Year in Review and Besties’ Resolutions for 2024!

Hello! Your Besties, Nikki and Lee here. We both had really gotten into writing, and last summer, we started talking about supporting each other online and promoting each other.  We created Besties Write Stuff, and while I built up the website, Nikki handled all of the social media, on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X.  We officially launched on August 5, 2023.  We started reviewing books with a focus on Indie Authors, though it’s not limited to self-published books. Nikki used her blog space to focus on reviews of traditionally published books and ARCs, while Lee focused on topics such as the demise of his old blog (RIP), a Tool Time episode guide, and more.  Over on social media, we hosted two contests for our new fans.  Congrats to the winners!

Looking ahead to the future- we have a few changes coming to our platform. 

  1. We are changing up the frequency of our indie book reviews. Moving forward, we will alternate months for reviews, starting with Lee in January reading A Darkened Mind by Brittany Dean, and Nikki in February with Waiting for Darkness by Tony Reyes. 

  2. Lee has a new book coming out in 2024 so we will have a lot of fun things on our platform to celebrate the release- including a giveaway for his debut novel that was previously released- Romance is for Other People in February! 

  3. As writers, we want to lean more into sharing our writing journey as much as our current reads. We will give more frequent updates on how our projects are going and plan to host the very first Besties Write Stuff writing contest! 

  4. Lee is working hard on a Besties Write Stuff newsletter and some special content on our website relating to his book release and some of Nikki’s winning stories in writing contests. Keep an eye out for exclusive content on our website that is unlike anything you’ve seen before. 

Read on down below for our individual 2024 Resolutions:

Nikki:

2023 held a ton of big changes for me, all of which I am so grateful for! I left California to start a new adventure in Montana with my husband. I became an empty nester when my last baby graduated high school and joined the Navy. Being an empty nester and moving to a small town afforded me a ton of downtime, and I got back into my childhood passion of reading and writing! 

It has been a rewarding experience to get back into a hobby, and to do it alongside one of my longest best friends has made it even sweeter. I love collaborating with Lee and working on our dreams together. Lee is such a patient and caring friend, and also a very talented writer! 

I have learned a lot about writing in a short amount of time; it felt like drinking water from a fire hose at times. The highs were high and the lows were low, one minute feeling on top of the world winning a writing contest and the next feeling low when I receive feedback on another story with what feels like a million mistakes. Writing is a journey and just like anything you create, feedback feels personal. I am hoping in 2024 to give as much weight to the ups as I do with the downs to celebrate my wins and build up a thicker skin. 

I started two novels in 2023 that I will be bringing them into 2024. I am determined to finish at least one of them. I also plan to work on building that thick skin I mentioned above by sharing my work with friends more often. It's funny, Lee and I are opposite in the way we view sharing our work. I am not afraid to upload work for strangers in contests, but am terrified to share with close friends (aside from Lee, of course. I know I am safe with him). I have been going back and forth on sharing a story I wrote for a ghost storytelling contest because I worry it isn't good enough and my friends will think I am a hack. Silly, because it was good enough to get 2nd place out of 200 entries! I am committed to getting over this fear, and you will see that short story on our website sometime this year. I am excited to see what 2024 brings us and I am optimistic it will be a huge year for both Lee and I. 

Lee: 

When I was talking about next year with Nikki, my problem was, that I have a huge fear of sharing my story with the outside world. Thus, my New Year’s resolution is to send my stories to people I’ve never met to read and review.   I have sent my current story to six different close friends (including my Bestie), for them to read and review (plus my mom).  Honestly, sending it to those friends, even to my bestie Nikki, feels like a “safe choice.”  However, I have not yet let one person who doesn’t know me personally look at it, and I know I need to work on that.  My resolution is to send my current novel to a reader site, and then work with a Developmental Editor.  Related to that, Nikki challenged me to find a short story contest and enter the contest.  My overall resolution, then, is to put myself out there more and share my stories with the world. 

I also must get over my own trepidation about making New Year’s Resolutions: I’ve never done them before as far as I can remember, every year there’s some article about how all resolutions (including the infamous “lose weight and exercise more”) die in the first month.  But with my Bestie keeping me accountable and me sharing this resolution with the world through this blog post, I’m optimistic about the future.


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Nikki’s Review of Waiting for Darkness

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Lee’s Review of Shattered