The world continues to burn as my health improves. I don’t think this is a Dorian Gray type of situation.
Health
This year marked private COVID boosters being approved in the UK. I received two during the year. My slow physical improvements were suddenly not slow. At the end of the year, I’m at a point where I can walk for several miles and my knee is mostly straightened. I really wish I could have had boosters before, because I suspect it would have knocked a year or two off my recovery. But post-viral symptoms weren’t considered a valid reason to get the NHS ones.
Everything is pretty stable now. The damaged joints are much more solid now my muscles are growing back. I doubt I’ll stop walking with a stick, but I can get out more.
More mobility and energy has also meant I’ve caught up with sorting animal stuff. I restocked my fish tank. This resulted in some bonus danio fry turning up in the quarantine tank. I got some new cockroaches to start a colony, which has worked out. My previous attempt did not breed at my room temperature.
Bit by bit, I’m catching up on things.
Publications
I sold “Born Outside” to Clarkesworld. This is a pod people story that came out in July. It’s the first publication of that story, for those who keep track of such things.
Everyday Aliens
Everyday Aliens is my novella-length flash fiction collection and has an official page here. I had planned on releasing this earlier in the year, but initially delayed until after my Clarkesworld story was out and to let my social media rebuild. I worked on other things in the gaps, like more flash fiction and notes for future projects.
I could have released this in late December, but decided against in order to push it into 2025. This is mostly because people were acting like 2024 was already over. Being technically the next year means it might just get included in some reading roundups and the like.
Anyway, coming soon.
Future Writing
I’m working on a sequel to Werecockroach. I had notes before, but my brain wasn’t in the right place to work on it. Now, I have the files sorted and I’m writing it.
The first book wasn’t intended to have a sequel, but I know there’s interest and I came up with ideas. It’ll have a standalone story, just like the first. If all goes well, I also have ideas for a third book, which’d round it out nicely as a novella trilogy. It’ll follow the same characters and Rin will continue to be the viewpoint character. I also intend to have a bonus Addie short story in each one.
Social Media
Bluesky continues to build. The starter packs mean I’m now followed by more people than on old Twitter. How many will stick around remains to be seen.
Reddit is the runner up for causing book sales, as Werecockroach is increasingly getting recommended by other people. I haven’t been able to leverage that into sales of my other books, but it’s still a start.
Other Things
I was a virtual attendee at the Glasgow Worldcon. This was rather last minute, as I got paid for the Clarkesworld story and I wanted to watch the space fungi panel. This worked and I might try this again if I have the spare money. I posted some brief notes on the panels I watched.
I looked around for some grants to see if there was anything that might give me some space to get sorted, now that I’m writing again. Mostly no. I did try applying for the Otherwise Fellowship.
The others, I either wasn’t really eligible or using the money was too restrictive. A system where the money is paid back for approved expenses requires having enough money to cover it. There’s also the risk that the expense won’t be approve or the payment will be delayed. It’s an odd choice for a grant, because it means the people who need it the most won’t be able to use it.
For most things, like blogging and videos, I’ll see what I get time and motivation to do. I’ll have more time to sort other stuff if I can get a few more book projects out.
TL;DR
I’m getting stuff done. I had a pod people story in Clarkesworld and my aliens flash fiction collection will drop in January. I hope to write a sequel to Werecockroach next year and whatever else I manage to do. I’m still on Bluesky.