Because I’ll be traveling from now until January, and 2016 has been the worst year ever, I thought now might be a good time to talk about some of the really good things that happened this year.
I’m thinking.
Hm. This is a tougher topic than I thought.
I jest. Here is a full list of everything I released or was published in this year, in order. That’s a good start. You can find all these listed on my Amazon profile page.
Dragons In Chains audiobook
Working the Table: An Indie Author’s Guide to Conventions
Dragons In Flight audiobook
SK 2: Backyard Dragons
SK 3: Ethereal Entanglements
Merely This And Nothing More: Poe Goes Punk
Unnatural Dragons
TGS 4: Illusive Echoes
Superheroes In Denim
Missing Pieces VII
Darkside Seattle: Street Doc
Girls Can’t Be Knights audiobook
Artifact (mistakenly credited as Emily French)
Backyard Dragons audiobook
The work for the Ethereal Entanglements audiobook is almost done, and it’ll be released in January. And at the moment, I have a handful of stories waiting for publication, another handful waiting for revision, a few half-finished draft 1-1.5s, and a couple of outlines waiting in the queue. Don’t expect me to slow down in 2017.
These are all the conventions my books appeared at for sale (in some cases without me). This list doesn’t include 11 non-convention-type events, and it’s possible I forgot something.
OrcaCon
Rustycon
MythicWorlds
Radcon
Portland Spring Home & Garden Show
Norwescon
The Brass Screw Confederacy
Westercon
CapitalIndieBookCon
GenCon
MaLCon
MidAmericon II (WorldCon)
Rose City Comic Con
Steamposium
GeekGirlCon
Portland Fall Home & Garden Show
Central City Comic Con
Renton City Comic Con
Jet City Comic Show
Eucon
OryCon
Put those two lists together, and it’s fair to say I did a lot of stuff this year. Sometimes it was exhausting, sometimes it was frustrating, and sometimes it was boring as hell. But most of the time, it was awesome. In 2017, this list will be shorter. Because it was a tough schedule to keep, and I would like to spend more time on the writing part than the selling part.
Oh, and then there’s this one other, little thing. Trifling, really. Minor. Not a big deal.
I lied. IT’S TOTALLY A BIG DEAL. SFWA, the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, is sort of like the union for professional F/SF writers (of the American variety). It’s been around since before I was born, and has always been, to me, a kind of pie-in-the-sky thing to belong to. Real F/SF authors belong to that. Last week, my inbox included a message opening with this:
This couldn’t have happened without two very important people. First, you. Anyone who bought a copy of Girls Can’t Be Knights or read it on KU is responsible for this. Thank you, you’re awesome! Please consider writing a review if you haven’t and also reading book 2 and 3 (*bright smile*). Second, Cat Rambo, whose rise to the position of President of SFWA made it possible for indies like me to join the organization without a traditional book contract. Also, Cat is a wonderful, supportive person and amazing writer. Read Beasts of Tabat if you haven’t yet.
Hopefully, despite all the horrible crap that’s happened this year, you also have some bright spots and accomplishments to look back on and bask in. As we plunge into the deepest, darkest part of the year, hold onto those and take a day to enjoy whatever you can with whomever you consider family. 2017 is looking like it might also be a bumpy ride.