My Word of the Year Is...
Happy New Year! What are your goals and dreams for 2024?
Instead of making resolutions each January, I try to choose a Word of the Year to set the tone for how I want to approach…well, all sorts of things. My work. My home life. My relationships. My creativity. My attitude.
I’ve been doing this since 2013, when I chose the word Patience. I was in the trenches of revising and querying literary agents and being rejected and revising again and querying again and being rejected again, and I’d recently started something new—the manuscript that would become The Distance Between Lost and Found. I was in love with this new book. I felt strongly that it was the best thing I’d written to date. But I didn’t want to rush to send it out before it was ready. I needed to remind myself to be patient.
In 2014, with Distance on the path to publication, I chose Momentum. Things were happening! Amazing, exciting things! I wanted to ride the wave as far as I could. I wanted to be ready to put in the work to turn one book deal into a career as an author.
In 2015, my word was Gratitude. Being a debut author was stressful, and I didn’t want to lose sight of how very lucky I felt to be doing what I loved. I wanted to approach every opportunity—and every setback—feeling thankful.
For some reason, I neglected to set a word for 2016. Skipping ahead to 2017, I was in a low place, career-wise. My second book, How it Feels to Fly, had underperformed. My publisher had passed on my next YA proposal. I hadn’t been able to sell that book anywhere else. I was working on rewriting another, earlier book. I was trying not to panic. In January, I chose the word Persist. I was not going to give up.
I still hadn’t sold a third book by January 2018, so I figured that Persist could stay my theme for another year. And then, in 2019—still stuck in the slump—I moved on to Trust. I wanted to trust that one way or another, I would find the right path forward.
I did get a new book deal in January 2020: my Class Critters chapter book series. But for whatever reason, I never set a word for that year. (Not that whatever I chose could have dealt with what 2020 turned into…)
In 2021, I chose Nourish. I wanted to find my way out of survival mode and into a healthier, happier space. After a year that was challenging and scary, I wanted to nourish my body, my mind, and my soul.
I managed to skip January 2022, but looking back on that year, the theme was work. I released two new books. I revised two others. I started doing in-person school visits. I worked with a marketing consultant. I launched my newsletter. I learned how to pitch myself and my books to media outlets. I auditioned for new writing opportunities.
Following all of that work, in 2023, my Word of the Year was Cultivate. In 2022, I’d planted a lot of seeds. In 2023, I wanted to help those seeds blossom.
And now here we are, in January 2024. (Are you still with me, after that lengthy recap?)
My Word of the Year is…
Relish.
Ooh, what a yummy word.
To relish something is to enjoy it with enthusiasm. To take great pleasure in it. To look forward to getting more of it.
This month, I’m launching a book that just might be my favorite thing I’ve published so far. The Thirteenth Circle has been a joy to work on, start to finish—and I want to relish every moment of having it out there on bookshelves and in readers’ hands. I want to take pleasure in promoting it, because I love it and want it to succeed.
But the word has meaning for me beyond The Thirteenth Circle’s launch on January 30th. The middle-grade manuscript revision I sent my agent in December—I relish working on that book. I would love to see it go somewhere in 2024. And the work-for-hire project I spent so much time on last year—I want to relish completing and promoting that, however much the client wants me to be involved. Overall, I want to try, this coming year, to enjoy my work. I want to take pleasure in being creative, and in getting the word out about my accomplishments. I want to face life with enthusiasm. When things get hard—and I know they will—I want to get through it by relishing what’s good.
I spent 2022 planting seeds. In 2023, I cultivated them. Now, I want to relish my harvest—even as I keep planting and cultivating the next crop of projects.
Relish. Mmm-mmm.
Did you pick a Word of the Year for 2024? What did you choose?
~Kathryn
The Thirteenth Circle is less than four weeks from its publication date! MarcyKate and I were so excited to get a second glowing trade review, this one from Booklist. Here’s what they had to say:
We’re also about to launch our preorder “swag pack” campaign! If you preorder our book from any retailer by midnight on January 29th—i.e. the day before launch—you’re eligible to receive a bundle of goodies, including:
Bookplate signed by both authors
Thirteenth Circle bookmark
Assorted stickers
Glow-in-the-dark stars
A download link to read the original, non-canon ending of the book! (Save this one for after you’ve read the published ending. Trust me.)
Plus, you’ll be entered for a chance to win a limited-edition Thirteenth Circle t-shirt!
How do you get in on this? Stay tuned… :)