What’s New Wednesday #18: It’s 2020, Baby!

It’s 2020, baby! Can you believe we’ve officially entered a new decade already? Phew, time is speeding up. Well, a new year (and a new decade) means clean slates, and I have decided to start 2020 off on the right foot. We’re talking the whole shebang! New Year’s resolutions, goal lists, a bullet journal already chock-full of to-do lists, you name it. 🙂

So, let’s get on with the first What’s New Wednesday post of 2020, shall we?

2020 for the Win!

The Horror Writer Release Day!

There’s no better way to start off a new year than dropping a new release, and that’s exactly how I prefer 2020 starting! Yes, folks, today is the official release day of The Horror Writer: A Study of Craft and Identity in the Horror Genre, in which my essay, King of the Hill: Stepping Out of the Shadows features alongside essays by some of the genre’s finest writers. I’m so excited!

The Horror Writer is perfect if you’re looking to get your write on in 2020 and need some assistance.

 

Books

I seem to have fallen a little short on completing my 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge, having read only 46 books instead of the 50 I’d hoped to finish on time. It’s possible I just haven’t tallied up all my reads yet. *shrugs* I’ll have to go through all my lists to see. Nevertheless, I’m starting 2020 off by delving into Charlaine Harris’ Aurora Teagarden series. I noticed this cozy mystery series consist out of quick-reads with a protagonist that sounds lovely. And seeing as I absolutely devoured the True Blood series a few years back, I think I’m going to love this series, too.

Will I be able to finish all 8 books in one week? We’ll have to see. I sincerely hope so, considering I have planned a lazy week of reading. Check my progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing. 🙂

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

 

 

In 2020 I want to seriously focus on reading more books. I have a whole TBR list planned out (with some space left open for new releases, of course), so hopefully I’ll be able to achieve my goals. Unlike last year, I also won’t be scribbling down my TBR lists on random scrap paper. No, that simply won’t do for 2020. Instead, I have a bullet journal now where I can keep all my reading lists nicely organized. LOL!

The Bullet Journal

Okay, so you might be wondering about this bullet journal I keep talking about. Well, I decided to take up the organizational hobby of keeping a bullet journal, because I simply can’t keep up with the mundane planners being sold at the shops. They never have the spreads I need in them, and honestly, it costs me more to have ten different notebooks to keep everything organized.

Now, I’m still new at the bullet journal thing, so I won’t share how mine looks, but it’s much more practical in the long run. Also, it acts as a practical outlet for my creativity. Practical … Yup, that’s me.

What to Expect in 2020

Writing and New Releases

I bet you’re wondering what you can expect from me this year on the bookish-front. Well, I think readers will be happy to learn that there will be 3 new releases, one of which is The Bone Carver (The Night Weaver #2), in 2020. The other two books I have planned are part of a different YA Horror series (and the first book will be a free-read). So, if you don’t see me around on social media a lot, it’s because I’m trying to keep to deadlines.

That being said, I expect to finish writing The Night Weaver #3 in the first quarter of 2020, and will hopefully start writing The Night Weaver #4 soon thereafter.

Blogging

I’ll continue blogging, of course. After all, this is the only place where my lovely readers can find out what I’m doing at any given time. Also, I enjoy blogging. It keeps me somewhat grounded, and in some ways act as my diary. Still, these are the blogging goals I’ve planned for:

• I will be posting Wrong Answers Only Interviews more regularly (I’ll have to hunt down more authors for that specific Saturday feature, but I’m sure that won’t be too hard).
• Hopefully I’ll have a What’s New Wednesday post up every week.
• As above, in regards to the Friday Favorites movie segment.
• I hope to post a few more bookish type of posts for readers in need of suggestions. Now, this is a pretty tricky goal, because although I read widely, I mostly cater my posts to both horror and YA readers … and coming up with ideas can be difficult. Still, I’ll try my best. 🙂
• I’m thinking about adding a “For Writers” segment to help new authors hone their craft, particularly when it comes to editing, but I haven’t gotten anything written down yet. When I have a free moment, I’ll see if I can come up with some exciting and helpful posts.

Social Media

I’m going to make an effort in regards to social media. Yes, I’ll try to post more pics on Instagram. Okay, I’ll interact more on Twitter and Facebook. I’ll really try my absolute best to manage my social media better, BUT I also want to cut down on my screen time. In 2019, I wasted precious writing time watching cake decorating videos on Facebook for nine-to-eleven hours a week.

That, my dear readers, simply won’t fly in 2020.

So, I’ve decided to allocate a specific amount of time to social media every day, but no more than that. We’re talking five-to-seven hours a week.

Although it may sound like much less contact with me, I am a firm believer of “quality-over-quantity”, so I’ll really, truly make an effort to keep my social media entertaining, informative, and fun.

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And voila. We’ve come to the end of the first post of 2020, which I hope will pave the way for good habits and goal achievements. I truly hope you will also reap the fruits of this new year, and that this will be the best decade of your life.

Do you have any goals you’d like to share? Go ahead, I’d love to hear them. 🙂

Have an excellent week!
Monique