The 2024 Retrospective

January 2, 2025

The year 2024 will not go down as my best. Far from it. I had high hopes for 2024, and all of them were crushed. However, I am nothing if not resilient and I will persevere. I've lived through hard times before, and I'm older now and better equipped. But that's not what this blog entry is about. This is a retrospective, a recap, of the year just passed, challenging as it was. Okay - it was a lousy year and this is not a report I expected to write for 2024.

January  to August 2024
I started the year out determined to work with YouTube and post videos and podcasts. I settled on calling the series what I call myself - The Accidental Writer. I thought it was an excellent start, but my life quickly derailed.

My husband's ill health crystalized into something very serious. Writing was not an option, but I thought about it all the time. I tried to keep up the appearance of normalcy, but as the weeks went by, cracks formed. With my husband in and out of the hospital, I began to realize my indestructible man who had beat kidney disease and beat cancer twice wasn't going to win this battle. 

On March 30, 2024, my beloved Ron lost his battle with a lung cancer we didn't know was happening until it was far too late. He had been cancer-free since 2006, and this diagnosis was a shock. Ron was a good man, and he is sorely missed by his family and friends. His passing didn't leave me the emotional energy to write. I didn't even try. 

I spent the next little while dealing with grief and not much else. I tried to blog some, focusing on the future and getting back to my life. I took a hard look at myself and my new unwelcome single life, and I knew Ron would expect me to pick myself up, dust myself off, and do what needed to be done. I worked on donating his clothes, sorting drawers, making a video (that I had to remove because of some nasty troll), and the garden. But I still hadn't gotten back to writing.

As the summer progressed, I developed some forward momentum and managed to keep it going. I wasn't happy with my inability to focus, but I felt it coming back in drips and drabs. I started to worry that 2024 would be the first year since I was originally published back in 2003 that I didn't complete a manuscript and get it published. I didn't want that to happen.

In August, I picked up the threads of Once in October. It felt good! What wasn't good was giving up on the 2024 garden. I accepted defeat and hoped for better in 2025. The writing was going slowly, but it was going. It wasn't always easy as I was seized by restlessness. Ron had been gone for six months. Where had the days gone? 

October 2024
Well, I didn't get the book with October in the title out in the month of October, but I was moving the story along. I processed the last remnants of my garden. Better luck next year.

November 2024

November is the season of firewood. I worked with my cousin, something I enjoy, and we have enough firewood to get through the 2024-25 season and beyond. November also kicks off the holiday season. I was busy with get-togethers with friends. Writing was done an hour here, an hour there, but Once in October neared completion. 

December 2024
It's pretty clear by now 2024 was not a year I'd wish on anyone. Once in October was completed and I loaded it up on Amazon and other online vendors. 2024 will not be the year I miss getting even one book out!  

On the nature front, a pair of hoot owls have moved into the neighborhood and they seem to be staying. I love hearing them call at night. Our hunting season hasn't lessened the number of deer coming through here at dusk. I don't think anyone is out hunting. I only heard one gunshot at dawn during the entire season.

With Once in October out the door, I'm ready to focus on the next story. I'm considering doing videos again, so we'll see how that goes. If I don't get views, I won't waste my time.

No, this was not the year I'd hoped it would be. I retired in May of 2022 so I could spend time with Ron. We didn't get even two years. Now I'm retired and on my own, and you know what? I think it could be much, much worse. 

I'm healthy. I can afford to stay in my home. I have family and friends around me. And Ron is still with me in spirit. 

It's easy to wish the year 2025 will be better with no help from me, but I know that isn't so. This new year just begun will require work, and prayer, to be what I wish it to be. It's up to me to stay in a positive frame of mind and emotion, and to do the work. I think I'm up to the task, but we shall see.

Thanks for sticking with me. Look for joy and you will find it. 

KC Kendricks/Rayne Forrest

The 2023 Retrospective

The 2022 Retrospective

The 2021 Retrospective

The 2020 Retrospective

The 2019 Retrospective

The 2018 Retrospective

The 2017 Retrospective

The 2016 Retrospective

The 2015 Retrospective

The 2014 Retrospective

The 2013 Retrospective

The 2012 Retrospective

New Year's, KC Kendricks, Rayne Forrest, Between the Keys, look to the future, yearly retrospective, m/m romance, Kindle romance books, time management, writers on writing, rural living, LGBT author

The 2023 Retrospective

 January 2, 2024

Another year has passed. My grandmother used to say that the older you get, the faster time goes. I didn't understand it as a girl, but I sure get it now.

Some days I feel like I'm in a holding pattern, or worse, traveling in circles. The changing of the seasons, the repeating calendar, and the mundane nature of daily living, while reassuring, are hardly exciting. And yet we continue on. 

The Year of our Lord Two Thousand Twenty-Three didn't hold many surprises for me. I settled more deeply into the phase of existence we call retirement. It wasn't without its perils but none couldn't be overcome. In truth, they were minor.

January 2023

I decided to update the covers for the Southern Cross series. They were pretty good, but I wanted to add a banner to each cover and create a cover collage for the overview page. I took another look at Patreon and I don't think it's for me. An old Rayne Forrest book, Step Into Tomorrow, got a new cover and a new launch since it had been off the list for a few years.

February 2023

I created a promo card for Shine A Light. I don't know why I didn't do this before, but I have it now. I finished Devilishly Delicious Dane and pushed the button to publish it. Unfortunately, I unpublished it later in the year to work on it a bit more after I had a "why didn't I think of that before" moment. February 25 marked the 40th anniversary of my first home burning, a life-altering event to be sure.

March 2023

March was a "down" month on the writing front and a busy month on the home and garden front. Seeds were planted and sprouted, cookies were baked, and time was spent watching it rain. A writing project I long wanted to do was begun - Sumner's Garden.

April 2023

April brought the closing of Saturday Evening Romance. I started that blog over ten years ago as an open promo blog for writers but it never really took off. Too many authors abused it by "spam" posting day in and day out. Blogger censored a post about Between the Moon and the Deep Blue Sea, which made no sense at all. They restored it without any hassle. 

May 2023

The garden was planted in May and immediately began to thrive. Time to work on Sumner's Garden became limited as the outdoor chores took over. Tending several acres of trees is a never-ending task and the winter clean-up was massive this year. 

June 2023

I began to hear more and more about AI (artificial intelligence) and its impact on writing. It feels fake to me and I decided it wasn't for me. I don't care if it takes me several months to complete a manuscript. I want the words to be my own. I looked into resurrecting a newsletter but June was not the time. The Lord of the Manor put his rusty mechanic skills to good use by swapping out the old motor on the log splitter to one that starts with a key. I am grateful. The tomatoes produced blossoms.

July 2023

Work on Sumner's Garden went well. I got the cover made which boosted my determination to find time to get it finished. The debate about AI heated up over AI apparently mining data from every book online with or without the author's permission. Canada was inundated with wildfires and the smoke reached some of the US's southern states. We had weeks of hazy days and could smell the smoke. There were days we only went outside to see to Deuce's needs. 

August 2023

August is harvest time. I was pleased with my garden. I put together a limited edition of Shining Victory and No One But You, the story of Levi and Stacy. It was only available until December 31, 2023, and it will be a long time until the limited edition is available again, if ever. 

September 2023

Sometimes you make a choice you don't like and so it was in September. I pulled the plug on my .com website. It started out on Yahoo, which I liked, then transferred to a different company, got transferred again and again and again until Verizon ended up with it, and that I hated. The software became unworkable, so I let it go. I still own the domain, though. I also passed a milestone at Between the Keys with blog number 1200. The garden finished and I moved on to wood-cutting season.

October 2023

The tree trimmers came and took down a huge leaning maple leaving tree carnage in the west forty in their wake. The Lord of the Manor had doctor appointments which took precedence. I ended up going back to work for eight weeks while my protégée was on maternity leave - and then she got Covid. I'd only planned for a six-week stint, but it all worked out. She's fine. 

November 2023

Finally! After struggling with the cover blurb for Sumner's Garden, I got it worked out. I pushed the button on Sumner's Garden and it went live on the nineteenth. We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal for two. It's amazing that after almost thirty years we still like each other. 

December 2023

A new story is in the works and I have an idea for the one after that. Maybe two. Time will tell. I surprised myself and got the cover finished, so that's one less thing to worry about down the road. The lack of a .com website still concerns me, and I may have to resort to hiring someone to set up a generic site and explaining it to me. It used to be so simple and I think it's been made more difficult so we do need to hire help. We'll have to see where that goes. 

_*_*_

There you have it - my 2023 retrospective. I didn't meet all my goals in 2023, and that doesn't bother me. The main thing is I stayed on a path that was true to myself. I don't think I can do much better than that. 

I have a list of things I'd like to see happen in 2024, and creating more videos about my rural living tops the list. Lack of focus is the enemy. I allow myself to waste time sitting in the garden and talking to the plants, or talking to the dog. Retirement should not equate to becoming lazy. Success will be structuring my time better, although I admit the pace I choose will give me time to simply smell the roses. 

Here's to 2024! May we all stay healthy and prosper!

KC/Rayne 

The 2022 Retrospective

The 2021 Retrospective

The 2020 Retrospective

The 2019 Retrospective

The 2018 Retrospective

The 2017 Retrospective

The 2016 Retrospective

The 2015 Retrospective

The 2014 Retrospective

The 2013 Retrospective

The 2012 Retrospective

New Year's, KC Kendricks, Rayne Forrest, Between the Keys, look to the future, yearly retrospective, m/m romance, Kindle romance books, time management, writers on writing, rural living, LGBT author

2022 Retrospective: Full-time?

December 31, 2022

At the end of the year, many of us take to our blogs, or maybe a more personal diary, and put into writing our thoughts regarding the year passing. It's been my habit to do so even when my retrospective doesn't have many books to talk about, not like I had back in 2009 - 2012. Those were productive years. Even as I was able to complete a lot of books, I knew that level of completion was unsustainable. A lot of factors go into what a person can achieve (or not) in a day. 

What did I accomplish in 2022? As always, not what I'd hoped and dreamed with my writing, but I aced a few other biggies. I RETIRED!!! Yes, a long-coveted dream finally became reality. I got my first part-time job when I was sixteen, and I worked a job fifty-two weeks a year, every year of my life until May 22, 2022. God alone knows how many people my tax dollars have supported over the years, but I'm sure it's a huge number. 

Writing a yearly retrospective is to my way of thinking a good thing. Looking back helps me focus on going forward. I need to examine where I've been to set the plan for where I'm going. Do I change course or do I continue with a few, if any, tweaks? Having been retired for seven months, I think a couple of tweaks may be in order to aid my vision to mesh with my reality. 

THE BIG THINGS

So what were the Big Things of 2022? I think a lot of us went into the year with Covid battle fatigue. We certainly did as we needed to be diligent because of RC's health concerns. Writing actually went on the back burner as my retirement date edged closer. Readying things for a new person to come in behind me at the day job took most of my focus - and energy.

With that said, I was able to work on Riding Against the Wind, which was finally published in September. After that, I set myself to finishing an old, and I do mean old, Rayne Forrest story which ended up being titled, After the Sea Sprite Ball. That story was released in November. 

In a huge departure, for me, I published a small collection of poems at the end of 2022. Just the Rain: A Collection of Poems will be on Kindle Unlimited indefinitely. I can't in good conscience ask a reader to purchase what is basically a twenty-page work I did for my own satisfaction. Why poems? We live and we grow. 

Seducing Light, an older work that is near and dear to my heart got a new cover, as did September Morning. It's necessary to update covers from time to time to keep the promotion looking fresh. 

And speaking of promotion, I set a goal to promote all twelve books in the Men of Marionville collection in the Facebook groups. I did that in my original list of groups, and then Facebook kept sending me group suggestions. I joined new groups and started promotion in them. Then Facebook sent even more suggestions and the whole thing got out of hand. I say "out of hand" with tongue-in-cheek. I think the promo is going well even though it eats up a lot of time. Unfortunately, I discovered a bit of an underside to a few things in some of the groups. I discussed it here.

This was the year I made the move toward getting my own vendor accounts. Currently, I use an online service that I like very much. It's easy to use and it gets the books into a lot of places, for a fee, of course. But I'm reminded of the old All Romance eBooks site. Back in the day, I made a lot of money at ARE so I shuddered to think how much was embezzled from me. The old adage is true. Having all your eggs in one basket is foolish. So I'm working on it behind the scenes. Readers won't notice any difference when they purchase a book. Many, many, many authors have separate vendor accounts because it provides a safety net. 

I've continued Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway). This is a more personal view of rural living and my life. I put together a series on Preparedness, and while it's not totally comprehensive, I think I've presented some tips for anyone who wants to be more prepared. It's not Doomsday prepping at all, but it is pantry building and being aware that we have to provide for ourselves. To be frank, if you didn't learn we all need a little preparation for crisis management during the Covid pandemic, then it's not a series for you. 

One of the big fails of 2022 is my dot com website, http://www.kckendricks.com. I've been struggling with it since Yahoo shuttered its old SiteBuilder software. So I have the website, which I pay for, but I just can't wrap my head around how that software works. I ended up linking to all the book pages here. That works, but it IS NOT WHAT I WANT and so I ponder the feasibility of continuing to pay for it. 

WHAT IS AHEAD?

A new year offers three hundred sixty-five days with at least three hundred sixty-five new opportunities. If there is one thing I've learned, it's that you can't plan or organize all of them. The key is to recognize the opportunity when it presents itself and act. 

I'm still learning how this "retirement" phase of my life actually works. I want to write, but I want to enjoy this wonderful plot of land my grandparents gave me. I will continue to seek balance whenever possible. I may be able to plan and plot a story, to develop and write a character bio, but when the dawn brings the perfect day to work in my garden or day trip with my spouse, I need to take full advantage of it. 

I've set a goal of one new story a quarter. I don't want to make that a New Year's resolution because we all know how they work out. No, this is my goal. This is what I'd like to accomplish. I hope you'll stick with me to see how it works out.

Peace to you and yours in this New Year,

KC/Rayne

The 2021 Retrospective

The 2020 Retrospective

The 2019 Retrospective

The 2018 Retrospective

The 2017 Retrospective

The 2016 Retrospective

The 2015 Retrospective

The 2014 Retrospective

The 2013 Retrospective

The 2012 Retrospective

 

KC Kendricks, Rayne Forrest, contemporary gay romance, sci-fi romance, series romance, Kindle romance, m/m romance, a writer's life, career goals, rural living, organization, contemplation, 2023 resolution, New Year's,