Wednesday, December 1, 2021

December 2021 update

During November, I participated in National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo), although I made progress on a dozen pieces of short fiction rather than a novel-length work. As in my past attempts, I found that the challenge to work toward a set target (50,000 words for the month) and a commitment to writing daily made me push myself beyond what I would have accomplished just following my usual schedule, so I was glad I did it. I also reached the 50,000 word mark for the first time and wrote every day of November. I’ve already sent out five of the pieces that I was working on, and hope to refine the others in the coming months.
 
Recent Publications
A short story titled “Where the Hearth Is” was published in Tyche Books’ Home for the Howlidays anthology, edited by M.L.D. Curelas. I was thrilled to be included in this collection, which also features the work of a number of other SF Canada members, as well as some writers from the United States. You can find more information about this anthology at the link below:
https://tychebooks.com/howlidays
 
Two poems, “Surprise,” and “A Day at the Races,” were included in Scifaikuest, November 2021, print edition.
 
My poem “Tired of Traffic,” appeared in Spaceports & Spidersilk, October 2021.
 
On November 1, The Miramichi Reader posted my review of Sarah Tolmie's The Little Animals: https://miramichireader.ca/2021/11/the-little-animals-by-sarah-tolmie/
 
My review of Shapers of Worlds Volume II, edited by Edward Willett, appeared on The Miramichi Reader November 29, 2021:  
https://miramichireader.ca/2021/11/shapers-of-worlds-volume-ii-edited-by-edward-willett/
 
My review of Gary Morgenstein’s dystopian baseball novel A Mound Over Hell (first book in the Dark Depths series) was published on the Sports Literature Association’s web site: https://sportliteratureassociation.wordpress.com/2021/11/02/a-mound-over-hell-book-1-of-the-dark-depths-series-by-sport-by-gary-morgenstein/
 
What I’m Working On
As noted above, I worked on the first drafts of a number of short stories in November. During the next few months, I’ll be polishing these up for send-out to various venues.