Happy holidays! I hope your 2024 was fantastic, and I hope 2025 treats you right.
As hard as it is for me to believe, I just hit year 5 as a project controller, and I love the work -- crunching numbers, scheduling, and making a difference. The real perk is that I finally have a work/life balance, a concept that didn't exist in my previous career.
Because of this, I had a blast with my awesome family. There were many fun family visits, celebrations, and two big vacation highlights: A trip to Universal Studios to celebrate my nephew's graduation, and a trip to see Billy Joel and Sting in concert. Man, those old dudes still rock! 🤘
I suffered from a little writer's burnout in the fall, to be honest. It hasn't happened in many years, but I'm picking myself back up. It's so much easier to NOT write than to slog away at the keyboard day after day. I have more stories to tell, so I'm back at the writing desk, trying to turn off the editor side of my brain and let the creative side run amok. I'm also taking steps to improve. I took a couple of online classes from short story experts, and I'm taking on online course about revision from one of my favorite authors, Hannah Tinti.
On the submission front, I had a few minor querying wins (two of my top agents wanted to see more but ultimately declined because they weren't the right fit), but no love for my short stories. I have great stories that just can't find a home.
So how did I perform against my 2024 goals? I give myself a solid B.
New Fantasy Novel: ✅
Queries submitted: 24
Active: 5
No response: 3
Declined: 16
Partial requests: 1
Full MS requests: 1
Midnight Agency, Season Three: 🆗
Goal: 70-90K words
Word count: 40K
Would have been higher, but I realized I was writing Season Four instead and had to start over.
Short Stories: 😞
Number submitted: 40
Active: 2
Rejections: 38
New stories written: 2
Blog: ✅
Goal: 12, at least one per month
YTD written: 12
Books Read: ✅
Goal: 25
Completed: 31
Favorites:
Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell
Swashbuckling fantasy like The Three Musketeers with magic.
Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
A lonely widow befriends a curmudgeonly octopus at the aquarium where she works, and only he can solve the mystery behind her son's death.
Full Throttle by Joe Hill
I love me some Joe Hill short stories, and this collection didn't disappoint - weirdness, horror, thriller, fantasy, SF. He's so good.
Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline.
Plenty of new rad 80s cleverness with this sequel.
Elevation by Stephen King
I prefer his non-horror works, and this short novel is stellar.
The Shootist by Glendon Swarthout.
A western written in the 70s about the last gunfighter, an aged man who is dying of terminal cancer and wants to go out slinging.
Follow me on Goodreads for more. And if you like my work, please leave a rating at Amazon, B&N, and/or Goodreads. They really help boost visibility.
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