Happy New Year!! As we launch a new year and look back on the old, here are some fitting author updates on what we’ve been up to. So here are some end-of-year stats we’d love to share with you as we look back on 2015:

• Blog followers: 100
• Facebook followers: 100
• Number of posts published in 2015: 70 (including this one)
• Most popular post: Tips on Writing Believable Military Characters

Along with these heartwarming numbers, we have a pretty cool announcement for you guys. Whitney just finished her second draft of Destiny Seeker and is getting ready to start looking for agents. This is a big accomplishment in the making!

To celebrate, Whitney is asking four people (besides Travesty) to help edit the draft to create an even better third draft. The goal is to have a draft ready for a literary agent in the year of 2016! Contact Whitney if you’re interested and she will email you back with further details

Depending on the location of the reviewer, they will either get a Word document or they will get to read and mark up the physical copy. The draft could use a good proofreading as well as developmental editing. If you’ve been wanting to read the work as a whole, or want good freelancing experience, take advantage of the form above. We’re excited for you to let us know what you think!

Whitney:

Wow. Just wow. Can you believe that 2015 has come and gone and I have a full second draft to show for it? I can already think of elements that are missing from the manuscript that will have a place in the third draft; that’s the perfectionist in me speaking.

This was a wonderful year for me personally. I did a lot of learning—about myself as a person and a writer. It was our first full year of being married, and it was a blast from January ’til December! Forecast says that we plan to repeat that good feeling in 2016.

As for my goals, I did in fact create 6 samplers. I still have more to do for some of my friends—once they decide what they want! I proofread the whole manuscript to the best of my abilities to prep it for publishing, so nailed that goal. I am still hankering to read the Indie books that are on my Kindle or at my work desk—they will have to wait until I finish devouring Elantris by Brandon Sanderson.

Goals for January

• Start my own review of draft 2
• Review an Indie book
• Write & start my 2016 resolutions

Rewards for January Goals

• Fun date with Travesty
• See Force Awakens for the 4th time
• Special trip to Starbucks for delicious hot cocoa

Travis:

Hi everyone! What an excellent December I had! A great conclusion to a great year. There was the usual discomfort accompanying finals, but they all went well, and to celebrate we went to see Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens! Definitely one of the highlights of the month(enough that I’ve been to see it four times already). Not long after that we got to fly out and see family for the holidays, which has been wonderful! This was a slow, slow year for my writing, but it picked toward the end and I’m looking forward to more writing than ever in 2016. If all goes well, I’ll be able to take some classes from a pro this winter. I’ll tell you who if it works out!

Goals for January

• Keep writing daily
• Get ahead in the new semester

Rewards for January Goals

• Buy a new novel from my list

So, Happy New Year from Wit & Travesty! Cheers to books waiting to be written and books waiting to be read.