Writing Round-up - 2017 in Review
A while back, I took stock of my writing and, like many of us small-time, independent authors do, felt chagrined I had not accomplished more. Why wasn't I as popular as (fill-in-the-blank)?
The sensation dogged me until I took stock of what had happened during the 365 days of 2017. All of it happened around the time I spent at my full-time job as a librarian, and the hours spent with my wife and boys. Plus, I put in some time improving my sketches with 31 days of Inktober. Part of the creative joy of 2017 was trying things I've never done before.
I wrote three novels, one novella, five short stories, and five pieces of flash fiction (really short stories). The grand total came to about 300,000 words! Participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMO) forced me to up my game by getting 50,000 words written in November, then adding almost 40,000 in December.
One of those short stories advanced me to the second round of the NYCC Midnight Contest. Three of the flash fiction stories wound up getting published in successive issues of Havok magazine. I published Man Behind the Wheel, a novel of near-future sci-fi adventure, and compiled Multiverse, a collection of short stories.
I think this goes on record as my most productive year yet, in terms of finished writing. Last year was pretty close, with three novels published.
And the best part is, there's more to come. The Lightningfall, sequel to The Bloodheart, should arrive in early 2018. There's also my superhero novel Airfoil, which is under consideration at an independent publishing house, and a sequel to Empire's Rift that's been written. Of course, I plan to keep writing new stories, because they show no signs of letting up.
So if you know of folks in need of epic sci-fi and fantasy adventures, point them this way! The stories will continue...
January
Wrote Uphill Both Ways short story– for NYCC Midnight Contest Round 1
(Writing The Lightningfall)
February
Wrote Riding Herd flash fiction – published April Havok
(Writing The Lightningfall)
March
Published Man Behind the Wheel novel
(Writing The Lightningfall)
April
Finished writing The Lightningfall novel
(Writing Echo Watch)
May
Wrote Living History short story – for NYCC Midnight Contest Round 2
Wrote Chiron’s Crew flash fiction – published July Havok
(Writing Echo Watch)
June
Published Multiverse short story collection
Wrote Moving Arms short story
(Writing Echo Watch)
July
Finished writing Echo Watch novel
August
Wrote Severed Signals novella
Wrote Hallowed Cargo flash fiction – published October Havok
September
Wrote Red Road short story, submitted for a Mars anthology
October
Wrote How We Roll flash fiction – published January 2018 Havok
Participated in Inktober 2017 (Drew and inked an image every day for 31 days)
November
Finished National Novel Writing Month with 50,000 words on Mercury Hale
Finished keywords short story Plaintext and submitted for an anthology
December
Finished writing Mercury Hale
Wrote Calculated Risk flash fiction – submitted to “Good Snakes” competition
