Well, it is now 2019 and it’s time to look back over 2018, a mildly eventful year in my writing history.

I complete another novel manuscript in 2019, a sequel of my military SF manuscript that is currently making the rounds with the major publishers.

I produced a number of new short stories including one that I had suspected I would never write due to its dark nature.

After many entries I scored a spot as a Finalist in the Writers of the Future Contest. This was an achievement I had not expected. The contest if very difficult, thousands of pieces are submitted every quarter and of those thousands only eight are placed as Finalist, of which three go on to become winners, 1sr, 2nd, and 3rd places. Below Finalist are the categories Semi-finalist, Silver Honorable Mentions, and Honorable Mentions. With earlier attempts I had placed as high as semi-finalist but a few years ago the coordinating judge, who determines the Finalists entries, changed and my batting average dropped off the charts. When this story made Finalist and I got the call that I was in the running to possibly win it was quite a shock. I did not win but apparently it was a close thing. That story is now making the rounds seeing if a magazine might want to pick it up.

During 2018 my military SF novel got a ‘full’ request from on of the major publishers of a SF novel. Let me explain what that means. When you submitted a novel directly to a publisher most publishers that take direct submission as for the first three chapters of the manuscript and a synopsis and for most submission that is all they need to issue a rejection. Having read from slush piles before I can fully understand this, it is often evident with a page or two if the writer has progressed to professional levels of skill. IF they like the sample then the editor will request the entire, or a ‘full’, manuscript and that it exactly what happened. Now I wait as the editor reads the novel and maker their decision.

September also the publication of my latest short story sale to NewMyths.com of AnyLanding …a story about a family that crashes in territory controlled by artificial intelligences and the crisis this brings out in the personal conflicts.

Sadly 2018 was also the year that my agency dropped me from representation. These sorts of reversals will occur and the important thing is to move on and not let such event derail the progress I have made.

I have high hopes for 2019, the novel is still under consideration, I will be attending the SDSU writers Conference for the first time, and I have many more stories to tell.