Last Post of the Year

Well, we're all about to say goodbye to 2010 and welcome in 2011, so I thought I'd do the obligatory post to wrap-up this year and welcome the next.

So what did I accomplish this year? Let's see:

1. I continued to write.

I've written at least three original stories this year, and one was even a novella (which I really should look into getting published). I've also started writing my first novel, and as of today I have completed over 24, 000 words on it. Also, my week of writing a bare minimum of 2000 words a day has gone smashing so far, as I've been able to make my goal each day, or at the very least made up the shortfall the very next day. This proves to me that I can do this. I can write, and each day it gets a little bit easier as I continue to stretch my mental muscles. I've spent this entire year proving to myself that I can be a writer, even with everything else that's going on in my life.

2. I got out to conventions.

This may not sound like much, but I've never been a terrible social person and I hate being in crowds where I don't know anyone else. So of course I ended up going to two different conventions all by myself without any of my friends, and one of them being an eight-hour bus trip away from home. Oi! But it all worked out in the end. I met a lot of great people at both and had my eyes opened in a whole new way. Going to conventions is part of being a science fiction/fantasy author, so if I want to succeed I'll need to go. The funny thing is, I found that I actually enjoyed going and look forward to going again to see all the people I've met before and I look forward to meeting new people. I can't wait to go as a published author and be on the other side instead of being just a fan, yet at the same time I also really do enjoy the fan experience.

I've already booked my two conventions for this year. My plan is to hit Ad Astra and SFContario. While I really enjoyed ConCept, I really didn't like the hotel it was at and this year I think I'll stay closer to home. Who knows, I may also get out to Anime North with a bunch of sword nuts I know who put on a demonstration.

3. I started working out and joined a kendo dojo.

Kendo is something I've always wanted to do. I love swordplay and have a fascination with Japenese culture, and luckily there is a great club in my city. All the members are very supportive, the training is fun, and I'm actually doing quite well at it. Also, I found a gym I like with an owner that offers free training advice. Heck, I even bought an exercise bike for home and have been using it. I still need to work on my eating habits, but I'm a long way from where I started a couple years ago. I'm in much better shape, I'm much healthier, and I intend to keep it that way and keep improving in the future.

So where do I go from here? Well, I'm going to try to get my novel in shape for March so that I can submit it to Angry Robot books while they have their open submissions period. Aside from that, after I'm going to start putting the stories I have sitting around out there to see if I can get them published, and after I finish writing my current novel I'm going to start on the next.

Look out 2011, here I come!

Oh, and before I forget, Happy New year. May you and yours be safe and happy.

2009 is Over. Welcome 2010

First day of the new year, and so far so good. Lets see if we can keep this going. :)

Last year was hard for a lot of people I know. Just about everyone lost family, from parents to grandparents. A lot of people didn't know if they'd have jobs from week to week, and we all had to listen to doom and gloom on the economic front.

It almost makes me feel guilty that my year wasn't so bad. We lost my grandma, my last living grandparent, early in the year, but she'd been slowly going for the last few years and we're all glad that she's finally at peace. I have a good job that looks to be secure for the near future, a job that pays all my bills with a bit left over. I finally started getting my weight under control and have lost a lot of extra pounds. Finally, I started writing again, something I haven't done in years.

For years I've said to myself I've wanted to be a writer, to be published and to have people read the things that have knocked around in my brain. So many things kept me from that, but most of all it was fear, fear that I wasn't good enough and never would be. Well, that fear is gone, passed like that last year. Writing is hard work, but I'm getting better with each thing I write and each book I read is another example of what I can do if I try and work at it each day.

As for my first attempt at getting published, well, I still have not heard from the editors of Tesseracts. The Edge site says that submitters should receive a response by December 31, 2009, but that hasn't happened yet. I'm hoping to hear within the next few days, but if I don't hear anything by say Thursday I think I'll email them directly and ask. Hopefully they've just been really busy with the holidays.