It’s December, and I don’t know about you, but this year has flown by for me. Probably because I’ve been very busy, but I’ll get to that in a bit.
First off, I’d like to welcome all my new subscribers. It’s been so great to see that so many of you have an interest in receiving updates on my work. I’ll strive not to disappoint.
So, since the year’s coming to an end, I figured I’d do a bit of a recap so you can get caught up on anything you might’ve missed. This newsletter will be a bit longer than the norm because there’s so much to cover, but I’ll try my best to keep it tight.
PUBLICATIONS
In 2022 I had 10 pieces of short fiction and 1 novella published. I’ll start with the shorts:
“Nine Lives” (If There’s Anyone Left: Volume 2 anthology, Fantasy)
“When the Streetlights Go Off” (Mixtape: 1986 anthology, Horror)
“A Fall Backward Through the Hourglass” (Cossmass Infinities 8, Fantasy)
“In the Grip of Yesterday” (Cossmass Infinities 9, Science Fiction)
“Vinyl Wisdom” (Reprinted in Haven Speculative 5, Science Fiction)
“How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map” (The Drabblecast ep. 461 / The Tentaculum 1, Scifi/Humor)
“Decorative” (Compelling Science Fiction: Short Stories anthology, Science Fiction)
“Into the Frozen Wilds” (Galaxy’s Edge 59, Fantasy/Holiday)
“Dinosaur Clones and Other Teenage Concerns” (Paradoxical Pets anthology, Science Fiction/Middle Grade)
“Splits” (Reprinted in Cossmass Infinities: The Second Year anthology, Science Fiction)
If you’d like to catch up on my short fiction publications from previous years you can find my complete bibliography (with links) here.
My novella, Lost Cargo, was published in September. This is my first book publication, and it’s about a group of strangers who become stranded on a distant moon together. They must navigate various dangers and race against time to reach an abandoned base from which they may have a slim shot at calling for rescue. And the only person who can lead them there is Parker, a woman for whom survival may not be a top priority.
Here's a few of the things readers have been saying:
“It was a wonderful read…I loved the growth of the main characters, as well as the way you wrote of the local flora and fauna.” – Guy, via email.
“I found myself unable to put it down waiting to see what would happen next!” – Pauline, via Facebook.
“From the first page I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. I definitely recommend this book, you won’t regret it!” – Johnny, via Amazon.
“It starts with a bang and the action doesn’t let up except for a few well deserved and interesting quiet moments with a lot of rich character development and intricate, believable backstory.” – Amazon Customer review.
“I really liked everything, the selection of characters and the story ideas, the plot and the overall style and feel of the writing! Great adventure.” – Sam, via Goodreads.
“A thoroughly enjoyable sci-fi adventure.” – JJ, via Goodreads.
“Travel to a distant moon, alien monsters—what’s not to like? This is a fun read!” – S.W., via Amazon.
“This book is amazing because: fantastic, tight world building, every character plays their part and no one is without their own motivations and struggles, the dark bits were extremely relatable and very well done.” – Jenna, via Instagram.
I’m pretty pleased with the response I’ve received for this book. If you’ve read it, I’d love it if you wrote a review or otherwise let me know what you think. If you haven’t read it, but plan to, I hope you enjoy it as much as the above readers did.
And if you’re voting for any fiction awards this year, I’d really appreciate it if you’d keep all the above stories in mind. For convenience, here’s a link to my eligibility post which includes story descriptions and word lengths.
FICTION SALES
Moving on…2022 was also a pretty decent year for me in terms of story acceptances. In all, I made 10 sales, including my novella, Lost Cargo, and the above stories: “Dinosaur Clones and Other Teenage Concerns,” “In the Grip of Yesterday,” “Decorative,” and the reprint of “Vinyl Wisdom.”
Still forthcoming are the following stories:
“The Procedure” (SF) – Coming in January in Abyss & Apex.
“Tabula Rasa” (SFF) – To be reprinted in Polar Borealis in February.
“The Smell of Sawdust” (SF) – Coming in March in ZNB: Presents.
“The Body Remembers” (Dark SF) – Coming in April in Monstrous Futures (anthology).
“El Bordado” (SF) – Coming in April in an anthology I’m not yet allowed to announce. Stay tuned!
INTERVIEWS
Additionally, this was a big year for interviews for me. I did eight interviews, primarily about my novella, but a few were about other stories or my writing in general. You can find links to all of them here.
A couple of my favorites were the graduate interview I did for the Odyssey workshop blog, and the interview I did with Frivolous Comma which gives a nice overview of the type of stories I write.
WHAT ELSE I’VE BEEN UP TO
Earlier in 2022 I reworked an old story, trimmed it down a little, and changed the title. It’s a science fiction first-contact piece done in kind of a retro style. I currently have that one doing the submission rounds.
I also participated in the Codex online writing group’s Weekend Warrior flash fiction contest. This was my third time participating in the contest and I plan to participate again in early 2023. Weekend Warrior has always yielded good results for me. I’ve sold several stories that began with that contest, including: “A Fall Backward Through the Hourglass,” “They Fell to Earth in a Downpour,” “Splits,” “Nine Lives,” and “In the Grip of Yesterday.”
I got quite a bit written during 2022 as well, some of which has already sold and in some cases been published. In total though, I’m ending the year with 17 new stories. My best writing months were February, with four new stories, and June, with five new stories.
I also started the year off with a nice review of my 2021 story, “Splits,” in Locus magazine, and three of my 2022 stories have been added to the Nebula recommended reading list by SFWA members (Lost Cargo, “Nine Lives,” and “A Fall Backward Through the Hourglass.”)
In April you may have seen me online at the Flights of Foundry writing convention. It’s a small con, but I’ve enjoyed many of their panels and will likely return next year.
Summer saw me participating in another Codex contest, Flash Savior of the Universe. As you may have guessed from the name, this is also for flash fiction, but with a slightly longer 1000-word limit, in contrast to Weekend Warrior’s 750-word limit. I believe this was also my third year for this contest which in the past has yielded two stories that have seen publication: “Shiny Things,” and “Tabula Rasa.”
September not only saw the publication of my first book, but also my very first story podcast. I was super happy with what The Drabblecast did with my story, “How to Impress a Top Food Critic and Put Your Restaurant on the Galactic Map.” I don’t write a lot of humor, so it’s great to see that the voice actors gave it their all and hit all the right beats in their performance. You can listen for yourself here. Additionally, the story was published in the inaugural issue of The Tentaculum, of which a limited number of print issues will be available to Drabblecast patrons and contributors like myself. Free digital downloads will be available soon for everyone else.
Now late in the year I find myself mostly reading. I’m part of an online critique group that meets every couple of weeks to help each other’s stories achieve their potential. I’m also in the midst of reading for awards consideration. I vote on the Nebulas, Locus, and Aurora awards each year, and while I try my best to keep track of my favorite stories all year, there’s always an avalanche to tackle in November and December. So I’m doing my best to keep up. And if that’s not enough, I’m currently reading (and critiquing) a fellow writer’s novel. This is what we do. We’re all in this together.
WORKS IN PROGRESS…
As for my own work, I’ve started writing a novel. Well, pre-writing, mostly. I do have a completed outline though and plan to get to work on the actual writing after the holiday craziness subsides in the new year. I can’t tell you much about it yet, but I can say it revisits and expands on one of my published shorts (that’s a little newsletter subscriber exclusive).
I’ve also been invited to write some non-fiction which I hope will happen in this coming year. It’s been a minute since I wrote or published non-fiction, so it’ll be nice to put some more out there in the world.
And the final bit of news is that in 2022 I started this newsletter. This is in part as a response to Twitter being on shaky ground, but also something I’d been meaning to do for a long time. Elon just gave me the push I needed, I guess.
So that was my year. I’ll see you in 2023. Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share, if you haven’t already. Happy holidays!