2018 was an up and down writing year.
Five short story acceptances and five short story publications... Yay! (I know this sounds like the same five stories, but it’s not. Some stories were accepted in 2017 and not published until 2018; somewhere accepted in 2018 and will not be published until 2019.) Falling short of my yearly writing word count goal... Boo! (Yearly writing goal was 300,000. Had to be lower to 250,000. Will likely make that.) Getting to read my second place winning short story on a panel at a Sci Fi conference (and getting to attend that conference for free)... Yay! (The Pawnshop of Intangible Things got second place in the 2017 Baltimore Science Fiction Society’s Ametuer Writing Contest. Later it was published in Deep Magic, my first professional sale, thus making me not an ametuer anymore. The con was Balticon. It was really cool.) No one showing up for the panel… Boo! (Except the readers, the panel moderator, and one other panelists three family members. Still worth it though.) Establishing official social media author accounts on facebook and twitter… Yay! (Find me on facebook @margerybayne and on twitter @themargerybayne.) Not really knowing how to use twitter… Boo! (WTF is a subtweet?) Learning much from my ‘write 1000 words a day for 30 days’ challenge… Yay! (This wasn’t NaNoWriMo. Podcast on my experience to come.) Struggling with original fiction… Boo! (Yikes.) Still making progress with original fiction despite the ups and downs, changing jobs, and making my halfway point through graduate school… Yay! (Yay!)
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Of course, Thanksgiving is the time of year we are called on to think about what we are thankful for. So, here I am, being thankful.
I am thankful for my new job. In August of this year I started a new job at a new library system. This was after several months of job searching after I decided I couldn’t continue with my current position due to the unsupportive and rough conditions at my place of employment. Just a few months in I am so glad of the change, of the new teamwork-oriented environment, and of how this has reflected positively on my mental and emotional health. I am thankful of my new living situation. This October marks one year being roommates with my brother and it is a very nice situation. I am thankful for the publications I have had this year. 2017 was a breaking point for me, getting some publication acceptances and placing second in a writing contest. That momentum has carried into 2018. I got to go on a panel at a scifi conference. I have several other publications and publication acceptances. One of them was my first ever “professional” publication, meaning the pay rate was at/over .06 cents per word. (It was also one of the two of my most favorite stories I’ve written, so I am thankful it found its place.) I have two more publications coming out before the end of 2018. I’m thankful for that too. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. |
Margery BayneInsights from the life of an aspiring, struggling writer; a passionate reader, and a working librarian. Archives
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