Every year, Spotify does their Wrapped summaries at the beginning of December, telling their users what songs and artists they listened to the most, along with other interesting listeners facts. They do the same for the artists, telling them their most popular songs, and where the majority of their listeners are from. This year, I saw authors and readers doing the same sort of thing, but about books. I found the template they used on Canva, and decided to make one for myself. So, if you didn't see my Wrapped on social media, here it is. Though I've added a few more tidbits here. Enjoy!

Above are my goals for 2024, none of which I accomplished. With Left On Earth, I contemplated over and over whether to make it a novella or a short story. And I wrote it as both throughout the year. In the end, I decided to make it a longer short story, but I still have a lot of writing to do for it. I plan to continue working on that story this year. With 3 Secrets, I did get some more words into the story, but it is not finished yet. I hope to finish it this year. I did work on the plot for 2 Fans, but only the first half. Not sure if I'll get to that story this year.

Though I didn't accomplish the goals I set at the beginning of 2024, I did have two book releases, and write a total of 84,415 words that doesn't include the words I removed during edits. Those words were between Once Upon a Dance Club Wish, Lion's Crossing, and my three works in progress I mention below.

2024 releases:
Fox Trapped (Shifter Towers book seven)
Once Upon a Dance Club Wish (City Wishes & Enchanted Dreams book one)

Coming in 2025:
Lion's Crossing (Shifter Towers book eight) - will be available for pre-order soon
Plus more to come!

My current works in progress are:
1. City Wishes & Enchanted Dreams book two
2. Romance Tales from the Quadrants book two (working title 3 Secrets)
3. Dystopian short story (working title Left On Earth)

I also asked for the rights back to four of my older stories. I've been wanting to do this for a while, but didn't know if I would have the time to revise/rewrite them and republish them. But it is my goal to work on them this year along with my other WIPs.

Authors are not only supposed to write, but they're supposed to read, too. In 2024, it was not only my goal to write more, but also to read more. I'm a slow reader, so I set a goal of 24 books for the year. Two a month. In 2024, i surpassed that goal, reading 31 books. There were many I started but did not finish. Because I'm a slow reader, I don't have time to push through books that don't intrigue me. I never mention these books or review them, as they simply weren't meant for me. But I did read a lot of great books, the longest one being 448 pages, and the second longest at 447 pages. Plus, I tried the Fold Reading Challenge to diversity my reading. It was a great way to find many new authors and read from a variety of settings, cultures, and view points. There is another Fold Reading Challenge this year, which looks fabulous! I will not being doing it, as I already have a diverse collection of books waiting on my physical and digital bookshelves for me to read. So, my goal this year is to get through them. I'm hoping to read at least 30, though hopefully more. Plus, there are some upcoming releases that I have pre-ordered, and many more on my wish list waiting for their release.

2025 Books Pre-Ordered:
You Started It by Jackie Khalilieh - May 20
Titan of the Stars by E.K. Johnston - May 27

Here's a recap of the books I read in 2024 (in the order I read them):
All of them were great reads, but my top 12 are in bold.
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
Gaza Writes Back Edited by Refaat Alareer
The Jackal by Erin E. Adams
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
The Gathering by Kelley Armstrong
The Red Palace by June Hur
His Ducking Alpha Dragon by Lorelei M. Hart
TJ Powar Has Something to Prove by Jesmeen Kaur Deo
The Mis-Arrangement of Sana Saeed by Noreen Mughees
One of Us Knows by Alyssa Cole
Deadly Cure by Mahi Cheshire
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Snowglobe by Soyoung Park
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
Road to Ruin by Hana Lee
Missing White Woman by Kellye Gerrett
Pretty Furious by E.K. Johnston
Delivered to My Tigers by Mazzy J. March
Midwife to Destiny by Nana Prah
So Let Them Burn by Kamilah Cole
Toward Eternity by Anton Hur
Love in the Air by Mariah Ankenman
Dead Sound by Anise Eden
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White
Blood Sisters by Vanessa Lillie
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes
Love, Lies, and Cherry Pie by Jackie Lau
Sensory: Life on the Spectrum Edited by Bex Ollerton
Full Speed to a Crash Landing by Beth Revis
Escape Velocity by Victor Manibo

What were your favorite reads of 2024?

I have many goals for 2025, many of which I already mentioned. I will be posting them in a separate post on social media, but I'll recap what I already mentioned...

• Lion's Crossing to release in February
• finish City Wishes & Enchanted Dreams book two and submit for publishing
• finish Romance Tales from the Quadrants book two and submit for publishing
• work on Dystopian short story
• Revise/Rewrite four formerly published stories and republish them

Thank you for all your support over the last year!

*Please note that If I'm not enjoying a book, I won't finish it. And I don't ever rate books that I don't finish, because while a handful are bad, most of the time, they're just not for me, but I'm sure others will enjoy them.

Here's a list of my favorite reads from 2023...

• THE MISSED CONNECTION by Denise Williams
• THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS by June Hur
• AT THE END OF EVERYTHING by Marieke Nijkamp
• HELL FOLLOWED WITH US by Andrew Joseph White
• SOMETHING MORE by Jackie Khalilieh
• MALL PRIEST by Chris Heinicke and Kate Reedwood
• THE DEEP SKY by Yume Kitasei
• BOYFRIEND MATERIAL by Alexis Hall
• HUSBAND MATERIAL by Alexis Hall
• THE KEEPSAKE by Tess Gerritsen

Currently Reading and Enjoying...

• POLARIS RISING by Jessie Mihalik

I didn't release a lot this past year for various reasons, but here is my year in review...

January

• I started 2023 with Covid-19. Yes, on January 1st, I tested positive for the virus, and was in quarantine for several days after that. My youngest child was the only one who didn't get it, and with masking and distancing, we managed to keep him from getting it, too.
• When I was finally able to leave my home again, I had to take my old pup to the vet to be put down. She had been failing in health since October of the previous year and took a bad turn over the holidays.

February

• On top of a depressing and sad start to the year, I dealt with back and shoulder problems. Besides seeing a chiropractor and physiotherapist, I used text-to-speech for the first time, and it has changed the way I write my stories.

April

• Our house felt so empty with my oldest child off at school, and even worse without any pets. So, in April, we adopted a new dog from the local humane society. After being raised in a barn and being abandoned into the wild, it took her a bit to get used to living in a house with people, but she's adjusted quite well now.
• I was invited to be a part of a MPreg Shifter Romance multi-author project. More on that below...

July

• I finished, submitted, and contracted 4 UNITED, the first story in my Romance Tales from the Quadrants series.

September

• 4 UNITED released!

November

• I finished, submitted, and contracted FOX TRAPPED, the MPreg Shifter Romance mentioned above.

December

• FOX TRAPPED became available for pre-order!