The year in review, and looking forward to next year...

Not a bad year, writing wise (and otherwise actually..). It kicked off in style with a rare burst of activity that saw me submitting three different stories by the end of January; two of which have since been published:

"Something Unpleasant" - in Masters of Horror: The Anthology
"Miramar is Possum Free" - in A Foreign Country: New Zealand Speculative Fiction

Inspired by these successes, I managed to finish two other short stories (involving a lot of re-writing):

"Everybody goes to hell" - wild west horror, submitted and waiting for responses...
"The Big Three-oh" - hard-ish, future war sci-fi, already rejected twice (which was quick) but submitted again and waiting...

And, I managed to find a home for a story I wrote about 4 years ago:

"Trip Hawker and the Asteroid of Vengeance" - to be published in Rockets, Swords and Rainbows: New Tales of Science Fiction

AND - I actually got paid for both published stories - I won't be giving up my day job anytime soon, but hey, I'm a PRO.

Of course, my greatest achievement was assisting in my wife's baby (due mid-January).

Coming up for next year...

Finish and submit my superhero story - when I saw the call for submissions, the story just jumped into my head, supporting cast and backstory have followed very easily...now all I have to do is cram it all in to 5000 words. Deadline is March, but it would be good to have a first draft done in the next couple of days...

Conitnue with my sci-fi novel - fitting in around the demands of a new baby.

And, of course, help my wife give birth (as much as one can..), and all the fun stuff that comes with a new baby.

And today's Drabble - hmm, Xmassy theme....

Flehm was a miserable sod; worse at Xmas. The Under-Scroggins at Flehm’s Grommitworks had to work through with fewer breaks. On Boxing Day the sadistic swine would always fire someone at random.

So Flehm chucked a dart, as usual while blindfolded, onto the crowded factory floor. Deggles, a worker of some fifty years got it, literally, in the neck.

Poetically, Deggles killed Flehm by sticking a javelin through his head. Flehm stayed miserable to his painful end.

The authorities drowned Deggles in a vat of cider, but, by golly, he died happy. Sometimes, you’ve just got to do what’s right.

And a very Merry Xmas to all...