The Resolutions

Here we are on the last day of 2012. I hope the year treated you kindly.

In the last post I listed out all my podcasts, publications, and major activities for 2012. Here's how it breaks down in numbers:

Submissions: 41
Rejections: 30
Acceptances: 8
Publications: 9
Podcasts: 27

So what does this mean for 2013? I'll spare you the suspense. It means more of the same. The three areas I need to work on are writing, health, and finances.

Produce more words. Submit those words.

Exercise. At least 30 minutes, three times per week.

Finances. Eat dinner at home. Be open to new opportunities.

I know resolutions aren't in vogue with many of my friends, and I do try to create goals constantly throughout the year, complete with milestones, but there's just something about the new year that feels like a fresh start--a chance to draw a line and reevaluate.

For whatever reason I've been holding myself back. I have not been writing as regularly as I should. I have not been completing projects. I sabotage myself with terrible television and make flimsy excuses. It's not fair to me and it's not fair to my husband, who has made sacrifices so I can have this time.

It's not in my nature to state that all of these issues will be behind me as of January 1. It would be wishful thinking, or worse: a fib. But I need to find a way to compensate for these natural inclinations. I simply hope that by acknowledging my tendencies, I can come up with strategies to thwart them.

But I don't delude myself into thinking there's a cure. It's just a matter of changing habits, and habits are stubborn and jealous things. I've always liked this quote best:

The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken.
Samuel Johnson

None of this is to discount the last 365 days. 2012 was a pretty great year. I got to see many of my immediate family members, there were no major health issues, and I made many new friends and saw so much of the world. I'm grateful for the opportunities I was given, and for all of the support I've received in my writing career.

To sum up, I'd like to say thank you for sticking with me on this crazy journey. May 2013 bring us all good health, good times, and good news. And as I first wrote back in 2005: Happy New Year to you and yours; may it bring everything you desire and only some of what you deserve.

2012 in Review

I've compiled a list of my publications, podcasts, and major activities in 2012. It's like the Internet's very own Folly cheat sheet.

January

• "The Hero Garden" published at InfectiveInk.com (Superhero Fantasy, 2,000 words)
  
• Snowed a lot
  

February

• Went to the SFWA reading featuring David Levine, Nancy Kress, and J.A. Pitts
  
• Attended Potlatch and the Potlatch Writers' Workshop with David Levine
  
• My photoblog was hacked and I fixed it
  
• Roasted my first turkey
  
• Took a novel revision class at Bellevue College
  

March

• "Pompeii is for Lovers" received Honorable Mention in the String-of-10 FOUR Flash Fiction Contest
  
• "British Guiana, 1853," published in the Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations anthology
  
• "Giblet Pan Gravy" published at MicroHorror (Horror, 260 words)
  
• Created my Amazon author page
  
• Joined the Horror Writers Association as an affiliate member
  
• Attended World Horror Convention and Mort Castle's Writing Workshop in Salt Lake City and did my first public 30 minute reading. Click to read the full summary.
  

April

• "Taking the Wind" published at 10Flash Quarterly (now defunct)
  
• Went on a Ghost Tour at Pike Place Market
  
• Began volunteering for Every Day Fiction as their Podcast Manager
  
• Attended Norwescon and the Fairwood Writers' Workshop in SeaTac, WA
  
  
• PODCAST: "The Widow’s Tale" by J. Chris Lawrence at Every Day Fiction. Posted April 16, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "On the Unlawful Events Taking Place at Outcast's Last" by A.D. Spencer at Wily Writers. ( 18 min ) Posted April 29, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Flowers for Clockwork Street" by Jennifer R. Fierro at Every Day Fiction. Posted April 30, 2012.
  

May

• "When the Dead Decide to Disco" published at Every Day Fiction (Surreal, 783 words)
  
  
• PODCAST: "Captain Quasar and the Popularity Contest on Goobalox Five" by Milo James Fowler at Every Day Fiction. Posted May 7, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Outwitted" by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt for Wily Writers. ( 17 min ) Posted May 12, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "The Hurt Club" by James Van Pelt for Every Day Fiction. Posted May 21, 2012.
  

June

• Saw the King Tut exhibit at Pacific Science Center
  
• Attended Locus Awards Weekend in Seattle, WA
  
• Attended class at Hugo House with Connie Willis and James Patrick Kelly
  
• Sister-in-law visited with her two kids
  
• Went to Cat Rambo and K.C. Ball's readings at the UW Bookstore
  
• Went to Clarion West readings with Mary Rosenblum and Stephen Graham Jones
  
• Went to Luna Lindsey's reading at the Wayward
  
• "Taking the Wind" included in a list of 130+ favorite stories
• My podcast for Jennifer R. Fierro's "Flowers for Clockwork Street" nominated for a Parsec award
  
  
• PODCAST: "Navel Gazing" by Ao-Hui Lin for Every Day Fiction. Posted June 4, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Fuchsia" by Stephen V. Ramey for Every Day Fiction. ( 4 min 20 s | 2.97 MB ) Posted June 11, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Blood and Water" by Lydia S Gray for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 43 s | 4.62 MB ) Posted June 18, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "A Message" by Amanda J. Capper for Every Day Fiction. ( 5 min 31 s | 3.78 MB ) Posted June 25, 2012.
  

July

• "The Pragmatic Groom" published at Short, Fast, and Deadly. Expand the issue and select pages 14-15 to read the story.
  
• My parents visited and built a fence. Also took a day trip to Mt. Rainier
  
• Participated in the Shock Totem Flash Contest for July
  
• Interviewed by Dale Ivan Smith at his blog
  
• Went to Clarion West readings: George R.R. Martin, Connie Willis, Kelly Link and Gavin Grant, and Chuck Palahniuk
  
• Attended ArmadilloCon and Writers' Workshop in Austin -- my roommate was Cat Rambo
• Took a Greyhound bus to visit Fort Worth for a week
  
  
• PODCAST: "Collateral Damage" by J. Chris Lawrence for Every Day Fiction. ( 7 min 37 s | 5.34 MB ) Posted July 2, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Manna from Heaven" by Paul A. Freeman for Every Day Fiction. ( 7 min 50 s | 5.48 MB ) Posted July 16, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Why Do They Lie to Me?" by Rohini Gupta for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 47 s | 4.77 MB ) Posted July 30, 2012.
  

August

• Attended Chicon in Chicago and ate my first deep dish pizzas at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria and Gino's East
  
• Three fictional mad scientist-themed ads published in the Spring 2012 Mad Scientist Journal
  
• Transformed our backyard with new plants and a small greenhouse kit
  
• Went on a Ghost Tour of Pioneer Square with Eliza Hirsch
  
  
• PODCAST: "When the Dead Decide to Disco" by Folly Blaine (That's Me!) for Every Day Fiction. (5 min 36 s | 3.96 MB ) Posted August 6, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "The Most Epicly Awesomest Story! Ever!! " by Randy Henderson for Every Day Fiction. ( 3 min 57 s | 2.82 MB ) Posted August 27, 2012.
  

September

• Attended a Writers' Retreat with members of my Thursday night writing group at a big house on a lake -- Nate Crowder, Jeremy Zimmerman, Dawn Vogel, Amos Buchanan, and Torrey Podmajersky
  
• Attended KillerCon with Eliza Hirsch at the Stratosphere in Las Vegas
  
• Won third place in the Creative Fiction contest at KillerCon with 200 words or less using: mongoose, forgiveness, plagiarism, zither, and butterknife. Judged by Mignon Fogarty (Grammar Girl), Jack Ketchum, Don D'Auria, and Roy Robbins
  
• "Last of the Soul Eaters" published in the anthology edited by Kasey Lansdale: Fresh Blood, Old Bones
  
  
• PODCAST: "Pest Control" by Beth Cato for Every Day Fiction. ( 7 min 06 s | 4.99 MB ) Posted September 3, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Ugly" by Meera Jhala for Every Day Fiction. ( 5 min 39 s | 3.99 MB ) Posted September 10, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Zeppelin Follies" by Cat Rambo for her new collection of science fiction stories: Near + Far. ( 34 min 23 s | 23.61 MB ) Posted September 12, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "The Spinners" by Jennifer Campbell-Hicks for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 46 s | 4.75 MB ) Posted September 17, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Strikethrough" by Matt Daly for Every Day Fiction. ( 7 min 22 s | 5.17 MB ) Posted September 24, 2012.
  

October

• Went to the following readings/talks in October: Nancy Pearl interview with Jasper Fforde; SFWA reading with Jennifer Brozek, Seanan McGuire, and Phil Foglio; Tina Connolly; Mark Z. Danielewski; Cory Doctorow; Curse of the Pharoahs at Town Hall
  
• Visited family in Portland at a dog show
  
• "The Man at the End of the Chain" accepted into Jennifer Brozek's "The Beast Within 4: Gears and Growls"
  
• Got house appraised
  
• Had the trees trimmed
  
  
• PODCAST: "Glass Ceiling" by Laura Crowe for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 28 s | 4.55 MB ) Posted October 1, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "A Gift from Over the Sea" by Jeff Chapman for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 33 s | 4.6 MB ) Posted October 15, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Serenity or Sails" by Dale Ivan Smith for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 41 s | 4.7 MB ) Posted October 22, 2012.
  

November

• Attended World Fantasy Convention in Toronto -- roomed with Andrew Williams
  
• Attended Story Masters workshop taught by Donald Maass, James Scott Bell, and Christopher Vogler
  
• Heard Simon Winchester's talk on his new book, Skulls
  
• Got car fixed
  
• "The Hero Garden" won the 2012 Hawthorne Citation in the Short-Short category.
  

December

• Finished the process of refinancing our house
  
• "How I Learned to Love My Clones" published at Mad Scientist Journal
  
• Spent 17 days in Spain and Portugal: Salou, Tarragona, Barcelona, and Funchal
  
  
• PODCAST: "The It Girl" by Richard J. Dowling for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 34 s | 4.62 MB ) Posted December 10, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "From Here to the Sargasso" by Andrew S. Williams for Every Day Fiction. ( 6 min 36 s | 4.64 MB ) Posted December 17, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Making Merry" by Richard Lamb for Every Day Fiction. ( 3 min 10 s | 2.28 MB ) Posted December 24, 2012.
  
• PODCAST: "Seeking the Great Raymundo" by Jamie Lackey for Beneath Ceaseless Skies. ( 26 min 34 s | 18.2 MB ) Posted December 27, 2012.
  

My first Beneath Ceaseless Skies podcast

I had the huge honor to read Jamie Lackey's "Seeking the Great Raymundo" for the Beneath Ceaseless Skies podcast, now live. 26 minutes-ish and you can play it through their web page or listen at iTunes. It's a terrific story at one of my favorite online magazines. I hope you enjoy it.

Click to listen to the podcast at Beneath Ceaseless Skies...

New story up at Mad Scientist Journal

I'm proud to announce my new story, "How I Learned to Love My Clones" is now up at Mad Scientist Journal. I've written an article as the mad Dr. Cortico Vox, exploring an epiphany he had Christmas day.

I hope you enjoy it.

Excerpt from "How I Learned to Love My Clones:"

When I began my illustrious career as “mad” scientist, I considered clones a necessary evil. It pains me to admit this now, but I failed to see my clones as individuals, but rather, they were mere pawns in my Master Genetic Revivification Plan–my biological fail-safes, my backups … but not my friends.

Zeke showed me a different way...

Click to read the rest.

Be sure to read his bio.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! I hope you have a fantastic holiday.

My husband and I have just returned from a 17-day trip to Europe. We spent seven days in an off-season resort town called Salou (pronounced Sah-low), Spain, outside of Barcelona, with day trips into Tarragona and Montserrat Monastery. Followed by two days in Barcelona. And then seven days in Funchal (pronounced Foon-shall), on the island of Madeira, Portugal--a tropical island that is a lot like Kauai, but without the humidity.

After a 20-hour trip that began when the taxi picked us up in Funchal at 3am (That's Funchal time, which is 8 hours ahead of the Pacific Northwest), our plane landed about 10:30pm PST last night and, after claiming our bags and a short taxi ride, we arrived home about 11:30pm. Just in time for Christmas.

It was an amazing trip, but it really is nice to be home again.

I'm sure I'll have more to say about the trip. Some of the highlights were walking across a Roman aqueduct, visiting a monastery at the top of a mountain (by riding a funicular), descending the towers of Gaudi's La Sagrada Familia, the guided tour through a lava tube, wine (port) tasting at the Old Blandy Wine Lodge in Madeira, touring the Picasso Museum in Barcelona, and visiting the Christmas markets. And I haven't even mentioned the food...