2022 is almost over and what a year it has been. Today’s post is this year’s wrap up of writing and getting published! I am also planning on a post in January about next year’s plans. To start off and to not bury the lede, one of my short stories was picked last year to be published in an anthology that came out in October 2022. The story is called “At Mountains, Majesty” and you can pick up a copy from this link.
I have written since I was a kid but didn’t think I could pursue writing as a full-time career until high school, when I began writing for the school newspaper. I juggled the idea of writing, going into music full time or working, or opening and co-owning a comic book store – the comic book store won out. At the end of high school, I decided to go into business and spent years running the comic book store, but never stopped reading and writing. In fact, the dream remained to write (whenever I wasn’t working and caring for the business) but as anyone that has been a part of a small business knows, there really isn’t any time off or away when you own a small business. Before the pandemic, I decided I wanted to make my dream and passion my business now and aim to become a professional writer.
I left the store, and I spent time writing. Now that I had more time to devote to the task, I spent that time working out my writing muscles and going from writing a few hundred words a day to now at least a thousand. My first goal was to just get a story published somewhere that was a good fit for the material. At the end of last year I submitted a story to an anthology and it was rejected, but the story was picked up by one of the other editors on that anthology for her own publication – I was getting published! Then came the fun of editing and reviewing to have my story in a final version. It was such a new experience but also a fun and exciting one! I ordered copies, sent out the message to friends and family, and waited for the publication date. Then this October when my copies arrived and I was able to hold the book in my hands…it was incredible. It was truly satisfying. There’s only a handful of times so far in life that you are lucky enough to reach that level of satisfaction and the experience sticks with you.
Now that the end of the year is approaching the anxiety is now building to find what’s next. I also worked on the outlines and ideas for a few novels this year; I wrote over thirty pages on one novel and am still editing the first completed novel I finished in 2021. I think completing the editing of the novel and seeking a publisher will be high on the list for next year. I also launched this site and have spent time working on new posts every week and have more fun plans for that coming up. This year was a lot of change and a lot of ups and downs but next year the plan is to really hunker down and get some more of my ideas on paper or published. I love writing and creating and I want people to read and enjoy. I know the only way that will happen is to keep producing more content and writing, and trying even more new and exciting things!