2025 Successes and Lessons

Hello, happy readers.

I haven't decided how often or frequently I will update this, as blogging is not something ever saw for myself. That said, take this with a grain of salt, and be patient as I learn the ropes.

Successes

This year has been an emotional and physical roller coaster, I'm not going to lie. I started the year on a high, completing my La Llorona duology. Seeing book 1, Rise of Mafia Queen get published in July was euphoric. Then sequel Fall of the King made its debut in October and I wanted to celebrate. It was two years of work put out there to the world. I also completed two contemporary novellas for writing contests.

To celebrate, I sent copies to my ARC and Beta Readers. I also selected a subscriber to receive a copy of the two books, but the books were never claimed. I repeated the random drawing, selected two different winners, and the books still were not claimed. (They're here on my desk in my writing cave the time of writing this post.)

If you follow me on Inkitt, Lutionary, or Patreon then you know how much I love interacting with my readers. The feedback from you all has been amazing. I cannot tell you enough how much your comments, enthusiasm, and general interaction with the stories has motivated me to continue writing.

Other successes this year have included the completion of The Bonds Trilogy, as well as two contemporary novellas (The Kink List and Her Stolen Valentine). I achieved a professional milestone of over million words published, and the number is still climbing. Two million is just around the corner in 2026, I know it.

Lessons Learned

For those of you new to my world, this year was a physically challenging ordeal to overcome. I woke up one morning in late April to absolute excruciating pain radiating down my left arm. Over the following months, the pain was controlled with medication, but I was losing strength in the limb from shoulder to finger tips. A scan revealed a completely collapsed disk in my neck which caused a compression of the nerve root feeding to my left arm.

My primary physician was willing to let me wait out the pain, wait out the initial shock my body was experiencing from the impinged nerves, and 'to see what happens.' I was not. I requested to be seen by a specialist.

Given the severity of my pain and symptoms the neurosurgeons operated on me in September. From start to finish, every interaction with the team at Oslo University Hospital was amazingly professional and efficient. I still can't believe how quickly they were able to see me and fit my case into the surgical schedule. I am still in the process of rebuilding my strength back up, but my prognosis is really good.

Best advice I can give: you know your body best. Advocate for your health and welfare.

Writing Lessons and Successes

I have been incredibly fortunate to work with several amazing writers, authors, and digital designers this year. I have learned a lot about self publishing tip, tricks and pitfalls. Seems only fair to share that with you. If you are new to the indie author journey or looking to embark, do your research.

Don't be afraid to ask questions, and get multiple points of input before setting on a given path. There are so many scammers and shams out there, making a killing off of unsuspecting indie authors.

• Writer Beware is an amazing resource to verify/double check known scams circulating.

  
  

• Your health matters. That means keeping your time balanced and giving yourself grace when the inevitable block stops your progress or regular life needs to take priority. The world won't end because you prioritize your physical and mental health over writing. Do it with zero guilt! Indie Author Magazine published a great article this year about the importance of the work-life balance.

  
  

• If you're going to write, treat it like a business. Give yourself office hours, and a working budget. Expenditures for ISBNs, cover art, copyrights (depending where you are in the world), and eventual publishing can add up quickly. Budget accordingly. There are several great blogs out there covering just this, but this is one I found useful in it's up front presentation. How to budget... by Joey D'urso, indie fiction author and blogger.

  
  

• You don't have to be alone in your writing journey. Network. Whether you are connecting with other authors through a forum, professional guild or organization, networking will keep you sane. Authors and writers are some of the craziest, cooky, weird and welcoming people you will ever work with. Put yourself out there. Draft-2-Digital has a blog promoting the indie author success path. Read Sarah Kuiken's 'How to Network...' here.

Okay, happy readers, real life is calling. I look forward to meeting you between the pages of our next great reading adventure.

~Marie