2015 Year in Review

I've seen a lot of people posting their 2015 Year In Review and Goals for 2016 and I've been loving reading them. I do this for my job but have never done it for my writing/creative/personal life, which is strange, because I've honestly learned so much and had such a great time doing it the last few years. Plus it's definitely nice to be able to look back on the year and see all of the amazing things that have happened. I'm very grateful for all of the wonderful things that took place these last twelve months. So here goes, my first ever year in review! 

My 2015:

Writing

1.     I wrote a MG book called The School That Ate Children. 

2.     I wrote another book called The Skeleton Key. 

3.     I hired a developmental editor. (I likely won't do this again but I learned so much from the process that I really would recommend it). 

4.     I hired a copy editor. (Two actually. Definitely, a must). 

5.     I went back to work from maternity leave & managed to keep writing consistently. 

6.     I learned how to make book covers using Photoshop & InDesign. 

7.     I formatted a book using a template by the Book Designer. (Seriously - so helpful). 

8.     I wrote a story that zapped me of creativity & learned to bounce back. 

9.     I added a Stories section to my website. (I'll be adding a Books section in 2016). 

10.  I presented on my short story collection at the 2015 Annual Indigenous and American Studies Storyteller's Conference. 

11.   I read 30 books! 

12.  I got two books formatted as ebooks by the lovely Streetlight Graphics. 

Personal/Creative

1.     My baby turned 1! (She's a year and a half now). 

2.     I got married!

3.     I finished my Masters!

4.     I started my Education Doctorate.

5.     I wrote 5 piano songs.

6.     I made a lot more art.

7.     The language degree I had been working on was approved.

8.     I started building a house.

Oh, and I also started a Wattpad page. I plan to post a lot more to it in 2016. If you're on there too—let me know and I'll find you. All in all, I'm really happy & grateful about how this year went. Since 2013, I've had some really broad goals for what I hoped to achieve each year. They are:

Write. Read. Draw. Play Piano. Write music. Sew. Imagine. Blog. Journal. Care. Tell Stories. Speak. Laugh. Smile. Let Go. Eat Well. Exercise. Drink Water. Listen. Hear. Learn. Excite. Educate. Advocate. Encourage.

Even though these are broad, they really helped me to focus my hopes and dreams these last few years and brought me to the point of being ready to publish my work. And this is a big part of why I am so excited for 2016. I spent the last half of 2015 getting books ready for publishing, so for me, 2016 will be as much about sharing stories as it will be about writing new ones. I can't wait to dive in!

Hope you all had a great year and wishing you an awesome 2016! Happy writing! 

S.