It’s a whole new year, which means New Year’s resolutions! I’ll admit, I didn’t meet all of my resolutions from last year. I did finish Sand Dancer, read some great books, and attended some awesome conventions, but I didn’t quite meet my Goodreads goal and I didn’t get the chance to write anything outside of Sand Dancer, though I jotted down plenty of new story ideas.
I got quite involved with the indie community last year and started my own indie authors Discord server where I learned a lot from other indies in the trenches. Spending time talking to indie authors and reading indie books has inspired me to continue the trend.
Thus, I pledge that my 2020 will be the Year of the Indie!
Read More Indie
There are some exciting fantasy books coming out in 2020 that I can’t wait to sink my teeth into, but this year I also want to read more indie. My TBR pile is mountainous as I have a lot of indie books to get through. I’ve already set my Goodreads goal to a modest 24 books this year, which works out at two books a month. I’m hoping to smash that goal, but ideally I’ll be reading at least one indie book a month.
My publisher Uproar Books are also releasing a few exciting indie books this year, including sci-fi satire Always Greener, gothic fantasy Asperfell, and sci-fi thriller The Way Out.
I’ll be blogging about more indie books this year, so keep coming back for recommendations!
Write More Indie
This year I’ll be finishing the sequel to Sand Dancer. I’ve just finished another draft, so I’m starting the new year editing and polishing a version ready to send off to Uproar Books. This is where the fun begins! I find it’s much easier to work with a finished draft. Once the sequel is done, I’ll be jumping into the third book and aim to have that drafted and edited by the end of this year. Maybe I’ll even start book four before Christmas! I’m cautiously optimistic.
If I get any spare time between these books, I’d like to start world building my next project. I already know what it’s going to be…
Play More Indie
My video games of the decade blog made me realise just how many indie games I’ve played in recent years compared to the major publishers. In fact, most of my favourite games of the past few years have been indie games, such as Bastion, Fire Watch, Limbo, Spelunky, Stardew Valley, Subnautica, To The Moon, and Undertale… to name a few! I’ve been gaming since the 8-bit days, and I feel now that indie games capture that creative sense of fun and uniqueness that the big publishers seem to lack. And indie games don’t tend to be riddled with microtransactions.
So for 2020, I will be playing more indie games for sure, and also talking about them more in my blog.
Listen to More Indie
I’ll be honest, I most just listen to Depeche Mode, or Muse, or random video game soundtracks these days, but playing games like Audiosurf introduced me to a whole new world of indie musicians. Some of my favourite music to write to this year have been random indie bands or remixes on YouTube rather than big-name labels, so for 2020, I want to explore indie music and discover something new.
In 2020 I’ll be visiting more conventions in the UK so I can support other indies, and hopefully run a stall of my own. See you there!
