Year in Review

From a purely personal perspective, 2009 was an awesome year, obviously: I became engaged and am now happily ensconced in TYG’s house. Less happily, there is a LOT of unpacking to do, and my arms are sore enough I’m having to take that very lightly the next couple of days. But every ache is worth it to be with her.
Writing-wise, the results are mixed. I received the assignment for The Enemy Within and set to work, so that’s very satisfying; on the other hand, fiction has once again lagged. Brain From Outer Space won’t be finished by my birthday; I finished only three shorts, which is much less than I’d hoped. On the other hand, I did get the Big Pulp assignment and Atoms For Peace will be done by the end of January. And I have several stories out there still.
Of course, I left my Destin Log job for the unknown here in Durham; while it would be great if I could land a job in my field, I’m prepared to settle for something less. That would be disappointing, but I knew the risk and it’s acceptable.
In any case, once I get a day job and wrap up Enemy Within, I intend to return to fiction as my primary focus. I wouldn’t have plunged as deeply into nonfiction the past couple of years as I did if not for my newspaper chain constantly shrinking our paychecks, so now that I’m in a two-income couple, there’s a little less pressure.
So while not a bad year for writing—I did see Love That Moves the Sun sold and Signs and Hortense and Red Moon Rising published—it was more modest and less productive than I’d hoped. But I’ve only a few months left on Enemy Within and the Big Pulp series should start soon so I’m anticipating a cool 2010.
But keep your fingers crossed for me just the same.