Like last year, I took part in Goodreads Reading Challenge. I increased the goal this year by trying to read eight books. I'll post how I did below.
January 2024 started out on a bad note as I had to put my beloved cat down. She was a wonderful companion to me and I miss her.
My goals for 2024 was to write, write, write, and boy did I.
In March, I took part in a screenplay pitch event online. Unfortunately, nothing came from it, but I received some great "likes" and comments from my screenwriting peers.
On March 30, I took part in a booksigning at From the Ground Up Books in Lagrange, Kentucky with my sisters from the Derby Rotten Scoundrels, Jeanette Pope and Elaine Munsch. We all sold books and had a wonderful day.
In April, Indiana was at the heart of the solar eclipse and I wasn't going to miss it. My town was only in the partial eclipse zone, so I took my camera, packed a lunch, and drove an hour north so I could experience the full eclipse. I was not disappointed.
May 20, 2024, I finished writing Exposure, book one in a new mystery series. I started edits the following day. After going through three rounds of edits, I sent it to a beta reader, who proceeded to tear it apart. I was so devastated that I put the manuscript away, thinking it would never see the light of day again.
The Derby Rotten Scoundrels, my Sisters-in-Crime group, visited the Jefferson County, Kentucky Coroners Office where the coroner gave us a very informative presentation about her job. It was invaluable for us as mystery writers, a bit gory, but so good.
On June 15, I was able to mark something off my bucket list after I got to meet Josh Gates from the Discovery Channel's Expedition Unknown television show. He made a stop in Louisville, Kentucky giving a talk to practically a full house at the Palace Theater. I rarely miss Expedition Unknown and he was so entertaining and he signed his book that I had.
The fourth book in my Nathan Perry Mystery Series, Murder in Mystic Hollow was released on June 24. It's loosely a modern-day retelling of Washington Irving's, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, one of my favorite short stories.
Every July, I attend the Imaginarium Convention in Louisville, Kentucky. This year was special for me because I won the Imajin Award for Best Screenplay - Short Format for my screenplay, Summer Darkness. It was a complete surprise for me to win.
In August, I attended Bouchercon at the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. I had looked forward to attending this convention for a long time. I was excited to get to meet Andrew Child, who authors the Jack Reacher series with his brother, Lee Child, and get my book signed. I also met author Reed Farrel Coleman, who had written a few of Robert B. Parker's Jesse Stone books. I wasn't aware that Mr. Coleman was going to be in attendance and didn't bring any of his books to get signed. Other than meeting those two authors, I had a terrible time. The Opryland Hotel is huge and my room was probably the farthest away from the convention area that it could be. Soooo much walking and in the August heat, it was no fun. I ended up coming home early.
In the Autumn of 2024, I sold books at several Holiday Craft Fairs. It was wonderful getting out to meet people and sell books. I always have a great time doing that.
In October, I finally pulled out that book from the new series I had finished writing earlier in the year and began edits again. While I still wasn't happy with the way my beta reader had reviewed it, not all of her remarks was wrong. I finished the edits and several weeks later, I submitted it to my publisher.
In November, a film producer showed interest some in Summer Darkness, my screenplay that I won at Imagiarium with. She asked to read it, but unfortunately, she eventually passed on it, but it's a start.
Another accolade came my way on December 6, my feature length screenplay, Homecoming to Murder, adapted from my first Nathan Perry Mystery, was accepted in The Maximum Z '24 Winter Showcase. It was a great honor for it to be included. See previous blog post below to learn more about what that means.
December 18 was a busy day for me. My publisher, Seventh Star Press offered me a three-book contract after reading my submission. Exposure, will be the first book in The Coyote Canyon Mystery Series and should tentatively be released by mid-summer 2025. That night, I was a guest on the Star Chamber Show Podcast. Again see, previous blog post about how you can listen to my appearance on the show.
Here we are at the end of 2024 and I haven't touch the book I started reading last month. It's a pretty thick book and there's no way I'll be able to finish it by the end of the year. So, the total books read for my Goodreads Reading Challenge is thirteen books.
That's pretty much is how my year went. My plan for 2025 is to finish writing the second book in my new series, it's about 2-3 chapters away from being done. I'm hoping to complete the next Nathan Perry book. I'm only at chapter two right now. I also want to finish the new screenplay I'm working on. Hopefully, I will have a lot more stories to write.
Carol
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