2023 RECAP

The year is coming to an end, and what a year it’s been!

2023 has been good to me. I’ve checked off quite a few things on my personal “writer bingo card” such as cracking a few dream markets, having a story included in a “Best of” anthology, and even getting my first tiny nibble from Hollywood.

This month’s newsletter is all about what happened in 2023, so it’s a great time to catch up if you missed anything. Let’s get started…

PUBLICATIONS

My work was published 18 times this year. 11 of those were original fiction publications. 6 were reprints. 1 was an original non-fiction essay.

• “440 Broad St., Apartment 4C” (Frivolous Comma) - FREE READ

• “Things Most Meaningful” (Worlds of Possibility / Reprinted in Worlds of Possibility anthology) - FREE READ

• “The Smell of Sawdust” (ZNB Presents / Reprinted in ZNB Presents: Year One anthology)

• “The Body Remembers” (Dark Matter Presents: Monstrous Futures anthology / Reprinted in PseudoPod) - FREE READ

• “Tabula Rasa” (Reprinted in Polar Borealis) - FREE READ

• “Hard Time” (Darkness Blooms anthology)

• “A World Unto Myself” (Apex Magazine) - FREE READ

• “El Bordado” (Immigrant Sci-Fi Short Stories anthology)

• “The Bullet in My Pocket Has Your Name on It” (Cossmass Infinities) - FREE READ

• “The Collective Memories of Dogs and Robots” (Augur)

• “8 Laws I Wound Up Breaking While Attempting to Restore the Timeline” (Nature: Futures) - FREE READ

• “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont” (Fantasy Magazine) - FREE READ

• “Into the Frozen Wilds” (Reprinted in Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 1)

• “One Last Payday” (Reprinted in The Binge-Watching Cure III: Science Fiction Edition anthology)

• “10 Things Lego Has Taught Me About Story-Building” (Writers Helping Writers)

Catch up on everything I’ve published HERE, HERE, and HERE.

And find all my free-to-read fiction HERE.

A reminder that 11 of these stories are eligible for awards. If you’re reading for speculative awards this year, you’ll find my eligibility post, with all relevant story details and links, HERE.

Six of this year’s published stories also made the Nebula Reading List, which is the most stories I’ve ever had on there at one time. One also made another list I’m not allowed to talk about, which is also super cool. Find the ones on the Nebula List here:

Novelette Category:

• The Smell of Sawdust

Short Story Category:

• Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont

• The Body Remembers

• 440 Broad Street, Apartment 4C

• A World Unto Myself

• Hard Time

WRITING

In 2023 I wrote 14 new pieces of fiction, plus another 2 I started but still need to work on a little. Of those, 4 stories have sold, all to pro-paying markets.

• “Things Most Meaningful” – Worlds of Possibility/Worlds of Possibility anthology

• “Bright Horizons” – Learning to Be Human (Flame Tree Press), forthcoming

• “8 Laws I Wound Up Breaking While Attempting to Restore the Timeline” – Nature

• “Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont” – Fantasy Magazine

I also started work on a novel (still in progress).

ACCEPTANCES

This year I had 12 acceptances. 7 of them are original pieces of fiction, 4 are reprints, and 1 is non-fiction.

In addition to the 4 mentioned under WRITING they are:

• “How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map” - forthcoming in Dragon Gems anthology

• “A Fall Backward Through the Hourglass” - forthcoming in Imagitopia

• “The Collective Memories of Dogs & Robots” – forthcoming in Abyss & Apex

• “A World Unto Myself” – Apex Magazine

• “440 Broad St., Apartment 4C – Frivolous Comma

• “The Body Remembers” – PseudoPod

• “Into the Frozen Wilds” – forthcoming in Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy & Science Fiction, Vol. 1

• “10 Things Lego Has Taught Me About Story-Building” – Writers Helping Writers

CONTESTS

I participated in 2 Codex flash fiction contests.

Weekend Warrior 2023 – Wrote 6 stories, including “8 Laws I Wound Up Breaking While Attempting to Restore the Timeline,” and “Things Most Meaningful.”

Flash, Savior of the Universe 2023 – Wrote 3 stories, one currently being held for consideration by a major market.

I also entered my novella, LOST CARGO, into the SFINCS competition. Follow along with updates here, courtesy of Simon Tull.

One new thing: LOST CARGO is also eligible for an Indie Ink Award. If you’ve read and enjoyed it, you can nominate it using the button below. You can choose up to five categories to nominate it under, but if you need suggestions, you’ll find some in the picture under the button.

INTERVIEWS

I was interviewed 10 times over the course of this year.

• The Halfling and the Spaceman podcast

• Sonitotum podcast

• The Horror Tree

• On Spec Magazine

• Author Q&A Part 1 for Immigrant Sci-fi anthology

• Author Q&A Part 2 for Immigrant Sci-fi anthology

• Gareth L. Powell’s blog

• Shining Moon podcast, episode 9

• Shining Moon podcast, episode 16

• Fantasy Magazine Author Spotlight

Catch up on all my interviews HERE.

A FEW OTHER THINGS

My fiction received a number of lovely reviews this year. You can find them HERE and HERE.

• I put together my first short fiction collection, which is currently in the hands of an editor that requested it. Wish me luck!

• I also met my goal to be a panelist at both Flights of Foundry and Can*Con.

• I got some new author photos and revamped my website.

• And I was invited to be a juror for something I’m not yet allowed to talk about, so you’ll have to wait until 2024 for details on that.

This completes my first FULL year of monthly newsletter updates. I just want to end it by thanking each and every one of my subscribers, as well as those of you who go the extra mile of sharing my words, be it my fiction or these posts. I can’t adequately express how much your support means to me.

Enjoy the holidays and see you in January!

P.A. Cornell

*The “Story Behind the Story” will return in January, 2024 with “The Body Remembers,” which is eligible for the Hugo, Nebula, Aurora, Bram Stoker, and other SFF/H awards. Please note content warnings.