As 2011 crooks its seductive finger, I think it’s nice to recap the good, the bad and the ugly of 2010. There is no particular order to these.
The Good
- First short story accepted and published
- Notified of upcoming short story accepted for publication in 2011
- 1 partial request on The Pure
- 1 full request on All’s Fair
- 3 short story contest wins and 1 honorable mention
- Finalist in Cup of Comfort for Couples / Redbook contest
- 2 blog freebie wins
- 1 Goodreads free book win
- Finished The PURE
- Wrote My Fair Vampire, start to finish, including 2 ending variations
- Won NaNoWriMo for a novel that’s been percolating in my head for years
- Started 5 new novels (MFV, Book Portal, Sins, Horizon and Ellen’s story)
- Wrote 41 weekly flash fiction stories, 13 drabbles or hint fiction tales
- Got a free Createspace proof of my freshly edited 2009 NaNo win, All’s Fair
- Made a kick butt book trailer for The PURE
- Read 68 wonderful books (some better than others, all enjoyable)
- My terrific Facebook and Twitter followers and friends
- My wonderful and awesome writing partners, critiquers and colleagues
- Some amazing monthly blog chains
- The lovely rep points I received at AW, especially the ones from out of the blue
- A great group of regulars at AW’s Sunday night Flash Fiction Challenges
- 3 pending contests where I really like my entries
- A gen 3 Kindle from Hubs for Christmas and the technology that makes it so indispensable
- My blog followers, especially my Dad!
- One guest blog post and another one planned for January 2011
- My husband’s support of my writing through the gift of time, washed dishes and take out meals
The Bad
- Nothing but rejections on queries, partials and full = no agent
- Cut during final round of Cup of Comfort for Couples editing
- Mills & Boon New Voices competition roses voting system and the trolls who took advantage of it
- A couple of wrong way rubs on Twitter with people who have far more followers than those they follow (lesson learned)
- Didn’t finish NaNo novel beyond the 50k words required for the win
- Started but abandoned a middle grade book for my youngest son
- Several short story rejections
- Dismal showing in an erotica contest
- 3 rounds of NPR 3-Minute Reads contests with nary a mention (but I’m gonna keep trying)
- The frustrating quests to write a good query letter and synopsis
- The Christmas cards, exercise, home-cooked meals and housework that went shamefully neglected so I could write
And the Ugly:
Sounds like a darn productive year to me!
Thanks again for the wonderful beta job you did for me in 2010.
May 2011 be the year you snag that agent!
Thanks Diane. I’m still tickled pink that the one I beta’d for YOU sold to Carina and can’t wait to buy my very own shiny e-copy.
I’m sure I have a selective memory on the bad vs. the good and perhaps that’s a good thing.
The good news here is that the Good outweighs the Bad. Here’s to a productive 2011 for you and all of us.
Thanks, Andrew! Happy New Year and I’ll second that toast.
First, how did I miss this? Second, Dude! That is one ugly animal! Third … you’re forgetting in the ‘The Good’ section … *our* collective project … started pre-2011 which is sooooooooooooo gonna work (though no one will no its us). 😉 Ha!
Madam, I think you have me confused with someone else. 😉 (But I’m sure your prediction is accurate!)