2017 has been weird.

Politically, the world is on fire, and I am constantly unable to tell whether or not headlines are satire or real life.

Personally, I’ve been doing really well. This marks the first time in six years that I’ve lived in a particular place for more than nine months. I’ve got a job in a field that I love (archives). I’m pursuing a lifelong dream and started applying to grad school, and it looks like I will be moving again this year, which was a big goal I was working towards. I submitted stories 49 times, which is up from last year, and got a lot of encouraging rejections as well as four sales. I wrote several things I love and several things that I do not love but which taught me something.

Speaking of stories, I also had six short stories come out this year that are award-eligible, and I’m eligible for the Campbell Award if you are so inclined. The complete list is on my Publications page above, but I would to draw your attention to my two favorites of the year.

“Extinctions” came out in the March/April issue of Shimmer and is very close to my heart. This story is about mothers and daughters and the weight of family history, and coming back to the place you grew up long after both you and it have changed. It’s also about hunting monsters.

“Last Long Night” is a flash fiction story that came out in April in Daily Science Fiction, about the horror of space, astronomical coincidences, and having hope when all hope seems lost. This is one of those stories that took me a long time to write (usually I draft things in one go, but this I picked away at over 2+ years) but now I love it.

I have some new goals for 2018, but I will probably write another post about those later. For now, happy New Year’s.