It’s Been A Busy Year…

Writing hit the back burner in 2016 due to day job issues, but I still kept at it. I’ve got a few things to show for my efforts, and hope there will be more in the future.

I volunteered for SFWA as the Nebula Awards Commissioner and learned more about awards and the organization than I imagined. I also gained some insight into promoting work for awards. As the commissioner, my work isn’t eligible, but I quietly watched others promote their work, some of whom made the Nebula ballot. If you talk about your writing, if you tell people you’re eligible for awards, then you might just be bringing your work to the attention of the right people when it matters: during the reading period for nominations and votes. Bottom line is that rather than spamming your feeds with the same publication daily/weekly, you should be smart about the timing. Know when which awards have their reading periods. Find out who the nominating and voting parties are. Twitter and Facebook are my media tools of choice, and I saw plenty of award eligibility reminders from different people and never felt like I was being spammed. Believe in your work, people. If you don’t, then why should anyone else?

Two of my favorite stories (they’re like children, they’re all my favorite) which were both published in 2014, have recently been republished. “Time Monkeys and the Fullness of Glasses” reprinted in Bards & Sages Quarterly April 2017, and “Cara’s Heartsong“, reprinted in Luna Station Quarterly December 2016. (See “my writing” section for links).

A newly penned flash fiction has caught the eye of Fireside editors and will be published in their lovely zine sometime in the future. I’ll post a link when it’s out.

Finally, I’ve reworked my writing method this year and enjoying the results. I’ll be posting more frequently. I’ve been tempted to revive the “Read It and Write” short story reviews. I’ll let you know how that goes.

Happy Reading & Writing!

Dawn