So excited! ART.

 I got a preview peek at my cover art and I am SO EXCITED.  Jordan (Jordan Walker; at Jordan Walker Art) is doing an amazing job. 

His sketches of my alien species are just amazing, too. Really bring them alive. 

Can't wait to share them!

2023 Roundup

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND year-end roundups written in November or December. Dude, you've got DAYS left. You could meet some of those goals! Give yourself the time!

Not that I actually completed any goals in the last waning days of 2023, mind you. I hate reading everyone else's round-ups before I'm willing to start mine.

It doesn't help that I had one primary goal this year that I thought it was perfectly reachable. It was not. The way things are going it might not happen in 2024. SIGH.

So. What I *did* accomplish in 2023:

WRITING

- "Finished" a revision, sent the manuscript to an editor, got her feedback, incorporated her feedback and that of others into the manuscript, and got the new revision  half done. Sent the first half of the book to a trusted reader. 

- Created an LLC, created and set up its website, got several social media accounts set up.

- signed a contract with a cover artist and approved cover sketches; also approved character sketches for interior art.

- Joined SFWA as an associate member

- took a few one-day or half-day classes to keep my motivation up and push my skills

- co-led a weekly short-story crit group all year (handed off the reins to a new chair this month). Created a spreadsheet of all the stories members had sold since the beginning of the pandemic and got their rewards mailed to them. Drafted a code of conduct.

FANDOM

-- attended Norwescon, Miscon, and the Nebulas (online) 

HOBBIES / SELFCARE

- Performed in one recital, one NATS competition, three choir performances and a few smaller sings.

- regular vocal practice

 - Practiced French daily and added Spanish intermittently.

- Maintained PT for various injuries from January through about ... August, when the shift in weather and pet illnesses sapped my motivation. 

- got several projects of a physical nature completed in the yard this summer and was able to do them thanks to the PT I'd been doing.

- caught several mood spirals during the year and was able to stabilize myself and pull back out of them without losing much time. Gave myself some grace in November and December during and after the loss of two aged pets.

- Fantastic Canadian vacation (Banff and Jasper National Parks are amazing); a number of glorious weekend and one-day events with friends and my partner: plays, concerts, or just relaxing. 

ORGANIZATION

- got my taxes to my accountant in February (a massive, massive personal win I'd like to repeat in 2024)

-  got all my short stories filed alphabetically! Got several storage areas gutted and cleared and reorganized! Packed up Halloween 2022 in April 2023!  *covers eyes. Yes, I'm serious* I had help, and I needed it.

SERVICE

- Provided transport to appts and grocery runs for a friend who no longer drives

- produced a weekly newsletter for the choir I sing with during the singing season until this fall, when I handed that off to someone new. 

Huh. I actually did some stuff this year.

That all sounds a lot better than it FELT when I started this roundup compilation yesterday, I'll tell you that. Now I need to find a way to track things that's more consistent and works better for me. The "X words written" doesn't work for revision, and I've never found a metric that does, which is part of why revision feels like such a slog. That and I made decisions slowly, painfully. But. That's for another day. 2023, you are in the can. 2024, you're shiny and new. May I expect only as much of you as you can provide.