Year in Review: Novels in Progress and Books Read

My reading list for this year is light. Normally I average between 60 and 80 books read in a year, but in 2017 I completed a mere 14. I was able to choose a couple favorites, one fiction and one non-fiction.

I did not complete a novel this year. I usually complete at least one book a year, but my 9-5 (actually my 4:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.) has kept me too busy this year from indulging in anything resembling a hobby or side job--sorry, fans, for not releasing anything in 2017. Not being able to write every day makes it nearly impossible to complete a novel because the narrative knife you're using to carve out your story becomes duller with each minute of inactivity.

READING
This year my fiction pick goes to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children.  I loved it; struck me as something I would write, which is always a plus in my book.. I know this novel is several years old, and I'm quite late jumping on the Peculiar Children bandwagon, but once I got there, I loved every minute.

On the non-fiction end, my favorite for the year is called The Devil in Dover, which dealt with the school board of Dover, Pennsylvania illegally replacing the district's science curriculum with religion. Once inevitably sued, all members of the school board lied in their depositions, which necessitated a trial where Judge John E. Jones III made the Dover school board look like the fools that they were.

WRITING
I'm still slugging away at a few projects. My time these days for actually writing anything is quite limited, probably somewhere around two hours a month. With the new year, I am aiming to correct this severe imbalance in my writing versus work schedule. But as I noted above, I am working on a few projects.

First, the sequel to In the Pale Moonlight, working title "Moonlight 2." It's coming along, and will be the first of the group I finish.

Behind the Cold, which I am co-authoring with British novelist Serina Hartwell, is a unique spin on the vampire genre.

Then a novel I've been working on for several years under the working title "All I Want in Life." This is about a kid with a different perspective growing up in a world he doesn't understand.

Next--man, I sure am writing a ton of things here.  Finish something, already!--is a novel I was calling "The Cure" until I discovered another novelist had written a book dealing with a similar concept titled "The Cured." This a post-zombie apocalypse story. In other words, the zombies have all been neutralized and it's time to rebuild society.

I'm also working on a book called Zyanya's Children, which is just a straight out horror blood fest. Can't wait until I can work on this one full time.

And finally, I have an untitled novel complete in first draft. As is, it sucks. It's terrible. I hate it. This book defines the termed "shitty first draft." So my twin brother, who is a writer himself, is taking it over for rewrites--fresh set of eyes and all that.

With any luck, 2018 will be a busy year in both reading and writing, and with a lot of luck, I'll be able to write novels full time.