Here's a quick update about things that are going on behind the scenes.

Burnout

I'm very happy to say that while I'm not 100% out of burnout, I'm very nearly there. Say, 90-95% or so.

Elsewhere, I've already discussed some of the causes of burnout and the subsequent fallout, such as not being able to write at all.

For example, A Witch and Her Familiar is the first novel I've finished writing since November 2021 when I finished Between a Witch and a Hard Place. Between the two, I completed one novella (The Single Witch's Guide to Online Dating) and two smaller projects for another pen name.

I chose those last two projects to give myself small, easily achievable wins with no pressure attached. It worked. Because of those, I could then turn my attention back to larger projects.

The biggest help, though, has been in working back toward alignment between my personality, life situation, and writing process.

When I hit a roadblock now, I make a conscious effort to sit down and figure out what's wrong, whereas before I simply ignored problems and kept trying to push through them. Or worse, I tried things that didn't work for my process and personality, like focusing on a single project and series.

This is totally a "the more you know" situation: the more I know, the easier it is to recover when I stumble and to avoid pitfalls in the first place.

Publishing and Unpublishing

I don't want to go too in depth here as I've already created separate posts for new releases.

But since this is an update post, I should mention that A Witch and Her Familiar (Vanessa Kinley, Witch PI, Book 2) and the Nessa prequel The Single Witch's Guide to Online Dating are both up for preorder. The former publishes later this month, the latter in mid-March.

I'm super excited to get both of these up to the general public so that I can finish the series and move forward with another one.

Also, very quickly, the Shadow Magic anthology housing the Old Mother/Trey Carson story "The Witch in the Woods" will be unpublished soon.

I'll post reminders of all three events separately at appropriate times.

Current Projects

Currently, I'm developing both Black Witch Rising, the third Nessa novel, and Vampire Alley, the sixth (and possibly final?) Sunshine Walkingstick novel.

The first scenes for both books have already been written and I have a rough idea where each story will go. The development slash outlining phase entails fleshing out the story's middle and arranging them into a loose chronology.

This process can take anywhere from a few days to a few months, and is, truth be told, an ongoing process. But I will hit a point where I'll know it's time to really dive into the writing side of things.

I don't know which story I'll focus on first yet. It's very likely that I'll juggle them for a while until one gels enough to hit its stride.

Writing Time and Space

The biggest impediment right now, though, isn't the development phase, but the lack of writing time. I live in a noisy, chaotic household; my writing time has been narrowed to a few hours each night after everyone else has fallen asleep. This necessarily means that if I've had a long day and need to sleep, too, then I have to forfeit that night's writing session.

My preferred starting time is somewhere between 7 and 9 p.m., but that's not an option at the moment. I'm not quite recovered from burnout enough anyway to be able to write for six to eight hours each night anyway, but I'm going to hit a point soon where I can.

Thus far, the solution to the waking time chaos has been to go write in a nearby parking lot. I actually get a lot of writing done that way, but it's not an ideal solution due to safety and other concerns. Still, it's working for the moment, when I have a need to write before midnight. I'm sure I'll hit on another solution should the parking lot become unavailable to me.

Upcoming Projects

I've already spoken about a few of the future projects I've started developing.

As a reminder, working on one story and one series at a time is a huge reason behind the burnout. I've overextended myself in the past by working on too many projects at a time, too, so right now I'm searching for the perfect balance that both feeds my mind and allows me to finish projects so that I can get them out to readers in a timely manner.

So while the biggest part of my writing workday is aimed at developing Nessa #3 and Sunny #6 (not necessarily in that order), my non-work time is often spent pondering future story worlds. I've already discussed those a little, but here's the official list, in no particular order:

1. Spring 2024 anthology. I've been invited to submit a story for an anthology that is scheduled for publication in May or June 2024. I've debated several projects over the past few months and have yet to settle on one; however, there's a distinct possibility that I'll write another Single Witch's Guide specifically for this anthology.
2. Nora Vargas / Wildwood Academy. I haven't forgotten about the origin stories I promised readers. Nora has been on my mind since she first appeared in Witch Hollow (Sunny #4). I'm honestly glad I didn't force a story a few years ago, because so many wonderful ideas have made themselves known since then, including a magical school located in the Southern Appalachians, steeped in the particular lores of that area.
3. Henry Walkingstick. Sunny's dad has been stepping forward quite a bit recently with a few story ideas taken from his pre-Sunny days. I have no idea how these will pan out, but I'm writing down the ideas as they come to me with an eye toward writing a short story for a different anthology.
4. Three unique story worlds. I discussed two of these a little already in the intentionality and worldbuilding post, but I'm developing three new story worlds: one with witches, vampires, and werewolves (and also angels, demons, and a nephilim); a second set in Appalachia with all its weirdly wonderful mythological creatures;  and a third that I haven't discussed at all because I have a feeling it's going to be a stand alone story. That last one involves witches, which apparently is going to be one of my things. It's possible I'll reserve it for a Kickstarter project.

And again, I don't know when I'll start working on these, but they're definite possibilities for future stories.

Another Trajectory

While struggling to recover from burnout, I spent a lot of time pondering the kinds of books I write vs. the kinds I want to write, as well as taking a long, hard look at the industry and where it's headed.

My gut feeling is that readers are beginning to want the kinds of stories I grew up reading: deeply written, complex stories with compelling characters and more satsifying emotional payoffs.

Indie publishing has been a huge boon to readers and writers alike, but the Gold Rush age of self-publishing encouraged the production of quickly written, somewhat shallow stories that follow hot trends. There's nothing wrong with that; I'm not dissing any of those stories at all, and I'm not condemning writers for jumping on what's-selling-now bandwagons.

But now that we're reaching market saturation here in the US, readers don't have to settle for light and shallow anymore, if they don't want to. I believe that readers want those deep, complex stories with dozens of intricate story lines, like Game of Thrones (the TV series) but in book form. (And definitely more accessible than the books on which Game of Thrones was based.)

Complex stories have largely been missing from the indie scene, and that void needs to be filled if indies want to continue to remain competitive in the new era of publishing.

My intuition has been telling me to slow down for years and to stop trying to march to someone else's frenetic publishing pace. To stop writing look-alike books (which is hard for me to do anyway; color me quirky), and definitely not to follow trends. Every time I try, I end up getting something a little different anyway, so why not play to my strengths and carve out my own niche?

Social Media

I've been giving my Facebook page some real attention over the last month, trying to see if I can build up a small following there and if it's something I want to do long-term.

The verdict on those? Maybe and no.

Facebook is a huge distraction. It's nearly impossible to hop on just to check on the page and group. Inevitably, I find myself scrolling aimlessly, which not only wastes time in the moment, but also encourages my brain to remain distracted once I'm off Facebook.

Effective writing requires focus over long periods of time. I can't afford to be distracted by Facebook.

Instead, I'm going to fall back to the two things I do enjoy that don't literally drive me to distraction: this blog and my newsletter.

I really love engaging with fans and have enjoyed making those connections on Facebook; I don't want to lose that engagement.

To that end, I'm searching for other, better ways to create connect with readers, like attending cons. We'll see how that shakes out over time.

In the meantime, I'm going to stop posting every day on Facebook and will use the page solely for either announcements (new releases, sales, etc.) or those rare moments when I have something to say that doesn't quite fit into the blog or newsletter.

If you have questions or want to connect with me, please feel free to email me at celia@celiaroman.com. I'm always happy to hear from readers!