2013 - Looking Back in Amazement

With just one week until Christmas, and two until the New Year, I decided to do my annual look back over the last twelve months and what's happened in that time. A couple of weeks ago, I was feeling a bit down about my perceived lack of progress, possibly aggravated by not hitting 50K at NaNoWriMo again. So I sat down and had a count through my various manuscripts and added up words. I was stunned to discover I'd written a not unimpressive 100K plus (and that's not including all the blog posts and, um, tweets that I've done). While I'm always of the opinion I could do better, it's not a shabby total. It includes finishing some older projects, writing new ones start to finish, and others still in progress. Although my working year officially ends today (hubs is home from tomorrow, and my three monsters from Saturday) the possibility of squeezing in a few more words for 2013 is there. Of course, despite what I have scheduled for 2014, I expect myself to exceed that next year. Le sigh.
So, where did I clock up all those words? Here's the list -

Written this year
Revived (SFR) - 22K finished
Halloween themed PNR - 12K finished and with editor
RIP (PNR) - 40K in progress and full requested
Darkfall (decopunk superhero) - added 10K, on submission
Secret project (SFR) - added 2K, finished
Flaming Angel (SF) - 6K, finished and on submission
Reboot (cyberpunk) - 6.5K, finished
Vampire spacepirates (SF) - 2K, in progress

On top of those, I have a dozen other projects at various stages and others that I've edited. I'm currently 5191 words into another SFR short that I will try to finish for year's end, but my aim for then was purely to complete Revived and the Secret Project, which are already done. Anything else is pure bonus.
What else did I achieve this year? Well...

1. I had three short stories for anthologies out on submission - SFR short Imprint to Tales of the SFR Brigade, SF Flaming Angel to an inhouse anthology at Champagne Books, and cyberpunk Reboot to the Sword and Lazer antho. Of those, Imprint was accepted and chosen as the first story in Tales (squee!). Flaming Angel is still pending. Reboot was rejected (just to prove that published authors still get the big R). :P
2. Terms & Conditions Apply, the short story I wrote for Misa Buckley's anthology in 2012 but then self published in November of that year placed second in the GCC RWA Silken Sands Self Published Star Contest.
3. I finally completed and polished Tethered (a SFR I started during one of my four attempts at NaNoWriMo) with thanks to Jessica Subject and Dani Fine. It received two rejections before being contracted by Definition House.
4. Keir's Fall, the sequel to Keir, having been rejected by my publisher is now contracted to Definition House.
5. Keir won a SFR Galaxy Award for Best May to September Romance, became a semi-finalist in The Kindle Book Review's Best Indie Book 2013, and placed 2nd as a finalist in the HOD RWA Aspen Gold Contest. I also celebrated his first book birthday in May with a small online celebration and blue-themed party food.
6. I wrote my first paranormal romance holiday themed short, and in just six days! I then started a Christmas themed SFR. Both are scheduled for release next year - I've already set up sign up forms for the cover reveals and releases. The SFR even has a cover already, despite not being complete, while the PNR is with my editor.
7. I'm currently writing a zombie book. I hate calling it that, because it's not your conventional Hollywood zombie. This was my freaky little NaNoWriMo story, which I had to get out of my head and had no plans to publish. However, Breathless Press offered a critiquing event in mid November for NaNo stories, so I sent my five pages and a synopsis and...GOT A REQUEST FOR THE FULL! Shocked is putting it mildly, lol. So now the pressure is on to finish!
8. On the subject of NaNoWriMo, this was my fourth attempt. I didn't make 50K, but at 35K RIP was my longest so far, and my concern was more to have the complete first draft down, which I did. It's all revisions, details and polishing now.
9. The secret project had been sitting on my computer unfinished for over a year, and will now form part of the Kickstarter campaign for Keir's Fall in January. ;)
10. Gethyon (YA SF) and Tales from the SFR Brigade (SFR Antho) both released in June, and so far have received favourable reviews. They also brought my total of published works up to five.

Wow, it's been an eventful year on the writing side! On the personal side, my eldest started senior school and started wearing my size shoes. She's already stolen a pair of my trainers. >.< In May, I got to meet up with my friend Ian Peaston again and watch him perform at the Brighton Fringe. This time I took hubs along. I celebrated my 20th wedding anniversary in May, and in August hit the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything - 42!