2020 Recap for Lilly Avalon

Thursday, December 31, 2020 1 comment

This year has been a year full of ups and downs. The pandemic put us all through a range of emotions and fears. Life was different and we all had to make adjustments. We've had blessings and losses. My husband's job has had down days and weeks, which meant going through the ridiculously long and painful trouble of filing for temporary unemployment to make ends meet. I had an emergency visit to the hospital where it was discovered that I had an ovarian cyst that I had to get removed just this month. On the other hand, my husband and I found success in our eBay business, which meant we were able to stay afloat and start paying down some debts.

Despite it being such a rollercoaster, I was still able to do a lot more than I thought was possible, especially when it came to making progress with regard to writing and publishing.

After nearly a year hiatus, I began writing a new series in November of 2019. I finished writing the first drafts of the novellas in early 2020, then began working on revisions right away. The first book, Desiring the Dancer, released on August 31st 2020. It had been a year and a half since I published a new book, so it was such a good feeling. Enticing the Escort and Seducing the Star shortly followed (on September 14th and 28th respectively).


Writing these books has been such a boost when it comes to believing in myself and my writing. For a long time, I doubted my ability to write a decent story. There were a number of starts and stops along the way, not to mention really (and I mean REALLY) crappy first chapters of stories I never ended up finishing. On my bad days, I told myself I should probably quit and focus on something I'm actually good at. Then on my good days, I reminded myself that I needed time to find my voice again.

The good days were what allowed me to achieve what I did this year.

Even though I haven't been able to start a new story since publishing the novella series, I haven't given up on myself. There have been some speedbumps and some learning about what sort of stories I have the most passion for, but I'm continuing to make progress. It may be slower than I wanted it to be, but that's okay. Good things take time. Good stories sometimes need time to become what they need to be and I'm happy to wait a little bit longer to find out what it is.

Thank you for joining me on this journey and for reading my words. You have no idea how much it means to me that my stories have brought smiles to the faces of my readers and fans. You're amazing and I hope that 2021 will bring you the blessings you deserve.

Lilly Avalon Monthly Writing Update #8 for December 2020

Monday, December 28, 2020 No comments

Every month I share an update about what I'm writing in my Monthly Writing Update!
Here's the latest for the month of December.

If you look at my November update, my main goal for the month was to recover from my surgery and outline some books.


Have I accomplished this?


My surgery happened on December 15th, went very well, and I've been recovering nicely. The first few days were difficult because it was hard to lift myself up from lying down. My husband had to assist me a couple times. Naps have been my best friend. I've slowly been doing a little more every day, but making sure to pace myself so that I don't overdo anything and cause myself any pain.

When it comes to outlining, I did do a little bit of outlining for a new project. Not a lot, mind you, given the fact that I had a lot to do before surgery and then not being able to do much post-surgery. However, I still feel like I've been making some progress despite having all these roadblocks and obstacles in the way.


Am I on track?


I still have plenty more to outline in this new story, but given the circumstances, I feel like I've been doing fairly well. Could I have outlined more? Of course. Does it bother me that I didn't? Not really. It was a rough month of various challenges and I feel like I did what I could and I don't want to give myself any grief for not doing more. Progress is progress, and I'm happy with where I'm currently at.


Goals for January


In the midst of surgery recovery, I was thinking about the goals I want to set for the new year. I began writing up an extensive list of things to accomplish. This was a larger than life and basically impossible type of list, lol, but I mostly wanted to get all the potential plans written down, even if I wouldn't be remotely able to handle all of them. Sometimes it's good to just brain dump everything you're thinking about.

As far as what I'd like to do specifically for January, I want to finish outlining my next book and begin writing it. I'm still recovering from the surgery, so I'm unsure how things will be next month just yet. Tomorrow marks two weeks since the surgery and I have a follow-up appointment next week with my surgeon. Who knows? Maybe I'll be feeling extremely well by January and able to do ten times as much as I can do right now. Let's hope that my recovery continues to improve every day so I can reach that point again.


Love you all lots and I wish you a happy and safe new year!