Sour Decembah

So, December is over too, and I was sick for a long stretch of it.  It could've been worse . . . I know somebody who was sick so long, they dropped out of school and right off the face of the earth.  But maybe I caught it too.  I'd feel sick for a few days, then start to feel better, only to be sick again for two or three days after that, then the process repeated.  It was like one of those lingering illnesses that people had in Dickens's day.  My mom worried that maybe it was a plague that would winnow down the population a little, like you get.

Nevertheless, it screwed up my voice something fierce.  I've never been able to record a great deal at one sitting (it doesn't help that there's usually only an hour or so of free space on my recorder at any one time, despite keeping a blank soundcard in the glove compartment of my car for just such emergencies), but I managed very little recording, and what I did put down, sounds awfully nasal when I edit it (I worry that someone might ask me to do it all over again, but that may honestly be for the best).

Regardless, here we are in January, so it's time for a little reckoning.

So, I believe I set four goals for the month of December:
1.  Finish my Broken Mirror story for the Dunesteef, 
2.  Finish "The Calling 2," 
3.  Finish reading "Star Wars: Catalyst," 
4.  Publish the audio for "New Year's Day."

I also vowed to record a lot of the two audiobooks I had committed to that month (both due in January).  So  . . .

1.  I did finish that story.  It's called "The Holiday Trip (Guest-Starring Captain America and Bucky)" and it's available in the most recent episode of the Dunesteef.  You can probably buy it here as well.

2.  I also finished "The Calling: Reunion," which is what the sequel is currently titled.  I made a list of possible titles when I started writing it, and they all started with R.  I believe "Reunion" is the one I'll go with, but "Reawakening" doesn't totally suck.  We'll see what I decide on.  Also, no idea how long the sucker is, except for probably three times as long as the first installment.

3.  I finished reading the book, though it was two days after ROGUE ONE came out (I even took it to the theater with me, but only managed a page or two).  But ah well.

4.  I didn't publish nothun!  But I did finish editing the audio yesterday, so that means I'll probably publish it . . . I dunno, someday.

Beyond that, I also was tasked with writing a story for the family Christmas party, and I did that as well.  It was called "Merry Christmas, He Said," and I'll probably put it in a holiday collection one day, since I have at least seven or eight Christmas-themed short stories I've written over the years.  Maybe more.

So, I accomplished three of the four goals (or two of the four, if you're mean)(or four of the five, if you count writing the one I hadn't set as a goal), and that ain't bad.

I saw a couple of Facebook posts where people boasted (is there a nicer word for that?) about how much writing/publishing/selling they did in 2016, and it's not hard to feel like a manatee's dingus when I compare my output to theirs.  But you can't do that.  Your life is not their life, and it's pointless to measure yourself by somebody else.  You can only measure your own accomplishments, recognize there's room for improvement, then move on.

So, here's the part where I could either end the post, or create some New Year's Resolutions.

But I dunno.  Resolutions don't really work on me, at least not year-long ones.

I need to publish "Calling 2."  I can do that, I think (even though some of it is written up in a notebook, and will need to be typed).  I can do that before 2018.

I do plan on writing another Ben Parks story.  I jotted down some notes for a Christmas one which I wish I had managed to get in this month, when the holidays were on my mind.  But ah well.

I can set that for a resolution for January.  1.  Write that "Sidekick" story.  I should start thinking up a title for it now, so it's not a year later when I come up with one.

2.  Record, edit, and re-record Abbie Hilton's new short story collection "When We Were Young."  Holy Adele, that's a good title.

3.  Publish the audiobook for "New Year's Day."

4.  Publish "Remember the Future."

5.  Record and edit the audio for "Remember the Future."

6.  Finally publish "Newfound Fame."  There's really nothing stopping me there except deliberation and self-doubt.

There, that's six.  That's pretty positive.  And pretty doable.  Who knows, maybe this year will be a good one.  You never know.

Rish Outfield, New Year's Grey