Happy New Year & 2023 Goals

As much as 2020 was difficult, and however much I stated 2021 felt tougher, I think that 2022 topped it off. Emotionally speaking it was a tough year for me, but there were some good things that did come out of 2022, and that was mostly writing-related (which I’m really happy about).

2022 GOALS & WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED

My goals for 2022 were to publish my short story collection VICIOUS TRADITIONS: TALES OF TERROR & THE GROTESQUE (which I did). I wanted to write another feature screenplay, which I did, but it was the pilot for CRUSH. I wanted to find publishers for I WANT CANDY (which I did, the novella will be released in September 2023 with D&T Publishing) and GIRL THAT YOU FEAR (which I did, the novel will be released this month with Black Bed Sheet Books). I did find a home for “The Unconventional Tea Party,” as it appeared on the Down the Rabbit Hole podcast on Spotify & will appear in the Stephen King inspired anthology I’m putting together entitled, Hush, Don’t Wake the Monster.

The only goals that I didn’t accomplish in 2022 was to be able to sell Terror! to a producer and finish writing my thriller LA DOLCE VITA.

Extra accomplishments were: My screenplay Terror! was Quarter-Finalist, my pilot screenplay Crush was also Quarter-Finalist, and my short screenplay The Violinist was Finalist, and my short screenplay Baby Teeth got accepted in the Sarah of Horror Film Festival and was also nominated for Best Screenplay.

2023 GOALS

*Write a horror feature screenplay.

*Write a play.

*Complete novella I’m currently working on.

*Complete rough draft of my novelization of Crush.

*Edit my novel, WICKED GAME and find a publisher for it.

*Read at least 50 books (I only read 45 this past year).

*Post more frequently on Instagram.

*Try to merge my author site with this blog site so that it’s all one website.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY!

HAPPY NEW YEAR & 2022 GOALS

I don’t know about you, but 2021 has felt like it was a tougher year than 2020 for me. Or maybe the last four months of the year have felt that way. So much so that I was convinced that I hadn’t accomplished much in 2021, but looking back at the goals I set for myself last year, I actually accomplished them all.

2021 GOALS & WHAT I ACCOMPLISHED

I completed my screenplay Terror!

I completed my horror novella I Want Candy

I finished editing GIRL THAT YOU FEAR

I released Tainted Love: Women in Horror Anthology

I was more active on Instagram

I put together a collection of my short stories

I published the short stories, “Boys of Summer,” “Fields of Blood,” and “Some Kind of Monster.”

2022 GOALS

Release my short story collection, VICIOUS TRADITIONS: Tales of Terror & the Grotesque

Write another feature screenplay

Find publishers for I Want Candy and GIRL THAT YOU FEAR

Be able to sell TERROR! to a producer

Find a home for my short story, “The Unconventional Tea Party”

Complete writing my thriller, LA DOLCE VITA

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY!

Happy New Year & 2021 Goals

Although 2020 will definitely go under as one of the toughest years all of us had to live through in our lifetimes (and that’s saying a lot living in a post 9/11 world and economic meltdown of 2008 in which most of us are still trying to recover from). But for some creatives this year of solitude has somehow ignited a fire. And although I haven’t been in lockdown due to my job’s office being open throughout the whole pandemic, I suppose the possible threat to my own mortality and desire to hide away in a daydreams is what has turned out to be one of the most prolific years for me in terms of my writing.

What I accomplished in 2020

*Released Strange Girls: Women in Horror in February

*Some Kind of Monster will be published in Unburied 2021

*Baby Teeth was published in Midnight in the Pentagram for Silver Shamrock Publishing

*One for the Money, Two for the Show appeared in the Crystal Lake Publishing contest Summer 2020

*Boys of Summer will be published in 2021

*Fragile Fruit was published in Running Wild Stories in June 2020, and was also nominated for a Pushcart Award Prize 2020

*Lost Girls Go Everywhere: Poetry & Prose was released in October 2020

*Silent Ivy Hotel made the final Top Ten cut for a short story contest (still waiting for final results)

*I wrote over 15 new short stories

*I began writing a screenplay Terror! about the French Revolution

2021 Goals

*Complete my screenplay Terror!

*Complete my horror novella I Want Candy

*Finish editing Girl that You Fear for the nth time

*Read at least 50 books (I read only 46 this yr)

*Release Tainted Love: Women in Horror Anthology on February 16, 2021

*Be more active on Instagram (create more content)

*Maybe put together a collection of my short stories

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY

Happy New Year & 2020 Goals

2020

Happy New Year, peeps! I hope that the new year has begun with a bang or at least in a very pleasant way! Just like the years before, I’ve decided to see what goals I had set last year and what I accomplished during the year, and also what my new goals are for the new year.

2019 Goals & What I accomplished

  • Finish writing Girl That You Fear (DONE, just need to edit now)
  • Finish short story Pink Rabbits (Didn’t do, but DID write Fragile Fruit with Erica Ruhe and will be published by Running Wild Press this summer and also have my short story, Good Sister Bad Sister appear in Betty Bites Back)
  • Write Screenplay (Didn’t happen, but DID begin to write a screenplay)
  • Read over 50 books (I actually read 64)
  • I wanted to focus more on book reviews & author interviews and I did
  • I wanted to try more cream-based cosmetics and I did (esp. from Glossier)
  • I wanted to cover more events but didn’t see any that I was interested in, although I did get to cover Comic-Con and Shriekfest.

2020 GOALS

Writing

  • Edit my novel Girl that You Fear & send to agents
  • Finish editing my novel Wicked Game
  • Write a short film screenplay so I can send to Crypt TV
  • Write a feature-length screenplay
  • Complete another poetry book
  • Promote Strange Girls: Women in Horror Anthology 

Reading

  • Read at least 50 books

Beauty

  • I’ll make this the year that I’ll actually give lip gloss a fair chance (been thinking about trying out either Jeffree Star’s lipglosses or Glossier’s lipgloss)
  • Offer new colours for my Nox Girl Cosmetics Shop
  • Sleep more
  • Try new subscription boxes

Blogging

  • More reviews: films, beauty products, & books
  • Increase readership
  • Will continue my Throwback Thursday segments but won’t do it once a month like last year but once every 2 months
  • Will begin a new segment in my blog that will be once a month called “Love or Hype?” where I’ll try out, watch, read or listen to something that is uber popular but I have never given in to and will report back if I DID enjoy it or if it was just hyped up.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR GOALS FOR THE NEW YEAR?

White and Pink Strikeout Cosmetics Beauty Logo

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY

Happy New Year & 2019 Goals

2019

Happy New Year, peeps! I hope that 2019 has begun with a bang and that you were able to achieve all (or at least most) of the things you wished to accomplished in 2018. I made a goals list last year and I was very surprised by how much I actually got done.

2018 Writing Goals & What I Accomplished

  • Publish a poetry collection (DONE, you can pre-order BLEED LIKE ME here).
  • Complete my novel Wicked Game (DONE, just need to edit now)
  • Write a screenplay (Didn’t Do)
  • Participate in Pitch Wars (which I DID do)
  • Stick to a consistent posting schedule for my blog (DONE, my blog is now updated on Tuesdays and Thursdays)

Beauty

  • Sleep more (sadly this didn’t happen)
  • Try new eyeshadows or eyeliner colours (didn’t experiment as much as I wished I could have)

Reading

  • I had set a goal of 40 books to read in a year, and actually read 47!

2019 Goals

Writing

  • Edit Wicked Game
  • Finish writing my book Girl That You Fear
  • Finish writing my short story Pink Rabbits
  • Write a screenplay

Beauty

  • Sleep more
  • Been contemplating on cutting my hair short like Lucy Hale, will 2019 be the year of my big chop? We shall see.
  • Try out more cream formulas makeup, like cream blush and cream highlighters

Reading

  • Read 50 books for the year 2019

Blog

  • Since I’ve paired up with NetGalley and received a bunch of ARCs, so you’ll be seeing more Book Reviews & Author Interviews on the blog in the coming year
  • Since I’ve covered some events in 2018 such as Scare LA, Comic-Con LA, and Shriekfest Film Festival, I plan to try to cover more events in the new year

What are some of your goals for the new year?

White and Pink Strikeout Cosmetics Beauty Logo

DID YOU ENJOY WHAT YOU JUST READ? IF YES, THEN SUBSCRIBE TO THE BLOG, GIVE THE POST A LIKE, OR LEAVE A COMMENT! NEW POSTS ARE UP EVERY TUESDAY & THURSDAY

2018 Goals

writing

Happy New Year, peeps! This week I’ve read so many posts on New Year’s Resolutions. Usually I don’t do resolutions because I feel like if there’s a change that needs to be made then you should change it asap, and not wait till New Year’s Day. However, I do believe in setting goals for the year, and here are a few of mine:

Writing

  • Publish a collection of poetry
  • Complete my novel Wicked Game
  • Write a screenplay
  • Participate in Pitch Wars in August
  • Stick to a consistent blogging schedule (I update my blog twice a week but not always on the same days so I’m going to try to pick 2 days during the week and stick to those only)

Beauty

  • Try new eyeshadow or eyeliner colours
  • Sleep more

Reading

  • I plan to read 40 books in 2018. Last year my goal was for 24 and I ended up reading 39.

What are some of your goals for 2018?

By: Azzurra Nox

My Life In Books: All The Books I Read In 2017

books3

The Hellbound Heart by Clive Barker – This is the novella that later inspired the movie Hellraiser. Chilling and dark.
The Wicked Girls by Alex Marwood – Two eleven-years old girls meet one fateful summer day and by the end of the day, both girls are charged of murder for the death of a younger girl. Twenty-five years later their paths cross again in the most unexpected ways.
Revenge: Eleven Dark Tales by Yoko Ogawa – Truly dark and macabre short stories that will continue to haunt you after the last page.
The Merciless by Danielle Vega – The Exorcist meets the Mean Girls. Disturbing for those that don’t like gore.
The Merciless II by Danielle Vega – Sequel to The Merciless. More exorcisms and gore. Not as compelling as the first.
Pet Sematary by Stephen King – The nearby woods holds a chilling secret about an ancient Indian burial ground and the powers found there that are much more of a curse than a blessing.
Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland – Henry has never fallen in love till he meets Grace, a girl who walks with a cane wears men’s clothes and hides a dark and painful secret.
The Moth Diaries by Rachel Klein – A girl is convinced the new girl Ernessa is a vampire. Is it true, or is she simply losing grip of reality?
Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? By Henry Farrell – A has-been former child star Baby Jane lives with her disabled movie star sister, Blanche. Things begin to escalate when Blanche decides to sell their Hollywood home, unleashing Jane’s cruel streak.
Whatever Happened to Cousin Charlotte? By Henry Farrell – A southern belle refuses to leave her manor where a hideous murder took place years ago.
Hotel Iris by Yoko Ogawa – A young girl begins an illicit relationship with an aging translator.
Survive the Night by Danielle Vega – A rave turns into a nightmare for three friends who go out for a night of fun.
How To Hang A Witch by Adriana Mather – The Crucible meets Mean Girls, when a modern-day witch hunt unfolds in the heart of Salem after descendants of the women who had been tried for witchcraft.
All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven – Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him. Violet Markey lives for future, counting the days until graduation when she can escape her small town and her past. When the two meet, their lives are changed forever.
Milk & Honey by Rupi Kaur – Poetry that is both lyrical and short.
Palo Alto Stories by James Franco – Short Stories inspired by life and people James Franco knew growing up in Palo Alto.
Actor’s Anonymous by James Franco – A study about the actor as an individual and amusing anecdotes.
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow – An ex-cutter who tries to piece her life back together, despite being in a dozen million pieces herself.
The Fireman by Joe Hill – A highly contagious deadly spore spreads across the nation. No one is safe from the infection and the healthy try to eliminate the infected before the whole world goes down in flames.
The Reminders by Val Emmich – A girl who can’t forget befriends an actor who has recently lost his significant other who wishes not to remember. Read book review here.
Ten by Gretchen McNeil – Ten teens. Three days. One killer. Inspired by Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, now a Lifetime Original Movie.
Among the Shadows: 13 Stories of Darkness & Light – Even the lightest hearts have shaded corners to hide the black thoughts that come at night. Experience the darker side of YA as 13 authors explore the places that others prefer to leave among the shadows.
Holding Up The Universe by Jennifer Niven – When a boy who suffers from face blindness meets America’s Ex-Fattest Teen, the last thing he expects is to fall in love.
The Host by Stephenie Meyer – The world has been invaded by an alien species that take over human minds while leaving their bodies intact, but things get strange for Wanderer, the invading alien, when her host Melanie refuses to give up her body.
Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger – Eric Thorn is a sexy musician afraid of stalkers that falls in love with obsessed fan Tessa over Twitter, only she doesn’t know he’s Eric, because he’s been hiding under the name Taylor. A suspenseful tale of love gone wrong in The Catfish era.
The Merciless III by Danielle Vega – The origin of the evil that possesses Brooke is finally explored in this chilling prequel of the series.
How To Murder Your Life by Cat Marnell – At twenty-six, Cat Marnell was an associate beauty editor at Lucky, one of the top fashion magazines in America—and that’s all most people knew about her. But she hid a secret life. She was a prescription drug addict. She was also a “doctor shopper” who manipulated Upper East Side psychiatrists for pills, pills, and more pills; a lonely bulimic who spent hundreds of dollars a week on binge foods; a promiscuous party girl who danced barefoot on banquets; a weepy and hallucination-prone insomniac who would take anything—anything—to sleep.
One Of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus – The Breakfast Club meets Pretty Little Liars in this thriller told from four points of view of a murder that occurs during an afternoon detention.
3:59 by Gretchen McNeil – Josie discovers a parallel universe and jumps at the chance to live in that new world till she finds out that the dangers of the new universe are far more worse than the horrors she left in her previous life.
The Sun & Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur – Poetry about how to be a woman in the modern world.
This Darkness Mine by Mindy McGinnis – Sasha Stone’s world turns upside down when she discovers that she had a twin that she absorbed in the womb. Now her twin, Shanna wants to take reigns of her life back, even if it means eliminating Sasha’s in the process. Read the book review here.
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena – A couple goes to a dinner party next door, leaving their infant in the crib, when the couple returns, the child is gone. Who has taken baby Cora?
All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda – Ten years ago Nic’s best friend went missing, now a decade later another girls missing and the only way to find out the truth is to uncover the past.
Turtles All The Way Down by John Green – Aza and Daisy pursue the mystery of what happened to missing billionaire Russell Pickett in hopes of winning the ransom money. But Aza begins to feel differently when she starts having feelings for the billionaire’s son.
I Wrote This For You by Iain S. Thomas – Love poems for the heartbroken.
The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina Vol. 1-7 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa – Terror is born anew in this dark re-imagining of Sabrina the Teenage Witch’s origin. On the eve of her sixteenth birthday, the young sorceress finds herself at a crossroads, having to choose between an unearthly destiny and her mortal boyfriend, Harvey. But a foe from her family’s past has arrived in Greendale, Madame Satan, and she has her own deadly agenda.
Afterlife with Archie Vol. 1-10 by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa – When Jughead’s beloved pet Hot Dog is killed in a hit and run, Jughead turns to the only person he knows who can help bring back his furry best friend—Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Using dark, forbidden magic, Sabrina is successful and Hot Dog returns to the land of the living. But he’s not the same… and soon, the darkness he brings back with him from beyond the grave begins to spread, forcing Archie, Betty, Veronica and the gang to try to escape from Riverdale!
Snowblind by Don Roff – When four Army Rangers are stranded in the woods due to a snow storm, they seek refuge in an abandoned chalet, not knowing that a sinister evil awaits them. Soon to become a major motion picture starring Ashely Greene.
A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis – Grace finds herself in an asylum, and a quirky doctor fakes a lobotomy to help her escape and employing her as his assistant in his new endeavor of criminal psychology.
*I read 39 books this past year. I enjoyed the majority of the books read, and probably the only two I didn’t enjoy that much were The Wicked Girls and The Couple Next Door.

What are your book resolutions for the new year? I always aim to try to read 2 books a month (roughly 24 books a year, and this past year I surpassed my goal).
By: Azzurra Nox