It’s that time of year. 2016 was a blur of, well let’s be honest, many terrible things. But amidst all that it’s easy to forget all we’ve achieved, so let’s have a look back at what I got done in 2016. Spoiler alert- it was a metric butt-tonne.

2016

My artwork was licensed onto 15 new figurines and hundreds of phone and device cases.
I traded at Supanova, St Ives Medieval Fair, Winter Fest, Glebe St Fair, and Central Coast Christmas Markets. Book Expo was cancelled in a very disappointing manner and won’t be one of my attended shows again.
I painted Eye of the Storm, Moon Boat, 78 Tarot Astral High Priestess (yet to be released), 78 Tarot Carnival- Strength and some mini paintings- Locked, Dipped in Stars and Rainbows, Silver Butterflies, and Together through the Storm.

I published and released two huge deluxe style 2017 calendars.
The French edition of Memory’s Wake book one was released, and books 2 and 3 of the series were released on Audio finishing the trilogy there.
Emotionally Charged was optioned for TV, and a script for the pilot episode was written by the studio I’m working with, and is being presented to TV networks.
I published 10 colouring books- Gothic, Goddess and Myth, Gothic Minis, Mermaid Minis, Festive Magic, Faedorables, Mythic Mermaids, Grayscale Mermaids, Grayscale Enchanted, and Night Magic. I sold over 50,000 colouring books (including Christmas of 2015), and have signed with a couple of publishers for a European release and Hong Kong release.

I released the new Easy Display Art Prints option, and am discontinuing many of my other product types from my Fairies and Fantasy business as I move away from doing manufacturing myself. I will continue making prints and books, but may stop selling all other products- planning there continues to evolve.

2017

I am cutting down on trading at in-person events, but I will attend Books by the Bridge, Mind Body Spirit, and Supanova.
I am, somewhat sadly, saying goodbye to my DIY Dolls range. They were super fun to create, and I might still occasionally do some designs for fun, but I want to dedicate my time more to artworks and fiction from now on.
Colouring Books will still be a thing. I have two more grayscale books planned, and two more outline books planned. I might also do another Faedorables book as well, but colouring book releases won’t be as frequent as in 2016.
I aim to write two more stories in the Empath Chronicles series to wrap that storyline up. They are all planned and ready to go, and I even started writing them at the Story Queens writing retreat.
In fiction writing I have plans for 5 other standalone novels I’d LOVE to write, plus a new series, but I’m not sure on the ifs and whens for these yet.
I have a couple ideas for non-fiction books I’d like to do as well, an art/creative business how-to style book mainly. It’s been on my list for a long time, and as with most things, just waiting for me to find time or make it a priority.
I’ve been working on finding ways to bring my art and my writing together more. With this in mind, there may be children’s books or other picture book style projects in the future.
I want to paint more. I feel as though, with the little mini experiments with new mediums I’ve been doing, that I’m starting to get a better feel for the mediums I like (oils, watercolours, graphite, and markers are interesting me most currently) and don’t like (canvas. Yep, finally worked out I really don’t like painting on canvas.) I feel as though I’m on the cusp of defining a method and style I can really own, that I really click with, but know it will take a lot more trial and error to really get there. I plan to make more time for this in 2017.

What would you like to see me do more of in 2017?

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