It’s hard to believe I’ve been at this blogging endeavor for a year. So much happened in 2022. I read countless books, ate a variety of new foods, listened to a lot of new music, learned about other cultures, tried my hand at new hobbies, among other things. The possibilities really are endless when you are being inspired by books.

On the writers front, I made huge strides as well, mostly thanks to Shannon Thompson. I still get chills when I think about opening the email that informed me I’d won the SCBWI YA mentorship last year with my manuscript, The Freshman Fifteen. For the first time, I was able to understand what it truly means to heavily revise my work. The hours spent contemplating my characters and plot helped me think about my voice and writing process in a new way. Everything I have written or revised since has been on another level. I can only hope I’m not done growing as a writer with this particular piece of work.

Outside of revisions, this year I’ve read agent manuscript wish lists until I could barely hold my eyes open as I attempt to find representation, written six new books, revised three that I thought were “done”, started swapping manuscripts for beta reading with other writers, joined a writers group in my area, and began working to increase my social media presence. It’s a lot to balance, but I know it will be worth it if it helps me get my books in the hands of more readers…which brings me to you.

I can’t thank any of you enough for taking the time to read anything I’ve written. It may seem like a small thing to subscribe, like, or share something you read in a matter of minutes online, but hitting any of those buttons is invaluable to me if it means my name/writing is brought to the attention of someone who would otherwise not know about my work.

This year, I promise to continue to read more YA books so I can bringing you ideas of what to read paired with experiences to enhance your reading. In addition, I hope I’ll be able to share other exciting news about my writing, but only time will tell what those announcements will entail. In the meantime, keep reading, and please keep stopping by!