2016 has been an insane year, filled with plenty of joy, small successes, hit Publish buttons, pain, misfortune, and lessons to learn. It’s been a conflicting period for me and when I turn around to revise all my highs and lows I’m filled with mixed emotions. Still, emotions tend to cloud the judgment, so I’ll try not to get them involved. That’s rather difficult, given what a challenging time it was. In 2016 I published my first novel. I taught myself a better discipline of writing and finishing a project. I’m still slowly making my way around the horrors of promotion and trying to make a name for myself without being a sleazy spammer. Trying to find the best category of my writing, to make it alluring and seductive without regressing to porn and less than appealing imagery, finding the best in a world full of overused stock photography, figuring out what needs to be done for a really successful book launch. I’m still painfully naive about many things and I don’t consider that to be a self-compliment. There are never enough hours in the day for learning and given how much information there is all over the web I get easily overwhelmed and unable to structure it. Pretty often I get too burnt out to even think of continuing and yet I persist.
I guess it is human nature to hold on to straws.
There is a limit to how much even the strongest person out there can endure before breaking. Perhaps I risk making myself sound like an attention whore. However, this year will most likely be my last in self-publishing and publi
shing in general. It was never meant to be more than a fun sideways hobby while I was spending time on websites such as Literotica and Lush Stories. I’ve accomplished more than I thought I would, at least in terms of writing and honing the craft. At one point, the pressure of handling everything at the same time will prove to be too much. I guess I don’t have it in me to be a professional. That’s fine since plenty of people and writers out there aren’t so it doesn’t bother me too much.
Still, I’m determined to make the best out of that final year and fulfill as much of my New Year’s Resolutions before I officially call it quits.
THE UNORTHODOX TRILOGY
I’m currently working on the sequel of Unorthodox Therapy. Lina and Thomas’ story will continue in two more books as I stated many, many times ago. You can follow my progress during the Wednesday with WIPITUP Wednesday. As soon as I am done with part II, entitled Unorthodox Chemistry I’m starting with Unorthodox Union, the final chapter in the series. I’m still wondering how I’ll tie all the loose ends even if I know exactly how the story will end. There is a high chance one of the main subplots might be removed in the final drafts of the two novels but I’ll see about that after I have sent the middle draft to my beta readers and get an opinion or two. The good news is that I won’t keep the few fans of that trilogy waiting for too long. If stars align and I don’t die of exhaustion in the meantime I should be done with the rough draft both books by April or May. It is too early to talk about release dates but there will be a very short waiting period between the two books. So far I can promise they’d be even more of an emotional rollercoaster.
PREQUEL
Apart from the two sequels of Unorthodox Therapy I’ll write a 10k short prequel focused on Thomas’ formative years as a Dom. There will be cameo appearances by Lina but the main focus would be on Thomas, his best friend Allie and the relationship with his first submissive. I’ll release the story as a permafree. Maybe I’d be pushing myself too much but the plan is to release it for Valentine’s Day. Being a much shorter story, focused on just a few main events, that shouldn’t be hard to accomplish.
THE SAGE PHOENIX SERIES
I wasn’t sure if I should continue with the rest of the series telling the complicated relationship between the cerebral and cold mathematician Paul Skyler and the wild child tattoo artist Sage Phoenix. The story didn’t turn out to be particularly popular, either because of the subject of the good boy/bad girl pairing or because of its length, being a novella. So, the business logic should suggest I must focus on projects more likely to sell and leave it, as the Summer fragment could be read as a complete standalone. On the other hand… to hell with it, I love these characters and their dynamics so I’ll finish their tale. Even if it is not the best story in the world at least I’ll be pleased with having brought it to its satisfactory climax. Besides, I’d want to try some storytelling experiments with it. The story and the subject allow it. So, I hope to release Fall, Winter, and Spring by the end of next year.
SHORT STORIES SERIES
I’ll finish the Earning an A series and Strangers In The Night and release them as boxed sets at the beginning of next spring, hopefully by my birthday. I’m not sure if I’ll get to write other such short stories series as I’ll be busy and fully occupied with the Unorthodox Trilogy and Sage Phoenix. One of my plans for last year was to write two other serials. Becoming Jade was the story of a young woman working as a chambermaid in a boutique hotel catering to exclusive clients with extravagant sexual tastes and love for orgies. The Canvas focused on a shy artist who starts a dark and obsessive D/s relationships with one of her models, a many with mysterious past and motives. I’m not saying I’ll never get to work on those projects. They are challenging enough and offer a chance for many installments. If some day I have more free time I’ll have fun with them and maybe even share them with the world. I can promise you plenty of kinky sex an
d hot action in both Strangers In The Night and Earning An A. Both Scarlett and V are fiery and submissive enough to push their limits and those of their readers.
So, these are the plans I have for that moment and it still seems like I have my plate overfilled with a menu I might not be able to handle. Still, the power of energy drinks, caffeine, and my Taurean stubbornness could fuel me enough. If you want to stay up to date with my work and be the first to learn of all my new titles as soon as they go Live subscribe to my mailing list here.
One of my New Year’s resolutions for 2017 is to pay a lot more attention to my blog and keep it updated on regular basis. Over the next two months, I’ll finish my custom author website – https://lilahenoir.com and I’ll transfer all the content there. Meanwhile, these are the columns you can expect from me if you keep tabs with my posts.
Masturbation Monday and Saturday Spankings
These are pretty self-explanatory blog hops I grew to enjoy very much. Expect some hot and very short snippets of my books that might wake your appetite for more. It is also a sweet place to 
discover many other authors and I’ll keep up with the tradition. You can check them out at Masturbation Monday and Saturday Spankings.
Be My Guest On Tuesday
I decided to keep those blog spots by guests and writers minimized to one per Tuesday. My initial intention was to have morning, afternoon and evening guests but it is too time-consuming and it may lead to the danger of one of the guests to be overshadowed by the others. If you want me to host you (only on Tuesdays) write to me at lilahenoir@gmail.com.
WIPITUP Wednesday
I’ll be sharing all of my raw, unedited and freshly typed writing in progress in here. Please, be merciful as these unpolished stones may turn into diamonds some day, under the right influence by an awesome editor. That little exercise is also a way to push my personal limits and get free of the phobia and superstition of never showing my work before it is absolutely perfect. WIP IT UP Wednesday is back on track and you can find it live and running at its new blog thanks to the wonderful Meredith O’Reilly.
Book Reviews
I’ll be publishing new reviews of some of the books by fellow authors, whether I know them personally or not. I’ll try to publish a 
minimum of two reviews per week but ideally, I’ll post at least four ones. I don’t do review swaps and will usually write the review without letting the author know I have their book and I’m reading it with the purpose of reviewing. I don’t plan to write negative reviews unless a book has really provoked my inner witch.
Author Spotlight
I’ll be making those every two weeks. The difference between the Be My Guest posts and this column is that it will include a full spotlight on the writer, a custom interview, a few excerpts and a complete showcase of their work. You can see what kind of spotlights I have been doing so far with many amazing authors in here. I will approach only authors whose work I’m familiar with to some degree.
Friday Blog Post
On Friday I’ll be posting articles and blog posts related to writing, the publishing industry, my own experience, general bitching and other 
such non-fiction material. I used to do these kinds of posts a lot in the past but I’m currently a little rusty. So please, put up with me until I get back in shape. I’m hardly an expert on writing, self-publishing and the likes so take all my opinions and experience with a grain of salt.
Sunday Movie Scene
I thought of starting a Facebook post thread dedicated to the seventh art and some of the finest scenes involving eroticism. However, since Facebook enjoys protecting its innocent little children of users from such a questionable content, I decided to make this tradition on my blog and website where I can rule with an iron fist. I’ll post an erotic scene in a non-pornographic film and discuss it. The scenes can vary from explicit sexual content to very subtle and suggestive sensuality. If you’d like you can join with favorite scenes of your own or get engaged in the discussion. I’d very much like to see all sort of opinions and preferences.
#FILTHYWRITINGS
If you are on Facebook and Twitter I’d like to invite you to join the little writing challenge I’ve started on Thursdays. The erotica writers taking part in it are given a single prompt word and encouraged to share a piece of their work, in a tweet, paragraph or any other way. You can take a look at how last week went when the prompt was #Stroke – here. The hashtag of the game on Twitter is #FilthyWritings. If you’re more of a romance fan you can join us on Tuesday when R.B. O’Brien is hosting her #writingromancelines – here.
So, Happy New Year to everyone and may your final decision give sweeter fruits than any of your previous resolutions!
