Megan’s 2022 Writing Recap & Plans for 2023

Published on by meganwagnerlloyd

Just like last year, I’m sharing the details of what I worked on in the past year, and my plans for the coming year, for everyone who enjoys both my work and a deep dive into this kind of thing.

Work Published in 2022

  • HAVEN: A SMALL CAT’S BIG ADVENTURE

    HAVEN came out in August in hardcover, e-book, and audiobook

    If you haven’t read it yet and think you would enjoy a cozy and heartfelt animal adventure story, definitely add HAVEN to your TBR! It’s a very quick read and would also make for a good read aloud (and the audiobook is a delightful listening experience!). Writing HAVEN was a labor of love, and it makes me so happy to see my little cat making her quiet way into readers’ hearts.
  • More editions of ALLERGIC: ALERGIA in Spain and ALÉRGICA and ALLERGIQUE in North America

    It’s such a joy to see ALLERGIC translated into other languages and reaching more readers.
  • A new edition of PAPER MICE: MUISJES VAN PAPIER from Boycott Books in the Netherlands

    I’m so delighted that PAPER MICE is now available in Dutch.

What I Worked on in 2022 (that has sold for publication)

LUNA is my and Michelle Mee Nutter’s third graphic novel with Graphix (after ALLERGIC and this year’s SQUISHED). It won’t come out until 2025, but I’ve finished the bulk of my work with the script. Michelle is working on the characters now, and it will progress from there! I’m sure we’ll make some changes to the script as we go along, but the big part of my job is finished. This script was really a joy to write, and so wonderful to work on with our editor Cassandra. I really can’t wait to see Michelle’s art continue to develop.

I prepared the pitch for this in 2020, and finished planning, writing, and revising it (and got to see the art and design develop!) this year.  (This is the secret, unannounced project in last year’s post!)

  • A SECRET PROJECT

 …that hasn’t been announced yet (but I think will be fairly soon!). I pushed back some of the other ideas I thought I might work on this year after this, to my surprise and delight, sold.

  • Various smaller revisions, edits, and art notes

…for SQUISHED, SUPER PANCAKE, SUPER PANCAKE AND THE MINI MUFFIN MAYHEM (book two in the Super Pancake series!), and THE CREATIVE WRITING PLAYBOOK. I love how many rounds of notes and edits each book goes through (I also love getting the chance to see the illustrations at multiple stages). Each round catches so many mistakes. I know some misspellings and errors inevitably make it to print, but being careful and having so many people (me, illustrators, editors, copyeditors, designers) go through the manuscript at different stages and in different ways fixes so much.

What I Worked on in 2022 (that hasn’t sold…yet!)

  • I wrote a new chapter book, expanding what was originally a picture book manuscript. I actually wrote it by hand and drew all the pictures so that I could understand how I wanted the art to work (it’s meant to be heavily illustrated). But then I typed it up and turned my (very mediocre) drawings into art notes. The whole process was very fun and different for me. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with it next—we’ll see. For now, it’s marinating on the back burner. I think it might need some more work, or just shifting in one direction or another, but I’m not quite sure how to do that yet.
  • And I revised a picture book manuscript. (Crossing my fingers for some good picture book news in 2023!)
  • Usually I always want to write more, but in 2022 I struggled a bit with creating personal work in addition to my sold projects (aside from the two projects mentioned above). I just didn’t feel as creatively inspired as usual, and had to take some time to do things like catch up on other important life stuff, read more, binge watch Stranger Things :), etc.

Surprise Good News in 2022

I try to focus on what I can control in writing, like word count, revising, finishing projects, etc. But I wanted to take a minute to celebrate some out-of-my-control and very much appreciated surprises from this year. Hooray!!

  1. ALLERGIC was nominated for an Eisner!
  2. ALLERGIC was nominated for a Rhode Island Book Award!
  3. The secret unannounced project sold!
  4. I got to go to Comic Con and meet Michelle at last!
  5. HAVEN was chosen as a Junior Library Guild book!
  6. HAVEN was selected for the Texas Bluebonnet Award Master List!

My Writing Plans for 2023

Any remaining edits as Michelle works on the art.

Any remaining edits as Abhi works on the art.

  • SECRET UNANNOUNCED PROJECT

Revise it!

OUCH is the fourth book Michelle and I are making together (after ALLERGIC, SQUISHED, and LUNA). While Michelle’s working on the art for LUNA, I’ll start working on OUCH a bit later this year and into 2024.

  • ???

I want to get some work done on some personal (unsold) projects this year, but, although I have some ideas, I’m not totally sure where to start. I have a pretty big collection of partially-finished work, and I’m just not sure where inspiration will strike. Usually I have a bit more of a plan, but this year I guess it will be a surprise to see what else I’ve worked on by the end of the year! As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t feel as creatively inspired in my personal not-on-deadline work in 2022, so this year I’m hoping to really indulge myself creatively, and give myself permission to work on whatever I find the most fun and engaging in my free time.

My 2023 Book Releases

I’ve never had more than one book release in a year before, so I’m excited, grateful, a bit overwhelmed (and still a bit surprised!) that I have three books coming out this year! I’m including pre-order links below for those that want to buy a copy (or all three!). If you are planning on buying, pre-ordering gives books an extra boost because it helps publishers and retailers know ahead of time that there’s excitement for the book.

  • SUPER PANCAKE, with Abhi Alwar

    It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s a… pancake? Here is a delightfully clever and endearingly funny graphic novel about a pancake named Peggy, who accidentally develops superhero abilities and must defend her home of Breakfast Town.

    Out February 14th, and available for pre-order now.
  • SQUISHED, with Michelle Mee Nutter

    From the powerhouse duo behind the instant bestseller Allergic comes a spirited new graphic novel about finding your own space… especially when you’re in a family of nine!

    Out March 7th and available for pre-order now from Scholastic, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Bookshop, or your local indie.
  • Lastly, I think some more international editions of ALLERGIC are coming out this year, but I’m not sure which one(s) and when, yet!

Connecting with me in 2023

Wrapping up the Recap

Thanks for following along, and, as always, for supporting and reading my books throughout the year! I hope they have brought you and the kids in your lives a little bit of happiness along the way.

Wishing you all the best,
Megan

P.S. Here’s my full future publication schedule, current as of this posting, for those of you that enjoy seeing the chronological plan:


2023

Feb 14: SUPER PANCAKE, with Abhi Alwar (Knopf)
Mar 7: SQUISHED, with Michelle Mee Nutter (Graphix)
Jun 13: THE CREATIVE WRITING PLAYBOOK, with Madeline Garcia (Andrews McMeel)

2024
SUPER PANCAKE AND THE MINI MUFFIN MAYHEM, with Abhi Alwar (Knopf)

2025
LUNA, with Michelle Mee Nutter (Graphix)

2026
secret unannounced project  

2027
OUCH, with Michelle Mee Nutter (Graphix)

TBD (hoping to have more news about this in next year’s post!)
THE ABCs OF CATCHING Zzzs, illustrator TBD (Chronicle)