For me, 2024 was a year of writing, publication, snags, and personal development.

The most important event was without a doubt the publication of the second and final book in ‘The Shadowlens’ series. It came out in mid April, and I spent most of my writing time up to that point editing the manuscript and marketing the book. The reward of all my efforts was my second novel, my first finished series, and a sense of accomplishment that will stay with me forever. 

Publishing stories never gets old, but putting the last full stop at the end of a series I’d worked on for years made me feel I’d done something important. In the books, Martin and his friends fight the dark surveillance on their school. While the suspense is certainly a big part of it, I also take pride that tween readers who struggle with drunk parents will find support in the story. It’s my hope that those readers feel truly seen – for who they are and not through the invasive, suspicious lenses put up by those who would control our lives.

Another great writing experience was WorldCon in Glasgow. Not only did Mette and I have a couple of days to explore the Highlands. We also had a great time talking to a lot of people on the con. And I mean A LOT of people. For an introvert like me, it was a social fiesta, and I was quite cooked when I returned to Denmark (with what was probably a mild Covid infection). I also watched a lot of science panels, and had the pleasure of joining four great writers on a panel about writing F/SF in a language not your own. 

One of the conversations on the con later led me to join a new writing group, which has already given me a lot of new perspectives on my own writing process – second only to what I learned from the editor of ‘The Shadow Lens’.

New writing projects

As I’m writing this, I’m about halfway through revising ‘The Dark Ways’ – a SF novel I plan to finish in the first half of 2025.

I wish that work on the book had progressed quicker, but 2024 was also a time for hitting various snags. Stress – mine and others’ – was a theme in the year that went by. I felt more than a little exhausted after finishing the Shadow Lens, and transitioning into another project took more out of me than I’d have liked.

Add a bunch of new (albeit welcome) responsibilities to my work life and I simply didn’t have as many words in me in 2024 as the previous year. I wrote the equivalent of about 164K words in 2024 versus 303K the year before. (Equivalent because I count revisions but only add half  the number of words – meaning that revising 10K words only adds 5K words to the total.) 

On the plus side, I’ve had more success than ever before getting through a stressful period. I’ve identified a lot of unhealthy thought patterns, and much of the credit for that goes to my partner. We’ve listened to each other and reached new understandings together in the past year, and we’re entering 2025 in much better form. Thank you, Mette, with all my love!

2025 is here…

… so what’s going to happen?

The next issue of Pulp Literature will see the publication of my short story ‘How to Write a Novel in Ten Days During the Zombie Apocalypse’. I also have two panels at local cons to look forward to, and in March I’ll be giving a speech at Skrækfest (Fear Fest) in Odense about writing stories for foreigners while thinking like a Dane. 

Writingwise, I’ve made it my priority to finish ‘The Dark Ways’. Knowing that my writer’s mind is recalcitrant if I tell it to plough through a single project, I’ve also promised myself to have fun with ‘The Huge Fun Fantasy Project’. In the same vein, I have a couple of short stories floating in my head, because that’s the way my mind works. I’ll write those on the days that novels seem too complicated. Hopefully, some of this will lead to more publications, agent contracts, or other good things.

And if not, I’ll have fun writing.