Since 2014 I’ve avoided declaring writing resolutions and tried keeping things simple with one easy goal—reading one book per week for a total of 52 per year.
This year I far exceeded that goal, partly because I embraced a new-found love of audiobooks. I’ll share my bookish end-of-year recap with you in a few weeks, but for now here’s a list of the writing I published in 2018:
Short Stories
From Autumn to June
A young girl struggles with feelings of loss over an aborted sibling.
I’ve lived all my life without knowing you. Fourteen years. I’ll still never know you, but at least now I know of you. You existed once, and nobody gave you a name, and I’m sorry about that.
The Lost Girls
A six-year-old boy experiences a truly haunted Halloween while trick-or-treating with his sister.
He’d never been to the ocean and didn’t know what the waves sounded like when they broke against the shore, but Timothy knew they didn’t sound like the voices of girls.
Articles
A Different Point of View
In this post for Women on Writing, I reveal a trick to getting to know your characters better.
Start at the Beginning—Using Titles as Prompts
In this post for Superstition Review, I discuss writer’s block and how to beat it.
Essays
Although it didn’t get published, I was thrilled when my essay Pure Imagination won honorable mention in Women on Writing’s essay contest in March.
I may not have writing resolutions for 2019, but I have lots of hopes. I hope to find an agent or publisher for one (or all!) of my three unpublished books. I hope to write something completely different, non-literary, and fun (maybe a cozy mystery?). Above all, I hope to keep scribbling away—preserving memories, creating worlds, and wondering at the magic of it all.
Happy New Year!
You’ve had an amazing 2018. I believe 2019 will be even better. With your mix of fabulous creativity and a determined work ethic, how can you miss?
Thank you, Carrie! I have a good feeling about 2019—for both of us. 🙂