The last few years have been a crazy ride. I went from being a complete non-finisher to a published author of three (four, if you count the book currently available for pre-order) in three-and-a-half years.

The learning curve was huge. 2010 was The Year of Learning to Finish. Up to that point, I couldn’t even be counted on to follow through to completion on a short story. A novel was a brand new endeavor. I started in July and finished (thanks to a last minute leap into NaNoWriMo) at the end of November.

I followed that up in 2011 with The Year of Chasing the Dream. I learned to edit, query, accept rejection and, eventually, accept an offer and sign a contract.

For the record, I think that was the most difficult year. It might as well have been called The Year of Not Knowing What Would Happen. Believe me, that’s a state-of-being I despise. I have to have a plan, and you can’t do that when your novel is in the submission stage.

2012 was The Year of Dreams Fulfilled. Also, The Year of Learning to Be an Author. I worked with my awesome editor, experienced the joys and sorrows of back cover copy, cover art, and a new book title and series title assigned to me. And I experienced selling a second novel to the same publisher without having to go through the gut-wrenching official submission process. And then selling an unwritten four more books in the series.

If anything, 2013 was The Year of Becoming a Professional. I repeated the writing, editing, marketing, and all the other things I’d been doing. Plus, I started really studying the industry and learning from the experts. I went to a conference and a convention. I was on the radio. I spoke on a couple of panels. 2013 was terrifying.

And now, here we are. 2014. After last year, how do I continue the forward momentum? So much has already happened in such a short time.

I just turned in book five in the Monster Haven series, with only one book left before my contract with Carina is complete. Once I turn in that final book in August, what then?

Well, here’s the thing. When I plant my ass in the chair and work instead of wandering around “planning” to write, I’m pretty fast. I should be writing a book every two months. I’ve learned the pieces I need to pull that off. I just have to focus and put those pieces together.

So. 2014. Focus. And because this blog was originally started back in 2010 with the intention of making myself accountable, I’m going to tell you The Plan. I have an enormous dry erase poster next to my desk with my editorial calendar written on it. Mostly, projects are based on the two-month cycle it takes (in theory) to write a book.

In January, I published two short stories on my own in the Monster Haven world. They’re doing surprisingly well. By the beginning of April I’d like to publish another story.

Demons in My Driveway was due in to my editor by the end of February. I was a week late, but I think I can make up the time. Demons needed that extra week to be a better book.

March and April I’ll be writing the first book of my Mount Olympus Employment Agency series. Also, book 4, Golem in My Glovebox will be out.

May through August, I’ll be writing the final Monster Haven book, Phoenix in My Fortune.

I’ll also be working on a short story collection to be published over the summer, which is why I’m giving myself four months for those two projects. There will be some new Monster Haven stories in it, some old ones, and a bunch of other stories totally unrelated to Monster Haven. Most of the stories are already written or partly finished, so a lot of the work involved will be in the editing and layout/design/formatting. I’m not doing it alone, though. I’ve got an awesome editor already working with me on it.

After that, I’ve got two more books to write for the new series before the end of the year. Believe it or not, there’s padding built in there for surprise edits, problems, and maybe even a short vacation.

All it’s going to take is a little focus. I got this far without it. Now it’s time to take it up a few notches.

But I’ll need you to keep me accountable. I’m not quite there yet.

Oooh! A butterfly!

I’ll be back in a few days to tell you a little more about the new series. I’m really excited about it, and I hope you will be, too.

See you real soon!