Looking Back at 2022

It's time for my annual assessment of the current year before I make plans for the new one. Click here to read my goals and hopes for 2022. 

I did well, overall. Fatal Reunion came out on schedule in May, although too late for Malice Domestic or Pennwriters. But I did attend both conferences and had a blast.



It just came out in audiobook too!

The NaNoWriMo project not only found a title, but a home, and is coming out next month from One More Chapter/HarperCollinsUK!


Where the Guilty Hide will release in digital on January 20. It comes out in print in the UK on March 2. I don't have a print release date yet for here in the US. 

The 12th Zoe Chambers mystery, Helpless, is with my Level Best Books editor, awaiting its May 2023 release. It's a bit of a departure for me. More suspense than whodunit mystery. It was a wild ride to write and hopefully will be the same for my readers!

My "mini book tour" included a trip to Florida for Sleuthfest in July, where I had a great time hanging out with old friends.




It was my first time on an airplane since before the pandemic, and I only experienced one flight delay and no missed connections. I call that a success.

My big FAIL was my personal decluttering goal. In my defense, I have a good reason. The contract I signed with One More Chapter required me to write three books this year: Two for them plus Helpless for Level Best. Housework has suffered, but I've made all my deadlines (so far).

There were a couple of big events that I hadn't planned on. Being tasked with interviewing James Patterson definitely counts as BIG. 


And winning the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award was HUGE. 


Looking back, it's been a wonderful year. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mom Update

Image
It’s been a while since I wrote anything about my mom. If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve probably noticed a number of posts recently about long nights in the ER with her. I appreciate the kind concerns and prayers from friends and family. But while I know they’re well intended, the “hope she gets well soon” sentiments cut like a finely honed blade. Mom isn’t going to get well. She has good days and bad. More and more of the latter. Today’s “good days” are about the same as the bad ones a couple months ago. She has vascular dementia. In addition to her mental slippage, her legs have grown weak and uncooperative, adding to her pre-existing balance issues. We plead with her to call for assistance to get out of bed. Unfortunately, she can’t remember that she’s had numerable falls lately, so she continues to try to get up and around on her own, resulting in more falls. And in more trips to the ER. She has dislocated her right hip twice now. She’s hit her head more times
Read more

Agatha Nomination for Fatal Reunion!

Image
I am over the moon to share the news that Fatal Reunion has received an Agatha nomination (my sixth!) for Best Contemporary Novel! You can find the entire nominee list here . You would think that six nominations in, I wouldn't be surprised by the news. But I am more stunned with each one. I never take it for granted and never assume I'll ever walk that path or wear that "NOMINEE" ribbon at Malice Domestic ever again. I'm beyond grateful to those who wrote down my name on the nomination forms. 
Read more

Catching Up...AGAIN...Part 1

Image
It's been so long since I last posted and so much has happened, there's no way I can fit it all into one post. Especially since I'm busy with the second draft of a new book. So I've decided to catch up a little at a time.  First up, HELPLESS , my 12th Zoe Chambers Mystery came out in May. It's my first foray into straight suspense, rather than whodunit mysteries, and the reviews have been outstanding. I'm so happy. And relieved.  Second, Where the Guilty Hide is FINALLY available in paperback in the US. It took a lot of trial and error and manually pushing buttons by my UK publisher, but it's out there! I won't go into the frustration involved in not being able to get my books into US bookstores. And I've been assured this won't happen when the second Detective Honeywell Mystery comes out in print early next year.  That would be Keep Your Family Close which has my absolute favorite cover of all of my books! It's up for digital pre-orders no
Read more