2016? Not all bad!

I came across a fantastic idea online this morning and I'm going to do it in 2017 for sure. I'm going to put a jar on the counter, and every time something good happens, we're going to write it down and put it in the jar. That way, whenever we're feeling overwhelmed by bad things, we can read the notes in the jar and remember the good things, too.

Good old Pinterest.

I didn't make a jar for 2016, but while I'm here I'm going to set down some of the good things that happened in my writing life this past year. It's timely, as another rejection landed in my inbox this morning so I need to focus on the good!

Most recently, I've been published in the December 2016 edition of Luna Station Quarterly

http://lunastationquarterly.com/issue/issue-028/

I wrote a quirky story about a feud between a brother and sister who live in the dead end of a space station, and the editors of Luna Station Quarterly were kind enough to select it. Thank you!

I also made my first semipro-rated sale to Beneath Ceaseless Skies and as soon as I have publication information for "Crescendo" I'll be sure to share it.

New Realm Magazine published two of my stories this year (Nos. 4 and 7) and I have found a lot of companionship and comeraderie among their growing network of writers and editors.

I also won the IAF First Line Story Competition in April, and while I have yet to find a home for that particular story, it was overwhelming to win. There was some pretty stiff competition!

I finally published my middle grade novel SIX this summer, and have had some very kind reviews (and requests for a sequel!).

I won NaNoWriMo in spite of getting sick as a dog in week three.

I made a bunch of new writer friends who live near me.

I figured out the middle build problem with a novel I'm writing.

I got a very cool idea for a short story and wrote it in under 6000 words.

The dog and the cat are finally getting along.

I got reading glasses so now I can see my computer without eyestrain.

Bring on 2017. It only gets better from here.

Okay, okay, okay: New Year's Resolution

Let's get this 2014 party started.

Writing-wise, 2013 was an odd year.

I sold a short story (GAH!) and felt like I was starting something fantastic, at last! But what followed was eight months of... WRITER'S BLOCK.

I deleted more words this past year than ever before, failed NaNoWriMo miserably and my well of ideas completely dried up. Another short story I sent out got a rejection letter that was, well, horrible.

It was so easy in December to bake, work at my paying job, stitch and burrow.

For the first time in years, I made no resolutions for 2014, and that was okay, dammit. I don't have to answer to anyone.

Except myself. Shoot.

So here they are, my New Year's Resolutions:

1. Get running again. Exercise makes even the worst rejections feel like compliments.

2. Write every day. The only way to wake up the Muse is to poke her repeatedly with keystrokes.

3. Collect more rejection letters. Use them to wallpaper the bathroom.

4. Make connections. Use them.

5. Kiss more.

Have you overcome New Year's Resolution Apathy? What goals have you set for 2014?

Now off to do some of that kissing.

And I'm meant to brag. Here's the anthology my story appears in. I'm a bit in awe of the writers I'm sharing space with. Thanks to our great editor, James R. Tuck.

You can purchase the book here. Or come by for tea and a paperback.