300 Sonnets… and writing goals for 2023

One of my writing goals of 2022 was to write 300 sonnets. A few years ago I released a book titled 200 Sonnets, and I’m on track to release my next volume of Sonnets (500 of them) in two years. If I write a few sonnets a week, I should have no trouble self publishing 500 Sonnets by my 49th birthday, which is October 28th, 2024. I think that’s a realistic goal, especially if I compose two or three new sonnets a week.

Slow & Steady wins the race, so I was happy to complete my goal of 300 sonnets by the end of 2022 on the very last day…

Sonnet #300 is finished but the new book still has a long way to go…

So, while it’s nice to finish one goal from this year’s writing wish list, there are a few that didn’t go as well as hoped.

I was hoping to have the new Monster Sequel finished at this point, but I’m barely halfway through it. I will have to do some heavy writing if I want to make the release date I want to use… and it’s quickly creeping up. Once this book is finished, I am going to self publish it with Smashwords and Amazon, and push the new novel myself. The first monster book, titled “World Of Monsters” was well received when it released, so I’m hoping I can build off of that next year with the sequel.

Speaking of self publishing, I’m also writing a new crime novel which is also a sequel. I released a suspense thriller titled “Prophet of Death” in September of 2019, and I enjoyed writing so much that I was determined to write another. Well, I’m several chapters into the new crime novel and it’s looking really good so far. It’s not a carbon copy of the first as the killer our main characters are looking for is very different and targets as specific group of people who the killer believes need to be punished for something they did that is unforgivable. This new novel, whose current working title is “Mother Is Watching” could be even better than the previous crime book, and my goal is to finish and self publish this novel before or on birthday which is in October. 

About four months ago, I also started writing a novel about wizards which is looking really good as I’m almost at the halfway mark with this one. This novel whose working title is “Epic Wizards” is looking so good that I am going to pitch it to literary agents and try the traditional publication route with this one. I think this is just the kind of books agents will fall over each other to represent, and I’m confident this work is good enough to try that crazy path again. I talked to a friend about it, and her response was to call it  “Harry Potter fan fiction”, and while I disagree with her assessment, she’s entitled to it. To be fair, 50 Shades of Gray started off as an actual Twilight fan fiction, so I didn’t take the statement as an insult. We all remember how much money that awful series made, so that just reinforces what route I need to take when this wizard novel is completed.

To top it all off, I’m also working on a Victorian era like romantic novel. Once this one is finished, I’m going to submit it directly to a publisher that is accepting direct submissions. So that is the fourth book I plan to write and finish in 2023. Add in the additional 100 sonnets I want to write this year, the third Atheist book I want to spit out, and the endless comic books that I will continue to pen… 2023 is going to be another busy, busy year for yours truly.

Combine all this with the sonnets I want to write, the comic books I do for the indie publisher in Jersey, I will be as busy in 2023 as I have been in previous years. I guess that will keep me out of trouble.

I started writing this hours ago when it was still 2022, but it’s now deep into the first night of the new year. So, happy new year everyone and best wishes for a great 2023.

Cheers,
Peter