Looking Back on 2020....

Hmm... Well, this was certainly "A Year" wasn't it? Between politics, the pandemic, and the rollercoaster that is publishing, 2020 has not been a great year on a global scale. While I, too, had to deal with all of this stuff in my everyday life, I had an overall amazing year! And I'm reluctant to even type that because I know for so many, this year was truly awful. But because it's been so awful, I'm not going to feel bad about my accomplishments. If anything, we need more reasons to celebrate this year, so buckle in and let's take a look back on the year to see what I accomplished, what I didn't, and what big changes I faced in 2020.

My original 2020 goals included: 

(1) FINISH BOOKS 1 & 2 OF THE GEORGIA CORBINS SERIES

These books... I both love and hate them. LOL. They are very near to my heart, but I'm still really struggling with what direction to take them, so while I thought about them quite a bit this past year, I didn't actually open the docs and work on them. But that's okay. Maybe next year. 

(2) WRITE BOOKS 2 & 3 OF MY YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE SERIES

Bahahahahaha! Wow, has so much happened with this series! Originally, it was only supposed to be three books. That turned into four. Then six... All of which are now written. Four are now available for sale with the final two up for pre-order. 

(3) RESURRECT MY PEN NAME

For those who don't know, I write steamy New Adult and adult books under the name Lexi Lawton. After a surprising (and wonderful) email from my publisher, I found out they are re-investing in my books with some new marketing efforts, and I couldn't be more excited! So, I've revamped Lexi's website and social media, and I'm actively working on some new stuff for her. In the meantime, if you want to stay up-to-date, you can follow her (me) on social media: newsletter / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads / Amazon / AllAuthor / Bookbub. 

(4) OFFICIALLY LAUNCH FIRECHICKEN PRESS, LLC

I didn't just launch this with one book as I'd originally wanted to--I launched it with the entire Cursed Series! And I did so several months earlier than I'd expected, too, so that's been fun. 

(5) KEEP ON EDITING

I'm still with Anaiah, and I've still been editing. I don't foresee this changing any time soon. I also managed to snag a couple new freelance clients. 

(6) FIND MY PASSION

My official word and state of mind going into 2020 was passion. I wanted to find that spark again, to fall in love with writing and editing and life in general, and despite everything, I did. I'm exactly where I've always wanted to be in terms of loving what I do, and this is probably the best thing to have come out of 2020.

While I kicked butt with my goals this past year, so much more has happened that I never expected or planned for, so here's the quick rundown: 

Professionally: 

• I wrote a total of 680,227 words (!!!) That's the most I've ever written. 
• I blogged a total of 19,393 words.
• I released 6 books: Warped Remains, Perfectly Imperfect, Eternal Curse, Eternal Choice, Eternal Bond, and Eternal Love.
• I wrote approximately 5k of a spinoff from The Cursed Series.
• I rewrote the ending to Lexi's 3rd book (Resisting Ryder) and submitted it to the publisher for consideration. 
• I've re-signed with my former agent, Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency!! 
• I dove headfirst into self-publishing. 
• My book, Perfectly Imperfect, released as an audio book! And I've since started moving The Cursed Series into audio, too. 
• For Anaiah, I edited 8 full length novels and 5 novellas. 
• I freelance edited 6 manuscripts.
• I had professional author photos taken--finally! It's only been 10 years. LOL. 

Personally:

• I went on my dream vacation--A Caribbean cruise with my BFF, Emily!
• I survived an ongoing global pandemic without getting sick. Well, not any sicker than usual, anyway.
• Despite the gym closing, I managed to continuing working out on a regular basis -- thanks to my wonderful husband investing in an elliptical for me. 
• I maintained my weight loss from last year! In fact, I even managed to drop another couple of pounds. 
• Caught up on lots more TV... I finished the final season of The 100 (severely disappointed) then began a rewatch but stopped midway through season 4. I made it through every single episode of Supernatural, and then watched the finale with my daughter (when we both cried our eyes out). I watched the only season of V-Wars, Daybreakers, and The Society. Oh, and I watched Shadowhunters, too!
• My daughter is on track to graduate from high school early, and I've gone on a couple of college tours with her. I'm beyond excited that she's been accepted to her top choice. 
• My son, who does not do well with online learning, passed all of his classes this first semester, and he's on track to graduate next year, too!
• My other daughter got a new kitten. 
• Two of my girls have gotten first jobs this year--one at Subway and the other at Little Ceasers. 
• We got a new puppy on Christmas eve. Her name is Maggie May, and she's absolutely adorable.

I even managed to read a lot more this year than I normally do: 

• City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare
• Kissing the Wrong Twin by Christina Herrara
• Risen by Cole Gibsen
• Crave and Crush by Tracy Wolff
• Twin Souls by K.A. Poe
• Flight by Alyssa Rose Ivy
• Fading by Cindy Cipriano
• The Immortal Mark, The Immortal Truth, and The Immortal Bond by Amy Sparling
• Vampire Crush by A.M. Robinson
• The Vampire's Promise by Caroline B. Cooney
• Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
• Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare
• Hex by Thomas Olde Huevelt
• Uncomfortable and Unavoidable by Nessa Page
• A Cowboy's Pride and Winning the Cowboy's Heart by Karen Rock
• The Country Vet by Eleanor Jones

Overall, it's been a pretty great year for me professionally, and I'm excited to see what I can accomplish in 2021. Stay tuned for my official goals post :-) In the meantime, tell me in the comments what YOU did this year! 

Getting Back to my Writerly Roots

Back in 2010 when I first started writing, I was blissfully ignorant. I didn't know anything about the "rules" of certain genres or what is and isn't acceptable in romance. I had no skills when it came to dialogue, and I used cringe-worthy phrases such as "explosion of love" and "stiff manhood." Yeah, yeah, I know... It's hard to read those early novels now because all I do is cringe and giggle. None of my characters knew what contractions were. And I, as an author, had no grasp on the concept of point-of-view. Holy head hopping! 

I wrote two full length novels and one partial within a year and a half totaling over 260,000 words. I lived, breathed, ate, and slept those stories. I'd stay up into the early morning hours writing. I'd get up early to sneak in words before my family obligations took my attention. These books were the epitome of word vomit. The ideas poured out of me and onto the computer screen. I was on such a high, consumed with telling these stories. 

Of course, I've come a long way as a writer since then. I know more. Write cleaner. Now I can break the rules and not have it be from ignorance. And that's great! It's led to several publications and snagging an agent. I've accomplished a lot more since I took the steps to truly learn my craft, something I will never regret doing. It's something every author should do. 

Unfortunately, doing so has cost me. Now that I'm packing all this knowledge, I've lost that high. I've lost the rush of writing whatever pops into my mind and being mildly happy with it. I can no longer write as much or as quickly as I could before. I don't have the all-consuming drive to focus on just one story. I criticize every word I write as I write it. My characters have stopped talking to me. 

I've lost my passion, my zest for writing.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of self-reflection and soul-searching. My dream has always been to be a writer. Sure, I'd like to make a decent living wage doing so, but if I don't, that's okay, too, because when I first started on this journey, it was purely for myself. I wrote the story I wanted to read / tell. Nothing else mattered. Somewhere along the way, that tidbit of knowledge was cast aside. I began to write for the market, write for trends, write for fans, write whatever I thought had a good chance to sell. All very bad things to do, by the way. 

In an effort to get back to that point in my writing career -- the passion and excitement, not the I-know-nothing part -- I've gone back to my roots. And I can't tell you how much it has helped! I'm excited to be a writer again. I can't wait to get up and write in the morning. I can't wait until my kids go to bed at night so I can write some more.

So, how did I do it? 

1. I started by updating my website / blog. I created a spiffy Press Kit and in doing so, I had to go back and read all my blurbs, sort through reviews to include as praise. That alone was exciting. Knowing I wrote something that someone read and enjoyed -- that's why I started writing in the first place. Because it was FUN! This process made me realize something: I wanted more books to add to my website! Talk about a great motivator ;) 

2. I forced myself to go back and read those early novels. It was my Hayden Falls Saga. Book 1, Death of a Waterfall, was published back in June 2013. I picked up my print copy and read it cover-to-cover, which is something I NEVER do. Once my book is published, I don't look at it again. But I did. And you know what? It was quite good! lol. Sure, there are things I'd change now, but back then, it's what I knew and how I wrote, and I stand by that proudly. 

Then I opened up those long forgotten Word docs of books two and three. And I cringed my way through them. Laughing at myself for some of the things I did and the cheesy dialogue my characters spoke. It wasn't easy, and I'm super grateful I never rushed to publish them. What did this self-inflicted torture show me? 

My passion! As awful as those unedited manuscripts are, there is one thing they have that my recent work doesn't -- raw, undiluted, no holds barred passion. As I read them, I could vividly remember exactly where I was sitting when I wrote them and what I was feeling when I wrote certain scenes. I knew when I'd cried and when I'd laughed during the writing process. And if I can feel it, you bet your butt readers will be able to as well. At the end of the day, isn't that what I owe myself and my readers? A fun, emotionally fulfilling experience?

3. I dusted off the draft of book two and began the pain-staking process of weeding through it, keeping the scenes that are salvageable, cutting those that aren't, rewriting parts that desperately need it, and writing new parts. I'm happy to say I'm now almost 30,000 (good) words into the Death of a Waterfall sequel, and I hope to have it out sometime next year. 

Returning to this world and these characters has been liberating. I'm finding myself typing faster, spewing more and more ideas... having fun again! And now that I'm back here, I don't plan to leave or lose sight of why I do this in the first place. 

Have you ever lost your passion? What did you do to get it back? 

A Sad End to a Short Endeavor

I'm not even sure where to begin this post...

Back in July, I joined Corvisiero Literary Agency as an Agent Apprentice. I was so excited to jump into this new endeavor and forge a new path in my career on the other side of publishing. I came out of the gate running, signed two clients fairly quickly, and was busy moving forward with both of them to get their projects sold.

Then.... Life happened.

Doesn't it always?

Due to some very personal family issues -- and no, I'm not going to go into detail or discuss them here as I firmly believe one's personal laundry has no business being aired online -- but suffice it to say, my family always has and always will come first. As a result, I had to make the very difficult decision to leave Corvisiero Literary Agency. I hope, someday, to be able to return to either CLA or another agency and continue this journey. In the interim, I'm going to focus on my family and my personal writing goals. I have some big things planned on that front ;-)

To any author who has queried me and is waiting on a response: Please feel free to resend your query to another agent within the agency.

To any author who has sent me requested material: I will be sure your materials are passed along to another, appropriate agent within the agency.

On this note, I want to take a moment to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry to all those authors who took the time to query me, who have waited patiently for a reply from me that will now not be coming, to any other who had their hopes set on possibly working with me. I never wanted to let any of you down or disappoint you in anyway. So, for that, I'm terribly sorry. I wish each and every one of you success in achieving your dreams ;)

And finally, THANK YOU to everyone who supported and helped me on this short journey, and an even bigger thank you to all the authors who trusted me enough send me their work. The writing community is amazing and there is a lot of talent out there waiting to be discovered.

Onward and upward!

Making "The Call" -- An Agent's Perspective

When an author gets that ever elusive, super exciting "call" from an agent, they will often talk about it with their friends, family, fellow writers. They'll blog about it, Tweet it, share it on Facebook. And they should. It's a huge deal! But, ever wonder how an agent reacts to making that call? Well, get comfy because you're about to find out...

Two weeks ago, I made two phone calls to potential clients. Both of whom are now signed with me  :) WOO HOO! If y'all haven't taken the time to check out Kelly Comarda and Winter Austin yet, go do it now. Trust me, you won't regret it. Anyway, back to "the call."

Long before the scheduled call, I prepared. I had some chats with a few of the Senior Agents on how to conduct the call, what to expect, and things to keep in mind while making my final decision whether or not to officially offer representation. Then, I took notes on what I liked about their book, what I felt could be improved, questions I wanted to ask them, and I even had talking points -- just in case things started off slow and neither of us had anything interesting to say -- because I'm kind of a dork.

Truth be told, I was a nervous wreck! My stomach was in knots, I couldn't sit still, worst case scenarios were running through my mind. Like, what if I say something stupid? What if they don't like me? What if I don't like them? What if they ask a question and I don't know the answer? What if they simply don't answer my call? And to make my nerves even worse, I had a Senior Agent listening in on the calls and assisting when needed. I'm sure that made the authors nervous, too, because let's face it -- talking with one agent can be scary enough. But two? Talk about pressure! Obviously things went very well. I mean, I signed two new authors!!!

You're probably wondering what the point of this was... Well, basically, it was to let all you querying authors know that it's just as exciting and nerve wracking for agents as it is for you. So, when your time comes for that call, just remember: We often have the same concerns and worries, and we often prepare just as frantically as you do.

Or, maybe I'm just neurotic ;-) 

There's a BIG career change coming my way...

As many of you may know, for the past (almost) two years, I've been the Editorial Director at Anaiah Press. During my time there, I've met some truly amazingly talented authors, and I've made some close, lifelong friends. I owe so much of my knowledge and skills as an editor and industry professional to the entire staff at Anaiah Press. I wholeheartedly acknowledge that I wouldn't be where I am today without the experiences and support of this publisher. With that said, today I embark on an exciting and new direction in my career. 

I'm an agent apprentice at The Corvisiero Agency!!!! 

Eventually, I will move up to a Junior Agent, and hopefully, someday, a Senior Agent. I'm both thrilled and nervous about this new opportunity. 

Please note: I am NOT leaving Anaiah Press. I will continue on as the Editorial Director for the foreseeable future. However, as a result of my increased workload and to avoid any and all conflicts of interest, I will no longer be taking submissions at Anaiah Press. Furthermore, any author that I offer representation to as an agent of The Corvisiero Agency will not be considered for publication at Anaiah Press. There are absolutely no exceptions to this, so please don't ask.