on new years and favorites of 2023

There’s a lot to recommend the start of a new year. It’s that time when you can feel like you’re starting fresh (even when all the nonsense of the year before rolls over). It’s a time of goal setting, resolutions that inevitably break by the end of January (or maybe that’s just me… 😅), and figuring out next steps. It’s both an ending of the old and a beginning to something new and different.

And with the approach of every new year, I always feel this urge to give myself more work for the next year because I hate myself? Honestly who knows. But if I have one resolution for 2024, it’s none of that. No concrete goal setting, no locking myself into things that will inevitably mean I never get them done (because brains are fun), and definitely not adding even more work to my already maxed out free time.

That said, I can’t help myself from setting some more vague goals. They’re specific enough to cross off my list but I’m not assigning any timeframes to them right now:

1. Move into my new house (so very ready for this)

2. Enter the query trenches with one of my novels

3. Find a good work/life balance that doesn’t burn me out every few months

But that’s something to worry about tomorrow. As of writing this, it’s still 2023, so I suppose a wrap-up would be in order, yes?

accomplishments from the year

I’m trying to get better about celebrating all the good things that happen rather than get stuck in doom loops around the negative, and when I went to make this list, I was pleasantly surprised!

For starters, I bought a house. Still coming to terms with this, if I’m being honest, but it took 2 years and lots of false hope before it came to pass and now I have a whole new set of problems to stress over. But it’s mine. I can work with that.

In keeping with the long-term trends, I finally finished drafting Project Thistle! Took 3 years and multiple partial drafts to get there but I love the story and can’t wait to dive into edits in the new year.

Simon’s already prepared to “help” me with my writing.

And both the biggest and smallest of them all, I confirmed by neurospiciness. It might sound silly, and self-diagnosis is just as valid, but having that external recognition has helped me a lot from a mental standpoint, and just having a general idea of what’s going on has allowed me to find solutions to the stuff I struggle with (I see you executive dysfunction).

favorites of 2023

books

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Cassandra Khaw’s The Salt Grows Heavy was an absolute delight of the senses, very lush and evocative, and definitely fantastically dark. My only regret in reading it was that it’s so short and I wanted so much more. But if you find yourself in need of a story involving a plague doctor and a terrifying mermaid then you have to pick it up.

I literally finished reading The Antiquity Affair by Lee Kelly & Jennifer Thorne earlier today and despite it taking months to read (because of life things and mood reading struggles), I flew through the last quarter and was thoroughly entertained. It’s a fun historical fiction romp for fans of Indiana Jones and I’ll certainly pick up more if they ever right new books with these characters.

For my fellow worldbuilding lovers, you definitely need to get your hands on Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans and Saint Death’s Daughter by C.S.E. Cooney. The first has that perfect blend of immersive worldbuilding that’s also intrinsically tied to the characters so it never feels like you’re reading an encyclopedia (and don’t get me wrong, I love worldbuilding but even I get bogged down with stuff like that). Absolutely fabulous.

The latter has one of the strongest character voices I’ve ever read and I enjoyed every minute of it. And did I mention there are footnotes? Snarky, actually made me chuckle a few times, footnotes. All draped in a bone-filled, necromancy friendly world. Yes, you should definitely read it.

Finally, for my fellow writers, a couple craft books! Chuck Wendig’s Gentle Writing Advice is less a craft book and more like a big swear-y hug. This isn’t a bad thing, to be clear. I felt like it hit on a lot of things that writers face and lets you know that 1) you’re not alone, and 2) some ways to think about tough spots and getting through them. Also it’s just plain funny at times and well worth the read for that snarky humor alone.

Finally, I recommend Dear Writer, Are You Intuitive? by Becca Syme & Susan Bischoff. I saw this recommended by Susan Dennard during a live workshop and the way she talked about it resonated with me. So I picked it up and the book itself resonated with me too. Again, less action item oriented and more “here’s a way to think about writing in a way that works with who you are and your process” which I found helpful from a mindset perspective.

You know what the best part about ALL of these books? They will all qualify for the 2024 Beat the Backlist reading challenge!

Look, I host it. I had to put a plug in here somewhere.

If your TBR is out of control, if you want to read more of the books you own, or read more from the library, or read more friend recommendations, honestly if you just want to read more, this challenge is for you. The only guidelines are that the books have to be published prior to the new year and you have to start/finish them in 2024. 

Easy, right?

Plus there are optional reading prompts (in bingo and list form), tracking available on StoryGraph as well as a spreadsheet for those so inclined, and a Discord group.

Hope you’ll join me in 2024 with the challenge!

movies & shows

I’ll admit that I don’t keep track of literally anything I watch in any way which makes it difficult to pick out favorites but most a few shows I recall binging this year include Suits and Ghosts which have very different vibes from each other 😂

More recently I watched all 3 Trolls movies which were adorable, and season 2 of both The Gilded Age (excellent as always though I definitely didn’t realize I was watching the finale when I did…) and Loki (such action, much time travel).

music

This was the year of Hozier with “Eat Your Young” the frontrunner pretty much since it dropped. Paloma Paris’ “labour” came in a close second. A few more honorable mentions:

• “Secret Worlds” by The Amazing Devil

• “Mortally Grey” by April Jai (a recent addition)

• “Back on 74” by Jungle

• “Houdini” by Dua Lipa (another recent addition)

• “Movement” by Hozier

• “Howl” by Florence + The Machine (returning from a previous year’s fave list)

With that, I leave you with the close of 2023 and wish you all the best in the coming new year. Go forth and be creative!

💜 austine