Got up this morning to -14 F–not unheard of in this area, but it’s been a few years, thanks to whatever you want to call it. I’m not complaining. After dealing with the heat dome this past summer and everything else that was involved with the nasty hot, dry weather (no, I am not a hot weather fan–my body doesn’t like it). Reports are that it got down to -18 F.
New Year’s Eve was quiet, as it has been for us even before Covid hit. First, it was work-related stuff that kept us from making a big deal about New Year’s; now it’s simply that we do live in a place with snow and cold, and dealing with roads isn’t our thing. Hubby went to bed at eleven; I did at twelve-thirty, when the temperature was -10 F. It’s now eleven-thirty and we’re now at 2 F. Unlike last year the neighborhood didn’t blow up a lot of fireworks. Somebody was but not close enough to see any displays or hear more than the occasional boom. That’s a fairly new thing that’s been happening over the past 2-3 years. I blame newer residents who have come from places where certain holidays sound like war zones. Sigh.
While I’ve not written any formal resolutions, I have some general notions in mind about what I want to do for 2022. Amongst other things, I think I’ve pretty much written all I want to do with the Martinieres, at least the major novel portions. It’s been a good two-year ride, but once I finish the two books I have in progress (Repairing the Legacy, the last book of the main series, and A Different World–What If?, which is what would have happened differently if one small thing changed in the main series), I’ll be moving on. Repairing the Legacy is serializing for free on Substack (Martiniere Stories), every Friday, and A Different World–What If? is serializing on Kindle Vella. It goes to Monday-Wednesday-Friday starting on January 3rd, and will conclude in February. Then I need to leave it there for 30 days. After that, I can publish it.
I also have the edits back for the Netwalk revisions, but no covers. Not a big deal since I think I can make my own using a Depositphotos series. I know what they are, it’s just obtaining them and making the covers.
Beating the Apocalypse, a significant rewrite of an earlier published work, will be coming out in January. It’s up on Kindle Vella right now, and I’ll start by running it through Kindle Unlimited for 90 days, then moving it to wide distribution. This is something I am planning to try for future work–early drafts on Vella, then 90 days on KU, then wide. I have a multiverse Weird West story up on Vella, Bearing Witness, which will go into production for a February release. I plan to write the longer novel of that world once I wrap up the two Martiniere books.
However, the way things look, between the Netwalk Author Preferred version releases, the move of Vella books to KU and then wide, and the two Martiniere books, I should be able to hit a book a month in releases in 2022. At least for the first part of the year. We’ll see if I actually manage to pull this off.
I also want to get back into drafting short stories. One of my stories is in an anthology that earned the “Best Short Story Collection of the Year” from the Fantasy Hive, and there’s three more books planned in that series. The short story in Once Upon a Winter, “Queen of the Snows,” is from the Rust and Flame world that I’ve been poking at for some time now. I think I’m going to get more serious about Rust and Flame, because people either loved that story or were puzzled by it. These stories may kick Rust and Flame loose, especially given the seasonal themes that make up those anthologies. I want to tell that story–and since I tend to do my best worldbuilding through associated short stories–why not? Not sure if I’m getting back on the submissions hamster wheel, however. After having 50% of my stories fail in 2020 due to either falling through the cracks or from publications going dead without notice, I’m kinda “meh” about the hard core write and submit thing I used to do. There are more options now, and I might just suck it up, finish my financial info for Substack, and run them through Substack/Medium before putting them up as e-chapbooks.
But there’s other things as well. Two years of Covid have wiped out my bazaar income. Last year, I ran figures and winced at what it cost me. This year…sigh. I also do want to be doing more fabric art, since I have a sizeable cloth stash, and possibly get myself into more art shows. However, my inventory is somewhat small so I need to take the time to build it up. I don’t think I’m going to do a lot of bowl cozies unless things change drastically with Covid and I feel safe doing bazaars again. But I want to do one-of-a-kind wall hangings and stuff like that which I’ll probably list on Etsy, or another option if I can figure it out.
Overall, this is a regrouping year. Things have changed thanks to 2020, and with everything I see heading our way…haven’t even gotten into the discussions of my gloomy opinions about politics. That, plus turning sixty-four doesn’t help as far as my attitude about the future. I do see ageism, and sexism, and unfortunately I am of a demographic that youngers can dismiss or put aside easily. While I’ve done a lot of things in my life, none of them create the sort of exciting backstory that many in traditional publishing are looking for. If I were twenty years younger, I’d probably have a chance, given the stories I’m working on these days. But at my age? Sorry, I’m cynical.
Ah well. One of my goals this year is to spend more time journaling, both privately and online. We’ll see how that goes. I plan to do an award eligibility post, even though that’s just pissing into the wind at this point. Much as I’d hope otherwise, the reality is that I tend to be a perpetual semifinalist or “just missed” person, both personally and professionally.
Too much to hope for that this will change in my elder years.
