2020 EOY Wrap-Up
Photo by Agê Barros on Unsplash
I think we can all agree that this year has been a beast. I experienced multiple personal setbacks this year, including contracting COVID-19 in June, which ironically didn’t even have top billing lol. Despite everything, I didn’t just put my pen to paper, but I somehow managed to string some words together in a coherent way multiple times. The shocker of the year is that 2020 was the most prolific year of my four-year career. I published nine titles and wrote eleven projects, totaling more than 210k words. I also commissioned two audiobooks, one of which was a reissue. So many times throughout the year I felt like I wasn’t doing enough, but sitting here typing this all out, I realize that I did quite a bit. Imagine that.
I wrote some out-of-the-box books (An Illicit Seduction, anyone?) and finally gave my boo Trisha the love she deserved in Things Hoped For. The bottom half of the year alone saw six releases. TWO in December, which—holy hell! I attribute that in large part to the friendships that blossomed this year. My writing crew became a lifeline of women who knew almost exactly what I was going through in terms of life vs. creativity. We encouraged and inspired one other, and it fueled me more than I can explain. My author besties really pushed me when I needed it, especially my doula lol.
On the flip side of that positivity was little disappointment that I had a hard time curving. Unlike previous years, I didn’t publish a novel this year, and I felt like shit about that for a while. I still kinda feel a way about it, thanks to the expectations I placed on myself coming into the new year. At the end of 2019, I sat down and wrote out a plan for myself for 2020, and in that plan was at least one novel. Surprise, surprise nearly every bullet point on that list went unfulfilled, thanks to the panoramic and life lifin’ the way it does. One of my many takeaways from 2020 is to give myself grace. It’s a lot easier said than done, that’s for damn sure, but it’s a work in progress.
I had a blast with the stories I told this year, and when I look at what I added to my catalog, I’m proud. I hope every person who took a chance on a book by Chencia C. Higgins this year felt the moments they spent were worth it. Happy holidays, and I look forward to bringing new characters to life in 2021.
Glasses, Love On The Luminous, An Illicit Seduction, Things Hoped For, Fast Breaker, Costume Cutty, Consolation Gifts, Alicia: His Troublesome Fate, K.S.L.
Which of my 2020 releases was your favorite?
