Year in Writing: 2024

-

Year in Review: 2024

This year, I had to deal with a couple of health issues that had me down for the count for a little while. I dreaded doing this year in review because I knew just how much time had slipped through my fingers as a result! That being said, I was pleasantly surprised with all I had gotten accomplished these past twelve months, and the reminder was as big a relief as it was motivating.

The first few months of the year were awesome, and I started off great. Then things went a little awry, and in the last few months of the year, I managed to get back on the saddle, so to speak. Still dealing with the long-term effects of some of those health issues, but taking it one day at a ti

January 2024

  • This was the month of Scareuary! The first edition of Scareuary was hosted this month, and while there weren't a lot of participants, I was able to write a full draft of two short horror stories (The Star Seal being the one I chose to write for the write-with-me portion), and work on a few others. In 2025, Scareuary will be taking place in February so that more people can participate.
  • I began revising Murder in Heliopolis at around this time, and working on the Encyclopaedia Heliopolitana, which is a worldbuilding guide to go along with the novel. I also made a new cover for it and started sharing some worldbuilding bits and bobs on my blog and social media. Finally, I put out a call for alpha readers, which is still active while I work on transforming the first draft.
  • Write a story that... and That Writer State of Mind workbooks, which are both currently free on my shop.
  • I started an Artspo series of posts on my blog, but unfortunately didn't get a chance to carry on with it, so currently there's only one post! I hope to do more of those in the future. Lately I've found some more artists whose work I'm absolutely in love with, though most of them not contemporary. 
  • I released The Old Medina and The Witch in the Garden, dramatic readings of two short horror stories I wrote in the form of reddit-type stories, on my podcast.

February 2024

  • Worked on a lot of stuff, but was struggling a lot with some health issues and ended up even considering removing my social media; it was overwhelming to keep up with the pace I'd set for myself over the years. False alarm, obviously. I still have my social media. 
  • More worldbuilding and character posts shared for Murder in Heliopolis and released a bonus scene. 
  • Released a deliciously juicy excerpt from The Pirates of Sissa.
  • Tried to start a habit of writing a snippet per week or every few days, and was able to publish 10 snippets. Some I really love, while others were a hit-and-a-miss.

March 2024

  • Even more worldbuilding and character posts for Murder in Heliopolis! (Wow, go me!) Also, gave my wip an existential crisis by asking if solarpunk is really the genre it fits best into.
  • Released 9 more snippets.
  • Worked on Scrittorio's Ramadan 1445 edition, but unfortunately couldn't get enough Muslim authors as contributors, so I ended up abandoning the project. Hoping to pick it up in future, even without contributors.
  • Some interesting blog posts discussing interesting book-related stuff. 👍 
  • Important to note that I essentially stopped writing during this month, and decided to take a break from it all. Most of what I shared was scheduled earlier on in the month or in Feb, and apart from the Ramadan issue, which was short-lived, and occasionally revising/editing Murder in Heliopolis, I don't think I was actively trying to work on anything.

April 2024

  • Still not writing. Exploring other hobbies.

May 2024

  • No news from the front.

June 2024

  • One Spark, Many Fires worksheet for getting the most out of your prompts.
  • Pixel art, game design, and pretty much just continuing to enjoy new hobbies. 

July 2024

  • More non-writing news, but trying to tie it into my writing by sharing posts about my findings from a game design course I took. 
  • Change is coming... but did it really come? Perhaps we're still in that subtle phase of transformation.

August 2024

  • Back to the podcast with a few writing craft episodes!
  • I began work on a project that aims to teach various classics written in English through the dialect of my home country, for those who don't understand English and never got a chance to study literature.

September 2024

  • A couple more writing craft episodes on the podcast.
  • Moved again.

October 2024

  • Introduced The Black Hare, an interactive fiction! Prologue to be released as soon as humanly possible, but bigger projects have pushed it to the back-burner for a little while.
  • Started working on The City of Light again, after years of not touching the manuscript.
  • More snippets!

November 2024

  • So much work done on The City of Light and The Black Hare! I believe I managed a combined word count of over 50,000 words, which is crazy and cool after such a long time of not being able to write.
  • Re-aligning myself and my schedule and goals as a writer, so that I can be more productive and avoid The Haze. (I realize now that I've never talked about The Haze, so I'll talk more about that another time.)
  • Continued working on my horror writing course, which is coming along so well and has been a huge pleasure to design, write, and research for. 

December 2024

  • 25 lessons completed for the horror writing course, including juicy lessons on Evil, the Uncanny, Otherness, Suspense, and so much more!! Very excited for this course, and will talk more about it soon. (And today is the last day of December... I'm hoping to add just one more lesson to the count before end of day.)
  • Released my first newsletter, which included the Book in a Year guide and the short story, The Siren in the Glass!

It's definitely not the same kind of round-up I've had in previous years, when I was a lot more productive, but I think that despite everything I was going through this past year, I managed to get quite a lot done. Alhamdulillah! 

⭐Join my Google Group to receive my newsletter. Subscriber-exclusive goodies starting 2025! (End of December: A Book in a Year Guide and The Siren in the Glass)⭐

⭐Remember to check out my shop. Literally everything there is free until 2025. (That's right! Today is the last day!!)⭐

Comments

Post a Comment

Thoughts?

Popular posts from this blog

Scareuary 2025 is almost here!

-
Image
Ready to write some horror? February's right around the corner, and you know what that means! Join us this coming February to participate in Scareuary 2025! In this second edition of Scareuary, I've got a brand new selection of writing challenges and prompts. Whether you're a seasoned horror fiction writer or looking to dip your toes into the world of writing horror, this is the event for you. Scareuary 2025 events will include: M-m-monster!! - This challenge asks you to create a monster. Veer away from the well-trodden path of vampires, werewolves, ghosts, and other well-known monsters in the horror genre, and try to create a story that revolves around a monster that comes purely from your imagination. How would you design it? What would it look like? What would it represent? Twisted Hearts - For this challenge, consider the ways in which love and horror are linked. What terrors lie in wait for the hopelessly devoted? What fears consume the lovesick heart? What horrors w...
Read more

The Beast of Ildenwood: 18. Thieves in the Night

-
The Beast of Ildenwood 18. Thieves in the Night The Wanderer is a strange one. Shoja cannot help but feel wary of him. There is so little to know of him, so much that is unanswered, and he cannot overlook the simple facts of his arrival. Lahab, who is young, to be a Guardian, but who wears the title well, seems to trust in him almost completely, but Shoja hesitates to do the same.   They are traveling on foot, the three of them, and while Lahab fusses over the artifact, Shoja watches the Wanderer from the corner of his eye. He seems an athletic person, with and impressive – no, frankly astounding – Strength measurement, but there is too much about him that is hidden in the Guide. He wonders if, perhaps, the Wanderer is purposefully hiding his information – if he has powers he has not shared with them. If that were the case, however, he would imagine that Lahab or Deletrear would have noticed.   So, perhaps his story of not knowing who he is and where he has come from is n...
Read more

The Fall of the Black Masks

-
Image
The Fall of the Black Masks is the first installment in my high fantasy series, The Qarran Tales . It's a story packed with action, intrigue, betrayal, friendship, secrets, family, and more. The story follows three main characters - Qays, Mila, and Ragnar - as they try to survive in an empire being terrorized by a criminal organization called the Black Masks, a deadly epidemic, and their own pasts. Ragnar has been on the run for almost two decades. When he finds himself on Death’s door, it is Qays and Mila who save him and treat his wounds. But Ragnar knows that those hunting him will stop at nothing to bring his severed head back to Vakkar and claim their prize, and the longer he stays with his gracious hosts, the more danger he fears they will be in. Qays , one of the most accomplished physicians in the empire, discovers an epidemic when his patients begin to show symptoms of an unfamiliar and deadly disease. Soon, he finds himself in a race against time to find a way of...
Read more