In my final year of eligibility (it’s for amateur writers), I finished second in this years N3F short story competition with my tale “The Safety of Thick Walls”. I’ll miss competing in this one, as it’s been a staple on my calendar (and a contest I’ve done very well in over the years), but at least I’m out for a good reason. Link to the File 770 announcement here (it’s item 13).

Write Ahead / The Future Looms, Volume 7 has been published. This one contains my story “Inner Peace”. Link to the purchase page here.

I’m doing my year-in-review piece in January so it doesn’t get lost amid all the others.  Why?  Because 2019 was a special year for me, and I want everyone to take notice.

The numbers were wonderful, with about 40 short stories published and a similar amount of sales, as was the income, my best year yet.

But even more than that was the experience of being a writer this year.

I got to do three things I never thought I’d get to do.

Chronologically, the first was to attend the prize ceremony for the Jim Baen Memorial Award thanks to my runner-up finish in the contest.  This contest is a big deal put together by a major publisher, so it was an honor to be among the winners.

After that, I got to launch a book at WorldCon in Dublin.  That is probably the coolest thing I’ve ever done as a writer.  To be able to stand up in front of a group of fans and talk about my book and my writing process was a true honor.  My publisher, Guardbridge Books was super-supportive, and are absolutely wonderful.

The book in question?  Off the Beaten Path, which you can purchase here (or kindle here).

While still in the UK, I got confirmation that I am now an active member of SFWA.  This has been a long time coming, and was one of those career goals that looked incredibly far away when I was starting out.  It’s the one thing that, in my mind, always separated professional authors from the ones still working to get there.  Getting that approval was huge.

In addition to science fiction and fantasy, I also published a literary book entitled Love and Death, which I am inordinately proud of.  It’s the one book I can recommend to any of my readers regardless of what genre they read in.  It talks to everyone’s experience, and sometimes, leafing through it, I can’t believe I wrote it.

You can buy it here.

Finally, my bestselling book of 2019, launched before the other two, in March, was a creature feature which surprised most reviewers by actually being well-written.  A mad adventure in Antarctica, it found a welcoming audience and sold a bunch of copies which makes me both happy and able to purchase beer with the proceeds (someday I hope to say “able to purchase yachts with the proceeds” but that day is not today).

You can buy that one here.

Anyway, a great year, and one that I will remember for a long time.

Sale! My story “A Man of his Word” has sold to Fantasy Short Stories Volume IV. This year has certainly gotten off to a fast start sales-wise. Hope it continues in the same vein!

First sale of the year came in over the weekend – an audio reprint (“Take Me in to the Ballgame”) sale to Manawaker Studios, which makes me very happy. I love having my work podcast because it opens it up to a completely different audience.

Supremely cool news for the first Monday of the year is that my DreamForge story, “A Sip of Pombé” made the recommended reading list on Tangent (and with a star and everything). Link here.

Last sale of 2019? Probably. I just sent the contract back to The Weird and Whatnot, who will be publishing my S&S tale, “Favored Methods”. Good end to a fantastic year.

Sensory Perceptions has been launched! This one contains my story “Pacific Wind”. Link here!

My story “Desperate Measures” is this month’s tale at Anotherealm, and it’s free to read. Link here.

Sale! My story “Digital Rights” has sold to House of Zolo, my first sale to this market. Will let everyone know when it’s published.