I’m writing this from bed, so I don’t have my list of books read handy, but we’re having a New Year’s Eve party tonight and once I get up I’ll be in party-prep mode.
I wanted to think a little bit about what I’ve done this year, writing wise, and I do feel like I’ve made some progress (though maybe 2024 will be the year I actually track things; seems appealing).
Off the top of my head I’ve written some short stories, made progress on Trash Planet (though it remains elusive, I have some strategies that I’m going to use to get. it. done. next year), packaged up Catnip and Brimstone as a novella, nearly finished the writing group anthology (that will be up soon!), set up the new blog, started writing the newsletter again, and signed up for a writing studio in the city.
It was a bit of a year of reading for indulgence, with a large amount of gothic-y fiction and romantasy stuff, as well as some japanese authors and technical writing books. (I promise I’ll do the list proper soon.) But I have a stack of books by the bed; some amazing new books I’ve picked up and I really need to dedicate the time to read them at bedtime now. (Santa got me a rechargeable book light I am itching to use, so I have no excuses now!)
I’m feeling good and positive about what I’ve achieved, and I feel like next year I’ll be able to make some inroads on existing projects. The real trick though, I reckon, is to try and harvest some of this end-of-year transcendance and insert it into the middle of the year, when I always feel a bit drained and run-down. Having so much time off work really does the trick; perhaps I need to schedule in a little bit more downtime from my job-job.
In any case, happy new year!