I thought 2020 was crazy.
Then I thought 2021 was bad.
2022 was all, “Hold my beer.”
By far, 2022 was one of the hardest years for me, maybe even the hardest. I feel like I say that every year, and maybe I should stop, ’cause every time I do, it’s like the Universe is ready to say, “Oh yeah? Watch this!”
However, I’ve learned two important lessons. First is a self-reflection lesson: the harder life is on me, the harder I push myself to try to make it better. The second lesson is that this is not a sustainable practice, and I pushed myself way too hard this year.
So, what all happened? Grab a warm drink and sit back, cause this is a helluva ride.
The Year of Getting Sick
It started right at the end of 2021 – I was recovering from my third hip surgery when I got sick. Really really sick. I ended up in the E.R., and found out I had a very bad Strep infection. And let me tell you, when you’ve had 3 hip surgeries, one within a few weeks, the kind of shivering I was doing when I had that first round of Strep hurt. I went from using a cane to back on crutches because I couldn’t stop shivering and therefore my hips hurt so bad that I couldn’t stand.
That also meant I was delayed going back to work, but my short term disability already ended, soooo I used PTO (Paid Time Off) of which I’d already had to use 40 hours of at the beginning of short term disability.
Finally got back to work…only to get Strep again in late February. Only this time, all the tests (including COVID) came back negative at first, until a more comprehensive test showed I’d somehow caught a rare variant. So what little PTO I’d started to build up at work, gone, and then some. I had to negotiate with my job to still get paid despite not working and not having PTO for so many days.
Aaaaaaaand then we actually did get COVID in May. Oh and this was after Colorado and the Feds stopped paying for COVID sick leave, so yep. Bye bye PTO again.
Between that, post-operation appointments, and physical therapy, I have been at or near zero PTO almost all year long.
Mind you, I haven’t had any sort of relaxing vacation since the beginning of pandemic. Sooooo…that didn’t help me.
Changing Plans – Housing Market and Selling
Something else happened this year that many are watching very closely – the economy started tanking. And that included the housing market. When we saw the early signs of it in June, we weighed all of our options, and decided we needed to sell our house, now. There was more to it than just the stalling economy and stalling housing market, there were a lot of reasons it made sense. In hindsight, looking at how things are now, I’m glad we sold when we did.
But…after surgery, after 3 major illnesses, it was a hard thing. We downsized from a house to an apartment, which was its own challenge, and getting the house ready for sale, even though we had plenty of time…it wasn’t enough time, in reality. I had multiple days of over 20,000 steps on the docket during that time.
Coupled with our lender being a nuisance and us having to threaten legal recourse if they didn’t give us our payoff quote, it was an extremely stressful time.
And the apartment we moved into should have been a good one, I’d lived in it before and had a really good experience with it. Wellllllll…it had been sold to another company, twice, since I last lived here, and things have gone downhill. And within a couple months of moving in, it was sold again, and despite promises and early signs that the new owners would be better…it hasn’t been. In fact, it’s only gotten worse.
Publishing 4 Novels in 16 Months
Remember how I mentioned pushing myself harder when life got harder? Through all of the stuff I just mentioned, I published 4 new novels in 16 months – the entire Chronicles of the Sentinels trilogy, and the 4th Sword of Dragons novel, Advent Darkness.
I keep meaning to write a dedicated post about “What I Learned Publishing 4 Novels in 16 Months” but long story short – it was stressful. It drained me. Working full time and publishing that many new books is unsustainable.
But, ultimately I am glad that I did. I now have 8 titles published under my name, and the most recent, Advent Darkness, has not only been successful itself, but it has garnered considerable interest in the rest of the series – December is turning out to be the best-selling month of my entire writing career! And I’ve already gotten at least one 5-star rating on the new novel!
So while I don’t regret doing what I did, despite the hardships Chronicles of the Sentinels faced, I ultimately won’t be doing this again. Which brings me to what the future holds (with a little more insight into what I did this year)…
2023 Plans – A New Novel, and A New Career
First and foremost, I’m sure most of you are here for one reason – you know me through my writing, so you want to know what my next book will be!
I’ve mentioned it before when I talked about NaNoWriMo 2022, and for the time being, I’m calling this new story Project Sirius. My goal is to have the first novel published sometime in 2023, though I haven’t chosen a time frame yet.
Project Sirius is a brand new story, and takes me back to my roots – Science Fiction. And since it’s a new story, in a new Universe, I’m letting it stew a good while, and I’m going to slowly roll it out to various beta readers, more than any previous novel, to try to make sure it’s a story that readers will enjoy.
I recognize that most current readers are here because you’ve read my fantasy work, so you might be thinking, “Aww, why Sci-Fi!? Why YA Sci-Fi in particular???” From a writing career perspective, it’s probably not a good idea. I should stick with what I’m currently known for and build upon that audience, right? Especially, considering the growing success and existing fan base for the Sword of Dragons, I should do more high-fantasy/adventure, right?
But alas, my interests are too varied, and let’s face it, I have ADHD. On top of that, looooooong before I wrote the Sword of Dragons, I was writing sci-fi left and right, and not just my Star Trek fan fiction. I love it, I love reading it, I love writing it, and I always knew I’d get back to it.
“But what about the Sword of Dragons?”
I’ve not given up on it, don’t worry. After all, things are just getting good, right? ;) But there won’t be a new Sword of Dragons novel in 2023. Book 5 is going to be a slow development, just like books 3 and 4 were. At the earliest, you can expect book 5 in 2024, probably late 2024.
I promise it’ll be worth the wait :)
Now, what about the whole “New Career” announcement above? Wellllll…that’s something I’ve been working on since before we sold the house… And while it semi-relates to my writing, it is definitely more. And I hope to eventually transition my full-time job as a computer sys admin to this…
Voice Acting and Audiobook Narration
I’ve dabbled in voice acting off and on for years. I auditioned for a ‘fan role’ in Mass Effect: Andromeda (I didn’t get the job), and I’ve off-and-on worked on recording audibook versions of the Sword of Dragons.
But that’s changed. I don’t remember exactly what sparked it, but sometime in 2022, I started thinking about voice acting again. I started looking at it. And I saw a high demand. I saw a growing demand, especially for audiobook narration. I saw that, especially post-pandemic, most voice over talent worked from home studios, which makes it something I could actually do without having to move to Los Angeles or New York.
Coupled with a history in voice and experience with taking direction (over 12 years of choir), I decided to take it seriously.
I’ll write a full-length post soon, in fact I may even make the announcement via video in the next couple days (because unlike writing, voice acting is something I can do video spots of on Facebook and Instagram). But I’ve taken several big steps towards making this change a reality.
For starters, I’ve recorded a full audiobook of Legacy, but I stopped editing it about 1/3rd of the way in. Why? Because I started taking voice over classes, and within the first few weeks, I realized that my recording was not high enough quality. Since then, I’ve taken two full classes, and will be taking one to two more in the Spring semester.
And knowing what I know now, I feel far more ready and capable. So my plan is to record my own novels first, to get my voice out there, and then I’ll start auditioning for other roles.
Of course, plans change. Plans are fluid, they have to be adaptable. But that’s the course I’m currently set on.
A Bit More Relaxing in 2023
The other thing I plan to do in 2023? Take it easy. The past three years have been hard on me, and I’ve been hard on me. My body recently told me it was time to slow down. So I’m listening.
Full-time job. Voice Acting. Publishing one novel. And working on development of the Sword of Dragons book 5. Those are my biggest plans for 2023.
And a vacation. A real vacation. I’m thinking Disney World…
That’s all for now. Whew, that was a long post! If you read this far, kudos and thank you!
I’ll see you in 2023!
-Jon Wasik
Today’s the day!!! Secrets of the Cronal – The Sword of Dragons Book 3 is now available on both Kindle eBook and Print!
In the beginning of 2018, my mother passed away. We knew it was coming, we had known for a long time, but nothing could have prepared me for how it would hit me, or how it has stayed with me throughout the year.
While I definitely prefer Disney World due to its size and scope, our adventure at Disneyland was just about perfect! The weather was great, there were surprisingly few people despite it being a Friday before a holiday weekend, and we barely waited 15 minutes in any line! Topped by an amazing dinner in a restaurant overlooking the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, the food was fantastic and the company even more so :)
And then not long after came my fourth trip, a work-related trip that took me to Huntsville, Alabama. Little did I know how much NASA stuff was out there, and being able to stand beneath a fully-erect Apollo rocket was an awe-inspiring moment!! I only wish my wife could have been there with me for that experience.
What I AM happy to report is that I’m headed back to the convention scene, at least for one time. My wife and I have officially been accepted as vendors in the 2019 Whimsy Con in Denver! Our favorite Steampunk convention, and a worthy successor to the former Anomaly Con where Beck and I met, this will be our first table together, with me selling my books, and Beck selling her jewelry and her first book.
If any of you went looking for the print editions of my new novels, you may have had difficulties during certain times…Amazon KDP was extremely delayed and kept encountering issues in which the books disappeared from amazon.com and then reappeared later.
A Writer at Heart 
