2015 in Review

I'd meant to write this post up in November, like I have for the last 2 years, but I've been really low on spoons. I usually use this phrase only to refer to my mental state -- as a person with bipolar disorder, I sometimes run low on mental spoons, especially if I'm in a downswing. This year, it's meant a little more (or less, depending on how you look at it.)

Starting in October, I've been suffering from a chronic condition. The problem is hives, and by themselves they're about a six on the annoying scale. When they go away promptly. MOST of the time, it's not actual pain, just itchy and a bit of swelling that can lead to sore spots on my skin. But it's very hard to function when your skin feels like it's being poked with hot, sharp things all the time. And the medication used to treat it makes me exhausted. (Also I can't drink, and while I was never a full fledged alcoholic like Vin, his problems and situations didn't exactly come from nowhere -- which may be why if you ever wrote me an email or a review about how much you hate addicts, I didn't respond to you... because if you can't say anything nice...)

If I don't take the medication, I have hives pretty much constantly, although they'll move around. Sometimes my legs, sometimes my arms, sometimes on my torso. Once, really badly, on my face.

I haven't been responding well to conventional treatments. As soon as I go down in dosage, I hive out again. Because my husband's company got bought out, we're changing health insurance, so the series of shots couldn't be started until I had the new insurance. It can take anywhere from 2 weeks to 8 weeks for the injections to be approved, and then they're 1 to 2 shots every 3 weeks for three months. We're looking at May, maybe, before I start to be normal again? Ug.

Anyway, so... what did I do this year?

Stuff that Happened in late 2014 and all of 2015

- A Wanted Woman accepted by Vamptasy
- A Marked Man published by Vamptasy
- Cleis got bought out by Smart Books, which resulted in my getting several short stories back because they failed to meet their obligations. (Fair Game, Tanked, Dreaming the Hardest, and Live Every Second)
- novel Blues published by Torquere Press
- Dead in the Water came out on Audiobook format
- Deep Breath came out on Audiobook format
- Howling Bitch was published by Vamptasy
- A Wanted Woman was published by Vamptasy
- Living Proof finally released with Antimatter Press
- I put out the call for Strange Shifters anthology by Coming Together
- Cascade Failure accepted for publication in anthology Family Time by Torquere Press
- In The Closet published in Dirty 30 by Stupid Fish Press
- Fair Game, in Love of a Soldier accepted for publication, Circlet Press
- Heat Wave: Burlington accepted and published by JMS Books LLC
- Blood Cries Up, republished in Encounters by JayHenge Publishing
- Classic published by Torquere Press
- Celibate Cold accepted for publication by Torquere Press
- Vamptasy Press shed a bunch of authors and contracts, including all of mine
- found a new home for the Demoniac Codex and Forging of Souls with Gone Writing Press
- Sins of Angels written and accepted for publication by Gone Writing Press
- Antimatter Press shuts down
- Living Proof accepted for Encounters II anthology with JayHenge Press
- Finding Balance accepted for publication by Torquere Press
- Pistols & Guns re-published in Coming Together: Keeping Warm

This year was harder to keep track of than last year, with all sorts of publisher problems and reprints. I didn't do as much writing as I would have liked, only finishing one novel (Sins of Angels), even though I had five released. I did write and publish (or get accepted) a bunch of short stories and novelette length pieces.

I have a bunch of homeless stories now, primarily male/female couples... including an 8,000 word sweet-romance (no sex) steampunk story called Hold the Dirigible.

I also have "plans" to write a bunch of short stories this year with the idea of appearing in all or most of Torquere's anthologies. To that end, I've already had the first three of the year written and accepted, altho The Pricking of Tom Thumb was just accepted yesterday and I don't think it counts for last year.

On my plans for this year:

- edit Sins of Angels
- finish writing All that Jazz (60,000 novel)
- write Ghost Magic (60,000 novel)
- write 8 more short stories for Torquere anthologies (3 - 8k each) due the 15th of each month, 3 months prior
- finish Desire is the Key (short story, 3 - 10k due Feb 15)
- write 10,000 word novella for Men at Work, (follow up to Heat Wave: Burlington, due Feb 29th)

Annual Review

I wrote this up last year because I was having some issues with what I was doing with my life... and it helped a lot, kept me on track, and gave me something solid to look at whenever I was feeling depressed.

So, while I'm not currently having those issues - honestly, the royalty check that I used to put a down payment on a CAR really helped with the idea that I'm wasting my time - it's about a year later and I thought it would be a good time to do an annual summary...

2014 Accomplishments

• Living Proof accepted for publication with Antimatter Press (January)
• Whetting the Appetite accepted for publication with JMS (January)
• Fair Game accepted for publication in For Love of a Soldier (February)
• Coming Together: Among the Stars anthology approved (March)
• Building Us accepted for publication in They Do (March)
• Howling Bitch accepted for publication with Vamptasy (novel) (May)
• Blues accepted for publication with Torquere (novel) (July)
• A Marked Man accepted for publication with Vamptasy (novel) (July)
• Situation Normal accepted for publication with Coming Together (August)
• Half the World Away (excerpt) for Crave, the best of Hot Ink antho (August)
• In the Closet accepted for audio publication with Stupid Fish (September)
• London Steam accepted for publication (partial reprint) with JMS (September)
• The Terran Academy Novellas contracted (not written!) (September)
• Go Down with the Ship (reprint) accepted for publication with JMS (September)
• Room for Dessert accepted (reprint) for publication with JMS (September)
• Mouse Games (reprint) accepted for publication with Beyond 50 (October)
• Holiday Hours (reprint) accepted for publication with Coming Together (October)
• On the Fly (reprint) accepted for publication with Coming Together (October)
• Classic accepted for publication with Torquere (novel) (November)

Things that aren't on my acceptance list

I have a couple of short stories that are still floating around (one with an acceptance, then the project has been delayed like three times, and I have no idea of the status of... frustrating! and one that's floating around without an answer...)

I've discovered that I really enjoy putting anthologies together - Coming Together: Among the Stars was an excellent project and I really had fun with it... it also ate up a lot of my time and brain power. It was a branching out into a new direction of the writing process. I'm still debating if I want to do it again... (oh, who am I kidding, I already have an idea for another antho...)

I have 19 projects there from this year, which is 9 more than last year, of which four are novels... admittedly, some of the things are reprints or excerpts and didn't take lots of effort on my part aside from going "Yeah, we can use those... " altho I still had to 1) make sure I had rights back 2) go through the submission process 3) edit some of them 4) added an entire new short story to London Steam.

I helped plan and then attended a writer's conference, which resulted in several of the above stuff happening. I had my first official book signing. I have gotten a lot more organized. I've been approached for a few stories and concepts from publishers (Looking at you, Antimatter Press!) which is both flattering and exciting. I've started working with some very talented writers on collaborative projects, done some incredible charity work. I've become very, very good at writing book 'blurbs in a short amount of time and also mostly stopped complaining about it.

I've continued to refine my craft; I can now write up a fairly extensive outline and even if my novel wanders off track a bit (and they do. Novels are living things and they don't always stick to the map), I can still pretty accurately predict how long things are going to take me to do. I have not yet been late with a project target date that I've committed to. I have had editors / publishers ask me for things earlier than I said I'd turn them in and sometimes that gets a blowjob face and sometimes I can actually push and get it done.

I've also done extensive beta reading for a couple of other writers - three novels for EM Lynley (Spaghetti Western: Sex, Lies, and Wedding Bells, and Dirty Dining.) one for Elizabeth Black (Full Moon Fever) and several short stories for Nickie Jamison... not to mention editing an entire anthology from soup to nuts.

I've learned to say No to projects - even very interesting projects! - when I know I haven't got the time to give them their full attention. I've learned to say Yes to projects that scare the shit out of me. I've gained a substantial backlist. I've learned to politely reject a story submission. I've gained confidence as an author and confidence in my own work. I've learned to tell the difference between a bad story and one I just happen to not like.  

So, 2014 has been a busy year....

Goals and ongoing projects

finish revisions of A Wanted Woman and submit
outline and write Sins of Angels
outline and write All that Jazz
outline Terran Academy, parts 1 - 3
write Terran Academy part 1 (I'm not really sure what the schedule looks like for this yet, since publication won't occur until 2016)
begin short stories for Connections goal to complete 4 per year.
novella length project for MEWR


Projects that may or may not get done next year

- Hailey's Comet, a YA LGBT novel
- The Wormwood Trade, a steampunk romance
- Punked Up (book 5 of Rainbow Connections)
- Ghost Magics (book 4 of Demoniac Codex)
- Pretty much anything Rose Caraway asks me to do, because AWESOME
- Coming Together shapeshifter project, Were What? for Bat Sanctuary charity