It’s been more than a year since I blogged here. Sorry about that.
Part of the reason for my absence was sheer burn-out after writing and releasing Reverb. I love that book, but it did take a lot out of me to write, so much so that all I managed to write after it until this fall was a 10,000 word short story for an anthology.
I’m not going to get into what happened with the anthology. It was released, then pulled, and the rights to the story returned to me. I ended up self-publishing the story, Weave the Dark, Weave the Light. It’s on Amazon in KU. I designed the cover.
Fire witch Ari Zydik has always had a tenuous connection with their magic, and opening themself up to the whims of the universe on Samhain, desperate for a connection to anything hasn’t helped. A chance run-in with a stranger while ice skating leads to a tenuous relationship with Jonathan Aster, an immortal and powerful being—one Ari feels compelled to conquer and dominate. But as Midwinter looms, can Ari tame the fire of an ancient star?
This year was rough for so many of us. I’ve been lucky that my dayjob is easy to do from home, though I very much miss my co-workers and working down in the city. I also miss hockey games and seeing my friends. I’ve been walking every day just to get out of the house and remind myself that the world and other people exist. All of us regular walkers have gotten used to seeing each other.
But I did have a personal tragedy this year. My father passed away from late-stage Parkinson’s in October. (His obituary is here.) Thankfully, it wasn’t Covid, so I was able to travel to my parents’ house and say goodbye. I was there when he passed.
Then I learned my literary agent was leaving the industry. After much thinking about it, I decided to go it alone for a bit, and see what I could do self-publishing some of the books I want to write that tradition publishing doesn’t want to chance publishing.
And strangely enough, the stress of all that unlocked my ability to write. The first thing I wrote was a piece of fanfic. It’s RPF Hockey fic, and if you have an Ao3 account, it’s here. (You have to be logged in to see it.)
Then I wrote an entire novel, mostly in November. It’s an m/m romance that’s pretty kinky, low-ish on angst (for me), and has quite a lot of sex. It’s kind of a twist on a second chance romance. The guys in question have orbited each other for years, run in the same circles, have been interested in each other, but have never actually talked. The title is Cinnamon Roll, and the book will be out in April. I’ll tell you more about it later in January.
I also got the rights back to my novel Outside the Lines, and I’ve edited out some binary gender thinking (damn internalized transphobia) and will be re-releasing that later in January. I ended up trying my hand at fully designing a cover, and I think it turned out pretty well. It’s very bright and happy!
Some other thing that happened this year: Takeover came out in Italian.
And Close Quarter came out in German.
Also, all three of my Twisted Wishes novels are out in audio, read by the incredible Greg Boudreaux (Greg Tremblay).
Basically, 2020 wasn’t the best year, but I’m hitting 2021 with new energy and a plan to bring you a lot more books on my own terms. One thing the past year has taught me is that life is too short not do work on what you enjoy.
So, in 2021, I’m writing what I love, and hopefully, you will love them, too.
Happy New Year!
Anna Zabo 