Is it just me, or does the shiny new year ahead look a little shinier each year—and the years behind us, a little more grim? 

It’s probably just me. Humanity’s existence has always been a chaotic one. But this year certainly did bring some real challenges to the table—and a few strokes of luck, too thank goodness. I won’t be doing a full year recap here, but if you’d like to look farther back, here are our previous check-ins for the year:

• Q1-Q2 2022 Checkin
• Q3 2022 Checkin

Without further ado, let’s dive into our latest Quarterly Quest Update, shall we?

Writing in Q4

My main writing focus in the final quarter of 2022 was, of course, making progress on Shadow of the Curse-Eater. I didn’t quite hit all of the milestones I hoped to, unfortunately—a loss in the family and my second bout of serious illness (this time it was the flu from hell) put me considerably behind schedule when I was already behind schedule. I lost yet another week (and then some) to just lying in bed and figuring out new ways to breathe.

Still, progress was made:

• Shadow of the Curse-Eater: I’ve completed initial edits on Chapter 3 and 4 and am partway through drafting Chapter 5 (of 10). I am tentatively hopeful that I’ll finish drafting 5 and 6 by mid-March.
• The Dragon’s Last Flight: The alpha build is complete and I’ve begun, but not yet finished, initial testing. I’d love to have the beta ready for sharing in February, but I’m not sure if it’s going to happen.
• (Unannounced WIP): Unfortunately, this one is going to have to sit on the back burner for a bit until I wrap up some other, more pressing projects and goals.
• HealthyPlace: I’m still writing here regularly for now, but at a reduced frequency.
• The Completionist: I’m looking forward to hopefully writing some fun new scripts in the nearish future; writing here is and has always been sporadic, but a blast nonetheless.

Last but not least, some news! I was recently invited to join Lionbridge as a linguist, and I’m officially in training to work as an English localization editor on a Korean fantasy MMORPG. I’m not sure yet if I can share the specific game I’ll be working on, but I’m looking forward to learning a lot about game development and writing through this experience.

As I mentioned in my recent newsletter, this means I’ll be needing to cut back on some things, as I’ll be devoting 20+ hours a week to Lionbridge. (I’ll also be training to become a volunteer human book for the Human Library project!) I will not be cutting back on Shadow of the Curse-Eater, but I will likely need to reduce or even cut time spent on other pursuits. I’ll likely be sharing more info about that in my next newsletter.

I’m trying to see all of this from a gardener’s perspective—I’m pruning back the old to make way for the new so that I can keep growing.

Reading in Q4

My 2022 reading goal was to read four Outlander books as well as 12 other books on my TBR shelf. I didn’t quite hit this goal either; again, being sick (twice) and surviving a hurricane tends to put a damper on progress of any kind.

However, I got pretty close—I read three of four Gabaldons as well as more than 12 other TBR books, including four in series I hadn’t finished yet.

Overall, I’ve read 21 books this year, the majority of which were fantasy, surprising no one. Runners-up included manga and comics (yes, I realize those are formats, not genres), nonfiction, and romance.

In Q4, I read the following books:

• Drums of Autumn (Outlander #4) by Diana Gabaldon
• Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
• Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
• Mordred, Bastard Son by Douglas Clegg
• The Creative Gene by Hideo Kojima (in progress)
• The Way of Kings (Stormlight Archive #1) by Brandon Sanderson

Yes, that’s right—I’m finally reading Sanderson. You can stop yelling at me now. 🙂

Gaming in Q4

According to my notes (which may not be entirely accurate), I played at least 20 games this year—with RPGs in the lead by a wide margin, followed by action/adventure and visual novels.

The end of 2022 was almost exclusively reserved for Dragon Age games. Inquisition is turning out to be a far, far bigger game than I anticipated. However, I did manage to play a few other things this quarter…

• Bloodborne by FromSoft (incomplete)
• Dragon Age II by BioWare (along with all narrative DLC)
• Boomerang Fu by Cranky Watermelon (with friends!)
• Gang Beasts by Boneloaf and Coatsink (with friends!)
• Sackboy: A Big Adventure by Sumo Digital (finally finished it!)
• Dragon Age: Inquisition by BioWare (in progress)

I’m also going to get back to Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla… eventually. It doesn’t help that Christmas and my birthday both added more games to my to-play list, including Cult of the Lamb, Inscryption, and a GamePass subscription for when Starfield finally releases.

Looking Ahead: Quests for Q1 2023

There’s a lot to look forward to in the year to come. With any luck (and a lot of hard work), I’ll be wrapping up Shadow of the Curse-Eater development, releasing The Dragon’s Last Flight, become published as a human book, getting married, going on my first trip abroad, and more—because life, of course, is full of unexpected journeys.

I’ve chosen balance as my theme for this year. Growth can be overwhelming if not balanced with letting go; progress can only be made steadily when balanced with downtime.

As such, I’m trying to whittle down my goals for each quarter to be more realistic, with more room for error and life’s inevitable curveballs. I’m not setting any particular reading or gaming goals for this year, though I do hope to make healthy dents in both backlogs. I’m not solely setting professional goals right now, either; as much as I want to do as a writer, it’s not the only thing I’m living for.

My top three goals for the first quarter of the new year are:

• Finish drafting Chapters 5 and 6 of Shadow of the Curse-Eater.
• Make some space in my schedule by reducing/cutting where necessary
• Get married! This one, I’m particularly looking forward to.

And that’s it. Sounds deceptively simple, doesn’t it? Of course, I’d also like to do a million other things—but these come first. Wish me luck!

And for all of you out there setting your own goals for the new year—I wish you luck as well. May 2023 be kinder to us all… and much more fun.

Kim Berkley is a fantasy author and video game writer who hoards books and games like dragons purportedly hoard gold. To be the first in line for beta testing opportunities, new releases, and other major announcements, be sure to sign up for her free newsletter!