Plans for 2019
With the end of the year upon us, now would be a great time for me to outline my plans for the upcoming year. However, before I get started on that, I feel obligated to at least explain my online silence from this year. While my online presence has been, admittedly, rather inactive on the surface, I can assure you that there has been at least some work behind the scenes. 
On a personal level, I got married this year! Here's one of my favorite photos from my photographer. As such, a lot of my year was spent planning this wedding, even though it was a relatively smaller event. Aside from the wedding, I also got a new job where I am teaching closer to home. It is a position I've been wanting for a while now, ever since I began my teaching path. It's also been very eye-opening. In addition to adjusting to a new job and environment, I am subjected to more expectations on a professional level, which isn't a BAD thing, but it does require some adjustment. On a side note, my name is now legally Kelly Bahney. I will still be publishing my fantasy novels under my previous pen name "Kelly R. Michaels" and have reserved "Kelly Bahney" to use for my children's literature (as you can see with The ABCs of Shakespeare.)So what else have I been doing this year?I wrote a children's book (The ABC's of Shakespeare)I got it illustrated I published it!Admittedly, the announcement for publishing the children's book has been not as widely pronounced as I would like. This stems from my own shortcomings as well, my disinclination to market my own products. Plus, I am not as familiar with the world of children's literature. I definitely need to make more of a concerted effort to get my name our there, especially since my Shakespeare book relates to me more on a professional level.There are other things I have done:Slowly, SLOWLY worked on The Midwinter FairytaleAm getting it illustrated by a talented artistEVEN MORE SLOWLY been working on Queen of the PyreGot brand new/professional covers for all my books!Working on a second children's book and its illustrationsResearched a little into webcomics/graphic novels and how to make them.Tried (and failed) to narrate some audiobooksSubscribed to Book of the MonthI've listed my painful failures here too. The audiobook thing didn't pan out because no one far as wanted me to narrate their book after submitting several auditions. I don't have a please voice, but I wanted to try to flex my creative muscle. Perhaps I will try some time in the future.
The covers I have mentioned before so I won't get into too much details with those. Although, I am excited for when Midwinter is finally released to you guys. It's a story I've been developing for several years and I wanted something special to accompany the words, hence the illustrations. The artist is MAGNIFICENT. Here is a special teaser of what to expect. To follow my Shakespeare children's book, I have another ELA nonfiction book being illustrated, which is focused around King Arthur. We are about halfway finished with those illustrations so hopefully it will be ready for next year!AS far as researching into web comics/graphic novels, it was essentially a small idea I entertained. I would love to be able to produce stories in that format as well, but I am not artistically talented enough to do. I tried exercising my drawing skills a bit as well, but those are no where near ready for public viewing, which would leave hiring an artist to illustrated my novels/comics for me. With everything else I am working on, this is not a viable venture for the immediate future; however, I do hope to one day dabble into this field. That's part of my problem though, wanting to create and produce but I need to focus on at least project to finish. It's been much harder to do so since I published Prince of the Vale, but I promise that I am working on it.So for the upcoming year, my wishlist:1. Finish/publish Midwinter.2. Finish/publish Queen3. Finish other children's book4. Work on other projectsI hope that this list proves more manageable next year than what is has been in 2018. I have no doubt that there will be more for you to enjoy in 2019, no matter what!-krm
On a personal level, I got married this year! Here's one of my favorite photos from my photographer. As such, a lot of my year was spent planning this wedding, even though it was a relatively smaller event. Aside from the wedding, I also got a new job where I am teaching closer to home. It is a position I've been wanting for a while now, ever since I began my teaching path. It's also been very eye-opening. In addition to adjusting to a new job and environment, I am subjected to more expectations on a professional level, which isn't a BAD thing, but it does require some adjustment. On a side note, my name is now legally Kelly Bahney. I will still be publishing my fantasy novels under my previous pen name "Kelly R. Michaels" and have reserved "Kelly Bahney" to use for my children's literature (as you can see with The ABCs of Shakespeare.)So what else have I been doing this year?I wrote a children's book (The ABC's of Shakespeare)I got it illustrated I published it!Admittedly, the announcement for publishing the children's book has been not as widely pronounced as I would like. This stems from my own shortcomings as well, my disinclination to market my own products. Plus, I am not as familiar with the world of children's literature. I definitely need to make more of a concerted effort to get my name our there, especially since my Shakespeare book relates to me more on a professional level.There are other things I have done:Slowly, SLOWLY worked on The Midwinter FairytaleAm getting it illustrated by a talented artistEVEN MORE SLOWLY been working on Queen of the PyreGot brand new/professional covers for all my books!Working on a second children's book and its illustrationsResearched a little into webcomics/graphic novels and how to make them.Tried (and failed) to narrate some audiobooksSubscribed to Book of the MonthI've listed my painful failures here too. The audiobook thing didn't pan out because no one far as wanted me to narrate their book after submitting several auditions. I don't have a please voice, but I wanted to try to flex my creative muscle. Perhaps I will try some time in the future.The covers I have mentioned before so I won't get into too much details with those. Although, I am excited for when Midwinter is finally released to you guys. It's a story I've been developing for several years and I wanted something special to accompany the words, hence the illustrations. The artist is MAGNIFICENT. Here is a special teaser of what to expect. To follow my Shakespeare children's book, I have another ELA nonfiction book being illustrated, which is focused around King Arthur. We are about halfway finished with those illustrations so hopefully it will be ready for next year!AS far as researching into web comics/graphic novels, it was essentially a small idea I entertained. I would love to be able to produce stories in that format as well, but I am not artistically talented enough to do. I tried exercising my drawing skills a bit as well, but those are no where near ready for public viewing, which would leave hiring an artist to illustrated my novels/comics for me. With everything else I am working on, this is not a viable venture for the immediate future; however, I do hope to one day dabble into this field. That's part of my problem though, wanting to create and produce but I need to focus on at least project to finish. It's been much harder to do so since I published Prince of the Vale, but I promise that I am working on it.So for the upcoming year, my wishlist:1. Finish/publish Midwinter.2. Finish/publish Queen3. Finish other children's book4. Work on other projectsI hope that this list proves more manageable next year than what is has been in 2018. I have no doubt that there will be more for you to enjoy in 2019, no matter what!-krm
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