greenwood got another nice review this month. Looking back, the big highlights this year for me were the anthology publications featuring my poetry and short stories. Wishing you a Happy New Year!
Rebecca Alasdair
Thanks Andrew, and a happy festive season to you! It sounds like you’ve had some great accomplishments this year. 2020 has certainly not been what we all expected, so you should be proud of anything you achieved! All the best for the new year! 😊
Andrew McDowell
You’re welcome, and thank you.
Tomas
This was definitely a strange month, and the end of the year will be even stranger – my country is now at stage 5/5 restrictions which pretty much ban any kind of typical NYE celebrations (happy introvert laugh).
I’ve taken it light as well, especially in the second half of the month (more on that in my own post in a few hours). 2020 wasn’t THAT bad for me, but there’s definitely room for improvement. So I’M wishing you the best into 2021, and a lot of inspiration.
Rebecca Alasdair
Thanks Tomas, and to you. I hope the lockdown goes okay for you! As a fellow introvert I definitely relate to the joy of not having to go out socialising, but even so being stuck in the house isn’t all fun and games. Take care and stay safe!! 😊