Welcome to 2022! With the new year just begun, we’re all making plans and resolutions. Or we’re resolving not to make plans and resolutions for various reasons, often because we hate ourselves for doing so five days in. (Been there, done that.)
As a writer, I’ve got a business to run, so there are plans. I do my planning quarterly because I find it’s easier to adjust if space frees up or something goes south. That doesn’t mean there isn’t a space for noting projects which I hope to do beyond the end of March. Here’s some of the fun I hope for in the writing arena.
- Getting the next book in my Just a Touch of Scandal series back on track. I put the story aside in October because it. Just. Wasn’t. Working. The time away has been fruitful, with new ideas cropping up over the past week.
- Begin my Gilded Brides series. Set in the 1880s, this is a story I’ve wanted to write for some time. With HBO’s The Gilded Age beginning later this month, I finally made a start, and created files on New Year’s Day. Shut out by “old” New York, social-climbing mamas looked to Europe, hoping to gain status by marrying their daughters off to British peers or European aristocrats. Some found themselves shoved into unhappy marriages, while others found love and companionship along with their coronets. The series follows three women who served as bridesmaid at one of these matches as they find their own happy endings. As for the bride, there’s a story for her. Hopefully, the first book will be released before the end of the year.
- The Stately Home Historic Site and Hotel, Inc. Mysteries popped into my head unexpectedly one morning. This is a series of cozy mysteries set in a stately home which both welcomes visitors to tour the moated manor, but hosts weddings, vacationers, and conferences in the “charming Tudor village” built by one of our lead’s ancestor. A morning’s work came up with ideas for nine books, so this is something to work into the schedule at some point this year.
- A new free read for subscribers to my newsletter. I’m planning that for the quarter, so there may be rumblings soon. The current read? I have plans, but not announcing yet.
- Also, continue my ongoing serial, A Heart to Love, for my newsletter subscribers. (Commercial message. If you’d like to read the chapters so far, you can do so here. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive a free story and future chapters. End commercial message.)
That’s on the writing front. Elsewhere, I’ve made it a goal to knit five shawls this year, along with twelve gnomes. I discovered the joy of knitting gnomes last year, and fell in love with Sarah Schira’s creations. They’re quick, relatively easy, and it’s fun to seem them come together. I’ve also found that, while I knit my shawls, socks, etc., for myself, I have no problem gifting my gnomes. Here’s two of the ones I knit in 2021:
If you’d like to know more about knitting gnomes, visit Sarah’s website, Imagined Landscapes.
There are other things on the list, much of which revolve around house projects, so let us not speak of those here. Let’s talk about you. What plans do you have for 2022? What would you like to achieve? Drop a note in the comments below, then hop on over to visit Leslie Hachtel to find out more about her plans. That reminds me of another thing I want to do for 2022: read more books. I fell off a bit in 2021 because of various things happening in my life, so I want to read more in the coming months. Such as Leslie’s Once Upon a Tablecloth, one of her contemporary suspense books.
Nick Jordan acquires failing restaurants, then makes them prosperous. But when Lily Mercer calls him for help, he didn’t count on falling in love. Or that someone wants to kill her.
Sounds delicious, and right up my alley since I’ve been diving more into suspense and mystery these last few months.
That’s it for this week. Wishing you all a happy and prosperous new year, and that you stay safe and stay healthy.