Writer’s Wednesday: 2018 Year in Review

I should have done this last week, but I didn’t think of it in time (I’m still having issues with editing posts on the iPad; apparently it simply can’t be done—another reason to shift to Wordpress, which I may try to do next month when we are more settled and I have access to the laptop a bit more). In any case, this will help you know I’m still alive out here having a blast in New Zealand. Here’s the view from the Glentanner Motor Camp by Mt. Cook, where I wrote this post on New Year’s Day, following a lovely hike.

First, I want to say that I have at least made a start on a story for the February WEP Challenge, and should be able to handle producing that much.

Now for 2018 in review, as best I can recall:
Published:
—Death By Adverb, #3 in the Pismawallops PTA mystery series
—“The Tide Waits” in Tick Tock, A Stitch in Crime, the 2018 IWSG anthology.

Submissions:
—Two stories, one several times before deciding it wasn’t good enough for the job at hand.

Written:
—15 flash-fiction pieces for the blog (including 3 WEP challenge stories)
—2 longer short-stories for submission
—Drafted Pimawallops PTA mysteries #4, Death By Library
—A lot of photo essays about trips and travel.

Life:
Helped husband retire, quit my job and resigned from the school board, sold house, cut my hair off, did my longest backpacking trip in 30 years, drove across the country, experienced fall and early winter in Maine, and flew to New Zealand.

Whew! With all that, I think I’ll be impressed that I did that much writing, however disappointed I am that I didn’t come close to meeting my goals for submitting short stories.

So—tell me about your 2018!

A to Z Reflections

 

Well, there it is.  Another A to Z Challenge completed.  And another month evaporated from under me.  And, sadly, that's how I feel about it.  I had fun, of course.  I like blogging daily, and it's been great to make a few contacts.  But I've been so harried (for reasons most of which have nothing to do with A to Z) that I haven't been able to visit many other bloggers, and the effort to keep the blog up (and visit even a few) has become a barrier to getting my other writing done (and/or an excuse for avoidance).  

That's the negative.  For the positive:

1.  As always, the people and the new blogs I discovered!  Maybe I didn't find as many as I'd hoped, but I found a few, and I'm going to enjoy their contributions (and yet. . . even that makes me sweat a bit.  What about the time it takes to keep up with all my new people?!  Eek!).

2.  More ideas about my blog.  I really enjoyed the photo specials, and it seems like my readers did, too (hey--hardly any words!  Pretty pictures!  What's not to like?).  I plan to make photo days a frequent, though maybe irregular, part of my blog.

3.   I need to get my house cleaned up and my life organized.  I'm pretty sure this is unlikely to happen, but the outcome would be positive.  There's little doubt that chaos is infecting everything, and that's not good for my writing, my family, or my spirit.  

4.  Which leads to thought #4: I need to think hard about what I'm doing with the blog and why.  Don't get me wrong.  I love blogging.  But this is supposed to be in support of my writing, not something that sometimes displaces my writing!  I guess my writing life needs to be de-cluttered just like my kitchen counter and the top of my dresser.

So there you have it.  Blogging every day wasn't too hard, especially when a couple days were mostly pictures (though those posts took just as long to put together, they were a different kind of work and a pleasant change).  But I didn't feel like I had the time to do this right, or maybe the will.  I will have to think long and hard next year about whether A to Z is the right choice for me.

Meanwhile:

ICE CREAM!