[Writer Post] 2011 in the Rear View

Well, it’s that time of the year. The “year end review” posts are starting. It’s the last week of 2011, so it seems right to look back on the year’s accomplishments as we also look forward to 2012. (Which for the record, I’m thinking the Mayans just went for coffee and never got back to finishing their calendar – or were bored by it or something. There’s enough gloom and doom in the world without adding ANOTHER apocalypse to it.)

This was my year of “finishing stuff darn it”, and it was moderately successful. I didn’t get all I wanted to accomplish done, but I’ve got stories out in submission. I have a novel out making the rounds. There’s editing, rewriting, and revising happening. The new Redheads is scheduled for next year. We’re still working on some electronic conversions, but even writer support personnel are subject to procrastination. I’ve written a couple of new stories that (hopefully) will be out and about in 2012. I’m plugging along…I just need to plug more efficiently.

I do want to apologize to John DeNardo at SF Signal. We have fallen off the art interview wagon. We promise to get back on it in 2012. Really. Feel free to poke and prod. September and October get overwhelming and it’s easy to fall behind and then not pick up. We never intended to do two and disappear. I am very sorry for that. We will be better, especially with the run up to the Spectrum Live! Event in Kansas City.

The discovery of a whole new Pen Community continues to amaze me. What I started out doing as a fun and different thing has turned into a new niche that I never knew existed at levels of intensity that would rival anything in SF Fandom. And I have pens all around me. It’s easier to remember to do a pen review…I don’t have artists hanging around my house waiting to be interviewed (and no, that’s not necessarily an invitation…)

It’s all about opportunity and scheduling. GIVE ME A DEADLINE and you’ll get your story/interview/article. Leave me to my own devices…yeah… I’m breaking in a new comic book show in a couple of weeks to see if I can make some inroads in a new readership base. It’s a mile from my house, so it’s not that huge of a gamble. It could be fun.

Is there a whole lot of “coulda/shoulda/woulda”? Of course there is. I always could’ve done more, shoulda…, woulda… but I’m not unhappy with my year. There are several things I wish had gone differently, but I truly believe in the “God has a Greater Plan for me”. I’m looking forward to the new challenges ahead.

Tags: 2011, Life, Writing