While 2021 has been a challenging year in so many respects, as a writer this was a really big year for me.

I published my first novel.

That may not seem like much, but for a writer it can be a scary thing putting your work out into the world. It’s like being a parent on the first day of kindergarten. You’ve put years of work into something, breathing life into it, honing it, paying careful attention to detail, and then then the time comes you have to let it go into the big world where it can play with others and you really don’t have any control over what happens. It comes back with disheveled hair, a skinned knee and a missing sock, but both shoes.

For a debut novel, First Command has been doing well. The reviews so far have been extremely positive. I’ve had a teacher write to me to tell me that she’s sharing it with her class, and was even surprised with an impromptu book signing. As I write this, it’s sitting at #91 in Amazon.com’s Teen and Young Adult Space Opera eBooks. First Command has been within the top 200 quite consistently since it was published in June.

Cassi has been making friends!

As always, I am extremely grateful to my family and friends for supporting me. And of course, to my readers who dared to take a chance on a new author.

For many reasons I’m looking forward to 2022.

I’ll continue with this blog with a goal of putting up something once a week… resources for other writers, interesting science that inspires my science fiction, or news about upcoming publications.

Speaking of which… a sequel is in the works.

I have a working title of Black Hole, but that could change. I also have a completed first draft! It’s hard to say how long precisely it’s going to take to move from the first draft to a book available for pre-order or purchase. But it’s coming, and I feel as though the new adventure is taking shape into something on par with the first.

2022 is going to be full of challenges, but I try to be an optimist. There are going to be tremendous opportunities as well. I wish you all the best in the New Year.

Cheers!