December 2023: The Precipice of a New Year

We have once again arrived at the precipice of a new year. After the emotional charge of the holidays, I am grateful to be turning the page. For me, this is a time filled with hope and promise. Not only do I get to fall back into the natural rhythm of life, but I review the past year and set goals for the year to come.

2023 was a wild year. The excitement of reaching a lifelong dream of publishing a novel and getting engaged to the love of my life were catalysts to a great deal of change in my life. There was so much positive growth, but change can also be exhausting. Reaching the end of the year felt like finishing a marathon. In 2024, there are talks of marriage and vacationing to sunny locales. Both possibilities are exciting to consider. Obviously, there will be at least one book to publish, and if I put in the time, I hope to make that two before the year is out. I am only beginning to grasp the undertaking I am committing to. My hope is this time around, I have the benefit of experience and that will aid me as I pursue this goal.

I finished reviewing the first draft of Lester. I am less than enthusiastic about the next phase because I am not happy with what I have produced. Good thing it’s a first draft. There are aspects of the novel that are excellent and need a simple fine tuning, but the main narrative is not striking the right tone. It is evident to me where the storyline is disjointed and contradictory and which sections were rushed or under-developed. As I stated before, 2023 was a big year, and I can see that reflected in the quality of my work. I will begin rewrites for my second draft within the next few days.

While pursuing a career in writing continues to be my main goal, in the coming year I have two others that have been dominating my thoughts. These are less about building something new, but rather rebuilding things that were lost. Many of you know about my love of hiking and in the last couple years, that hobby has fallen to the wayside due to health issues and a focus on reaching my life’s dream of publishing a novel. Being out in the forest was a way of meeting that connection between both body and spirit, and I would like to get both of those things back. In the coming year, I will be dedicating some of my energies to rebuilding my physical strength. There’s no better way to say this, but the mountains are calling.

The spirituality piece is a tricky thing for me to navigate. I found it late in life and have always felt my relationship with my Higher Power was difficult to consistently connect to. I have moved away from the tools I once relied on, and I believe I am suffering for that lack of connection. It’s time to reevaluate what is missing and what needs to grow. I would like to restore that former connection because it truly was a beautiful thing.

To clarify, when I refer to a Higher Power, I am referring to the sense that there is more to this mortal coil than what I can touch with my hand. The idea that there is something that lives in my heart that can’t be formed into words or made tangible. Some of you might find that in God and religion, and some of us find it in other ways, but every way in which we connect to something greater than ourselves is worthy.

Thank you to all of you who shown their support to me this last year. It has been invaluable in pushing me forward and despite my own mental blocks, I am always grateful for people who show up and actively demonstrate their love and care. Thank you.

I wish to all of my followers a safe and happy new year.

Kimberly

November 2023: Better Late Than Never

Better late than never! November was quite the month! My newsletter is now in circulation. Anyone who signs up will receive an exclusive advcance chapter of Lester before it is released. Sign up for my newsletter on my homepage.

For the second time this year, I packed up all of my worldly belongings and moved to share a home with my best friend and fiancé. While this was always the plan, our circumstances had changed considerably so we decided to advance the timeline from June 2024 to now. I had some apprehension about the decision because of the usual disruption it would cause, but the biggest source of my concern was that I wanted to finish the first draft of my second novel, Lester, before I uprooted my life again.

For a little context, I started Lester back in January. I completed about six chapters before I began edits on Wonderland in March that continued until its release in May. Over the summer, my focus was divided between events and marketing for Wonderland, moving in June, a vacation in August, and life just throwing things my way. It was difficult to get into a regular writing practice for Lester. When Chris suggested I move in by December 1st, I was worried if the draft was paused again, it would be too hard to get my bearings back to complete it after another interruption. Instead, I chose to push forward and finish before the move.

Now with the first draft complete, I am concerned about how much work will be required to develop the second draft. Between the unstructured approach I took to writing Lester and rushing the final sections, I already know there are weak points and plot inconsistencies that will need to be shored up. The story is lacking, and I know it. This is why we edit. The content of the novel required a massive undertaking as I chose to write every chapter in two sections: a story about the history of Lester or my POV character and then the other half back to the main narrative. It is a different type of novel than Wonderland, but one that I hope those who follow my writing will enjoy just the same. Lester’s first draft has three times the word count of Wonderland’s, a fact I uncovered while writing this newsletter. That alone helps me set aside some of my misgivings about how well I executed the first draft. Over the Christmas holiday, I will complete my first read through before I begin my second draft.

Between the completion of Lester and my move, I have begun to settle in and am incredibly happy we made the decision to join households rather than wait. After spending so many years living apart because life just is what it is, it brings me so much peace to share a home with my best friend.

Which brings me to my last bit of good news, I have started work on my third novel. In truth, I had about half a manuscript already complete. I decided to take an online “Write your First Novel” class during the height of the pandemic in late 2020. The idea had been brewing in my mind since we had gone to Yellowstone in 2019. Unfortunately, things being what they are, I was thwarted by doubt in my capabilities. I put the novel aside half-finished with the hope I would return to it. I honestly did not believe I could bring it into the world the way I wanted to at that time. Now, I know I can. Tentatively, if I am able to release Lester mid-2024, I have hopes to release my third novel “Beartooth” late 2024 or early 2025, but then again, my better judgment says I am being a little overzealous.

It's a lot of news, and I will be very busy this next year, in fact the plans Chris and I have made together, we are laying a path for a lot of things to come. But first, a peaceful end to a busy year.

October 2023: An Update

A view of Grinnell Glacier

After publishing Wonderland in May, life has not stopped throwing me new experiences and surprises.

I moved into a new place, watched my child graduate from college, took a vacation, and got engaged! My best intentions to spend the summer hiking and working on the first draft of my next novel were both thwarted by all the changes, but I am definitely not complaining.

Our vacation to Glacier National Park in August was amazing. This makes for our third trip to the park in six years. We finally visited Waterton Park, stayed in a cute little cabin, and rode horses in the Bob Marshall Wilderness (The BOB), along with several hikes and boat tours. Chris really made this happen with no help from me. When we found ourselves alone on the banks of Upper Two Medicine Lake, Chris proposed. It was a perfect moment. I really am lucky to have him, and I cannot wait to write our future together.

Now in October, Wonderland’s sales have begun to slow, but I think for a debut self-published novel, it has been a smashing success. In total, Wonderland has been ordered 5,931 times on Amazon alone. Granted, the majority of these were free copies offered on promotion, those still equate to readers. The Kindle Unlimited readers finished a whopping 139,751 pages of Wonderland which translates to nearly 725 reads. The physical copies are still selling, and I am restocking The Dusty Shelf every few weeks. My next goal for Wonderland is to produce an audiobook.

Most important of all is Lester. I am still in the “shitty first draft” phase and while I had hoped to have a completed draft before we left for Glacier, moving into a new place pushed that deadline considerably. Presently, I am 70% of the way through. I am hopeful to complete this draft mid-November. This manuscript has been more difficult than I anticipated. Not only has a significant amount of energy gone into tracking down information about the town, but I have chosen to interweave that history alongside the main narrative. The result is writing the main plot and multiple short stories in order to bring the story elements together. It’s a lot to keep track of. We may not see Lester in its final form until the Summer of 2024 as I suspect life will have more to throw at me. On the bright side, when I complete my second draft edit, those of you signed up for my newsletter will receive a sneak peak of the one of the chapters.

A couple short updates. In addition to a monthly newsletter, in November I will be going live with my website. I have been hard at work on that project during the fall months. On November 4th, I will be appearing alongside several local authors at The Dusty Shelf for the Enumclaw Wine Walk from 4pm to 7pm. I will be signing books and handing out the amazing stickers my dear friend Nicole made.

Thank you so much for following my journey!