The year started off mired in uncertainty.
January 14th marked the fourth anniversary of my layoff from Freescale. I entered the year determined to make my own business a reality instead of relying on the fickle whims of “The Man.” The first six months were quite difficult as clients were few and far between. I had just enough business to keep the momentum going through difficult times.
When June came around, I answered a call from Steven Groves of Social Marketing Conversations, a man I had met in 2009. He’s a social media marketing expert and we had hit it off from the start when I told him I was live-tweeting his talk. It turned out that we work pretty well together and the business relationship looks to get even better in 2014.
On the fiction side, I finished writing my fifth novel, A Darkling Nine. As things with my business heated up, I spent the effort there instead of on finishing the novel. My own fault and I promised myself that I would have it ready to shop around by the end of February 2014. Revisions began last night.
This novel I intend to market traditionally. I’ve always been a huge proponent of indie publishing, but I also have said all along that having a foot in both camps is best.
While I had intended to write Proxima Centauri, the sequel to Rigel Kentaurus, in 2013, it didn’t happen. Again, my own fault. As a writer, I am my own worst roadblock. I promised myself to finish this by the end of summer 2014.
On the short fiction side, I did have two short stories appear, the first since 2010. David Lee Summer’s anthology A Kepler’s Dozen contained my story A Glint off the Glass. Also appearing is my story avast( );, this time in the first issue of Blue Shift magazine. Alas, I was stiffed a three-figure payment for that one. Finally, I had a flash story, Electric Jesus, accepted at Ancient Paths. That is forthcoming in 2014.
While 2013 wasn’t a great year, it wasn’t bad either. It was a year of transition and a year that healing could begin. I hope to build on the accomplishments of 2013 in 2014, and make better progress on all my projects.
