With the new year approaching, I’m feeling sentimental and looking back on all the things that happened this year. My year was one of the weirdest I’ve ever had.
January started out with one of the best months I’ve ever had in my author career. My friends and I hit the USA Today with an anthology and I successfully introduced you all to Ransom Thompson and K-9 Rambo. Ransom ended up being my best-selling book of the year!
March 1st, I woke up almost completely unable to walk. That day started the worst 4-6 week period of my life as I was diagnosed with degenerative discs in my back along with three herniated ones in my L4, L5, and L6. It was a long road – three injections, almost three full months of Physical Therapy, and just a lot of being patient – I can finally walk without pain again. I still have a drop-foot condition, and I still suffer with pain and discomfort sometimes, but I will be forever grateful that it wasn’t worse.
In the middle of all of this I released two books.
Fury shocked everyone, and lead to me writing the Heaven Hill Shorts Series. I’m still fielding emails from people upset with me, but I consider that a win!
In July I was blessed to hit the USA Today and Wall Street Journal lists with a group of friends. Which amazed me beyond words.
Room 143 was my worst-selling book of the year, but I attribute it to my decision to be vague in my blurb, as well as being a standalone. I’m happy I wrote the book, even if it didn’t do as well as I hoped.
2019 saw me release over 300,000 written words, open my Patreon, and get my letters!
With all the excitement, trials and tribulations of 2019 in my rearview, I’m extremely excited for 2020!
If all goes well in 2020 we’ll head to the town of Bradford Station on the border of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina for a 6 book series on some hottie firefighters. We’ll re-visit Laurel Springs as there is no end in sight for the Laurel Springs Emergency Response Team, and of course we’ll be back home in Bowling Green. There are 500,000 words planned for 2020, so we’ll see how we do! 😉
There was no traveling for me in 2019 (except to Canada for a wedding) because of my back, and I am more than making up for it in 2020!
I will be seeing you all in Alabama, Massachusetts, England, and Florida!
I haven’t been this excited about a year coming in a long time. Actually since 2013, the year I released my first book. I hope that you’re all as excited as I am. 2020 could be one for the record books!
XOXO
Laramie