Looking back at the year – in this case 2021 – seems to be a fashion on New Year’s Eve. And yeah, I’ll share my thoughts and accomplishments here.
Have an image to illustrate my year 2021 in books.
That’s right, I published a dozen books in 2021, one per month. That has been quite a ride, and it certainly forced me to get things done. I even used pre-orders and set them up a month early, which probably wasn’t a good idea in hindsight. They didn’t capture any emails for me.
No, I didn’t write all of those in 2021. I started working on Zell (my hero in the Franssisi Four Chronicles) in 2016, I believe, and I finished Flux in NaNo 2020. But the Wolves all but took over earlier this year and dominated my thoughts for several months. It has been hard to let them go.
If you want to take a look at all my books, here is my Author Page on Books2Read. From there, you can get to every store that has my books available, including Amazon, Apple, Google and even Smashwords (although I need to finish uploading there, let me know if you’re missing a book in a store).
The Franssisi Four Chronicles – First Series of the Year 2021
“The Franssisi Four Chronicles” are an SF series taking place on a human colony planet that was taken over by aliens. The humans were turned into pleasure slaves, for reasons that are explained in the books.
My young hero Zell is a “Wild One”, growing up in the wilderness in a hunter/gatherer society before being captured. He befriends his new owner and things get interesting and dangerous from then on… changing not just their lives but the lives of everyone on that planet. Epic, but also quite steamy. (Which is why it has my Joanna pen name as author.)
Wolves of the South – Second Series of the Year 2021
The “Wolves of the South” are the opposite in many ways. Making love happens behind closed doors, it’s okay for YA. It’s urban fantasy, set in the early 2000s. And the monsters are human, rather than alien. It’s a werewolf adventure/romance/family saga with a new set of main characters in every book, although the others have cameos.
My Wolves are simply humans with extras – they can shift into wolves. Good-looking ones, very similar to real wolves. I don’t like the werewolf hairy monster trope (although mine do have a few features like some extra strength and fast healing), and I really despise the alpha-wolf trope. There is actually one of them in book 3, and he is not an ally, at all.
Am I Happy with the Year 2021?
Okay, that is a loaded question, considering we’re in the second year of a pandemic. I’m one of the lucky ones – work sent me to home office in March 2020, and with the exception of November 2021, I haven’t had to return. And even in November, it was only on two days a week. I’m also fully vaccinated and I have a comfortable apartment with a studio where I work and write.
I do miss meeting friends and family, but as an introvert, that is something I can deal with better than others. I like being at home. I like being on my own and do my own things. So my social year 2021 hasn’t been too bad, despite the isolation.
The best part are my online friends, of course. I am so grateful for the internet and that’s where I spend most of my time. Writing groups on several social media cannot replace direct human contact, but they are a close second. Also, Zoom calls are wonderful. Yes, I said it.
What does 2022 hold?
Will I repeat that in 2022? That is unlikely. I’m writing in several projects, and I have some series in the pipeline, but I want less pressure and more fun. Not that Zell and the Wolves haven’t been fun, but… I also need to write more on brand. If I ever find out what it is, of course. Right now, I’m leaning towards Hannah doing more Young Adult books while Joanna gets the ones with some spice.
The biggest news is that I signed up with a lovely small press company for two of my series that I simply haven’t found the time to edit and publish. There are seven books waiting for you through them already, and more to come.
One a is an epic fantasy tale of mages and shamans who escape being sacrificed – more of a Joanna series there, with four books already written and five more planned. I’m splitting those up into two different sets, one is the “Winds of Destiny” and the second is called “Pillars of the Earth”. I can’t tell you how much I love South, West, East and North, the main characters of the ones I’ve already written. some of them early in the year 2021. Yes, those are their names, for reasons.
The other is a fun fantasy adventure romp with characters almost straight out of RPG systems, and I have three books written for that already. I’m calling that series “The Mengarian Conspiracy”, and it features an old female fighter, a burly inn keep, a busty bard and a dark, handsome assassin. Oh, and a giant spider, a cute little goblin and of course, evil mages and druids.
There’s also at least one new dragon book from the Cloud Lands coming, although there are more characters raising their hands, and you know what that means. I might put out some of my early German work, as well, and yeah, there is a sequel to Konrad that’s also waiting in the wings. I’m not done with writing, at all, I wish I had more than 24h in a day!
Anyway, here’s to 2022! May it be a good year.
PS: If you want to know what I’m up to, I do send out a monthly newsletter. Sign up and get a dragon story for free!
