2013. Yeah. That was a thing that happened.
On some levels it was a tough year. My raw writing metrics were the lowest since about 2005. I had the lowest raw word count for the year since I got serious about writing in 2002. On some levels it was a down year for writing.
The numbers, however, tell a tale of a great year as a writer and storyteller:
I was Guest of Honor at CoreCon V. Blog reports here:
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Sold 2 novels and 4 reprint short stories for publication. Published 1 novel, 1 short story collection, and 4 short stories (all in anthologies.)
Gave 7 public literary readings. Gave 3 writing-related interviews. Participated on 11 panels at conventions and gave 6 presentations for various organizations. Did a little publishing consulting. Appeared at 9 conventions and festivals.
Appeared in 2 music videos. Competed in Story Slam MN! Grand Slam and told multiple times at local story slam events. Hosted the Ghost Stories track and told 3 stories as part of Storyfest Minnesota. Performed 3 stories for KFAI radio.
Helped judge the Geek Partnership Society Writing Contest. Participated in photo shoots for Tim Cooper’s War for the Oaks Reader’s Series. Was active in the Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers, Volunteered for MN Fringe Festival, and was active in my Writers Group.
The thing I’m the most proud of is getting my process as an artist smoothed out and working again. I’d been struggling for the last year or so, and in the last 6 months of 2013 I felt like I found my footing. I finished the first draft of a couple of things I’m pretty pleased with, especially since some of the stuff from earlier in the year was Not Up To Standards.
I wrote sparingly and sporadically in my blog this year, focusing more on steering the fiction writing back on track while working on improving as a storyteller. I did make a post about the changing writing process, which I’m pretty pleased with, An Ever Evolving Process and a post about finding my way back to being the writer I want to be in The Power of Story
What’s in store for 2014? I’m not sure. I’m working on a scriptwriting project for a local theatre company. I’ve got more novellas in my Gaslight and Grimoires series ready to go. I’m working on a one-man show for either Minnesota Fringe Festival or to produce myself. I have finished novels to polish and market. I’ve got a long list of ideas and partial works-in-progress. I’m trying to pick the next novel project, with an eye toward something that might get me back into the Big Publishing Houses as an author.
What are your plans for 2014?
Sounds like you had a pretty good year all things considered. Hope 2014 is an upward slope.
My goals are to finish and publish more novels and send out more short stories.