I’ve been noticing these end-of-a-decade posts and I suddenly realized that 2020 ends my first decade as a published author. I started publishing stories 8 years ago. At this point, I feel like I might be a small press author, but I’m certainly no longer a new writer–something of a revelation. In honor of the decade that was, I decided to write my own end-of-decade post.
In the last decade I’ve published 36 stories in ~63 venues, including Interzone, Podcastle, the Cincinnati Review, The Dark, and Black Static. I’ve had one translated story released (French), along with one collection (Uncommon Miracles–PS Publishing) and one novella (The Rampant–Aqueduct Press).
I’ve narrated other people’s work at Podcastle, Far Fetched Fables, and StarShipSofa. I’ve obtained an MFA and interned at Small Beer Press where I hosted, engineered, and narrated 21 podcasts.
Finally, I’ve participated 4 times in the collaborative, juried Art & Words Show in Fort Worth, Texas.
I’ve made wonderful writing friends, so many of them, and worked with a number of them on my fiction. In a way I never expected, I relaxed into myself and found both my voice and my people.
And yet….I still feel like I’m just beginning. And that every story involves learning to write all over again. Some things seem unlikely to change. And I guess that’s not a bad thing–just part of the experience