Well, that was certainly a year. Very good and very bad things, indeed. I sold lots of stories and had to go back on unemployment for a while (which is itself a sordid tale I shall spare the reader).
I published more fiction than ever. I wrote and revised a fair amount:
- Jan – Short fiction class with John Wiswell; finished “The Mala and the Monkey Brain”
- Feb – “Krishna’s Gift”
- Mar – “The Walkup Atheneum”
- Apr – “Lizzie McNeil and the Veil Between Worlds”
- May – “Sign of the Red Dragon”
- Jun – “Copper Bright as the Sun” (revised Red Dragon)
- Jul – “Blood of the Hierophant”
- Aug – “When the Third Bell Rings”
- Sep – “Pull the Red Cord”; “Poltergeist of Fastini Crater”
- Oct – “Buffalo” (revised Week before Xmas)
- Nov – “Order of Compassionate Death” (revision); “Third Bell” (revision); “Red Cord” (revision)
- Dec – “A sailor’s tale”
In progress:
- “Taldin the Thief Faces the Executioner’s Block”
Idea pile:
- Something something wizard’s duel
- The multiverse and some guy at a desk?
For this year’s success, I must thank my family, my weekly writing group, my occasional critique partners, and of course my fabulous coach, Cat Rambo. I found an impending deadline for her to be an effective motivation: Get out of your head and write the damn thing. (My words, not hers.)
Next year? If I can hang on to my current DayJob™ and see the scion successfully launched from college, I’d like to finish (and send out) a bunch of revisions, take a few classes, see some folks in person rather than Zoom, and write something so good it knock the socks off a pro editor.
Hey, it could happen.
May your 2024 be creative, fulfilling, and safe.
See you in the word mines,
Karl
