The Year of Bad and Lorelei

31DEC2020 - 01 JAN 2021

It's typical to do an end of the year post, right? Well, I haven't posted in a little while, so not only is this a 2020 wrap-up, but it also contains a few other subjects that have been waiting for me to publish. It's a good thing I haven't posted in a bit, means I've been busier than usual.

The Year of Bad

This year...ugh. Started out pretty normal and then, the news started talking about a novel coronavirus. From China. I remember in March, listening to an African-American say, "I'm not worried about COVID, my Auntie told me Black people don't get COVID." 

Little did we know back then. 

I wasn't able to go to my normal work for several months, in fact all the way to summer. COVID meant more work as I adjusted to working from home, at least trying to. Learned a few new tricks, not bad for an old dog.

Summer was a time of worry instead of relaxation and renewal. What would Fall bring? And then when I was able to go back to work, I had to wear a mask all day. That was, is, a lot. It's not 'wear a gas mask for 8 hours' bad, which I've done before, but it is an extra distraction. Try talking through a mask for seven hours a day. 

We still have toilet paper in the garage, and Clorox wipes, just in case another shortage hits. Kobe is gone. Our Christmas Tree ornament this year is a "dumpster fire" ornament. How appropriate.

In authoring news, I re-released a short story this year (The Legacy), an expansion of a previous release. One of my favorite stories actually, and one I hope to revisit again in the coming years to write a sequel or a prequel. I had so much fun expanding it that I might do the same for a few other stories. 

I have a few short story commitments to fulfill at the beginning of the year, one about dragons! Another one is about a time capsule, and a third one I can't say anything about yet, but it's right up my fantasy alley. I'm real happy to work with a publisher I've worked with before.

The short story compilation I am planning on releasing is still in the works, but my energies this year have been focused more on editing. I did several editing jobs for various clients this year, and am finishing out the year working on two more of them. All met with satisfaction and actually earned me more than my writing did this year. They were a lot of work. But of course editing is writing as well, as the editing jobs included all levels of editing, from straight proofing and copy editing all the way to developmental editing, structural editing and marketing material/blurb writing. I even did some decent graphical work. I really have to get back into that. I love graphics. 

A piece of graphic work that probably won't see the light of day anywhere else (from The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer): 

And yes, it's all spelled correctly, at least for the English of that time. It's about as legible to us today as textspeak would be to Chaucer. I can't imagine what English will look like in a hundred years' time.

So some good news and bad news. Good news, authoring/editing revenues are up. Bad news, not much of my own material released this year. I hope to release more next year! Come on 2021!

A bright spot of news in the Year of Bad! Wolfsinger Publications is ramping up publishing again! The owner, editor, publisher, wearer of all hats, Carol Hightshoe, is amazing and wonderful. She has some calls for anthologies out, and is releasing several books this year!

Another indie press outlet, one I haven't worked with yet, is Black Hare Press. They have several interesting anthologies out, but some of them are only available to authors they have published before. 

Piece of secret knowledge for today: Dryads become air elementals after the death of their tree...They fly away fly away fly away free. Anyone who tells you otherwise is One of the Unknowing...

Picture for today: A scene from the ancient tale of Tristan and Isolde. Various spellings, languages and details aside, it is a tragic tale of love and betrayal. One of my favorite adaptations is actually a science fiction version of Camelot in the future that incorporates the doomed pair (Camelot 3000)! Here the two title characters are getting ready to drink a love potion together. For those interested, this picture is free to use, according to the Wikimedia commons. 

No resolutions for the coming year. Bring it on!

Love to all, hope your New Year is in all ways better than the old year! Salud!

 

New Year

31DEC17

2017 has been a great year!

Professionally, I've had several more stories published, and one republished. I couldn't be happier at my regular day job too. I also secured all my professional credentials for the next decade or so. I love where I'm at!

Personally, I've been trying to take better care of myself. After several tests and visits to the doctor, I've been diagnosed with extremely low levels of some very important letters of the alphabet (like A, B, C, D, etc...). So, I'm working to get those levels where they need to be. I've also been losing weight in an effort to keep the demons of hereditary diabetes at bay. Which, thank goodness, seems to be working. Of course, it doesn't help when your doctor tells you flat out, "You're fat." Not an easy thing to hear. 

What does the new year hold? Well, hopefully a short story anthology of all my own work! I'm looking at putting together a collection of 13 stories, some new, some old. I spent a portion of the last few days looking at some old pieces I wrote here and there and boy are they awful! lol. But it feels good to know I have grown as a writer. One of my New Year's resolutions is to reread some of my favorite stories and see what I can glean from them, what I can use in my own stories. Return to my roots so to speak. Go back to what I like. This doesn't apply just to books. Movies, comics, and music will also be revisited. I'm still working on my novels, but they will take a bit more work. I might start with the Amber novels, by Zelazny and some of his earlier works. 

Hope your New Year is the best, and may all your wishes come true. Picture for today? See below...an inspirational quote (from a recent trip to Belgium) to start the New Year off right.