2009 TW3

Looking back at this year and writing about how I fared, whether I hit my goals or not, and all I have to offer are excuses. Though they are good ones. A serious bout of illness for both me and the missus, albeit not overlapping, punched a huge hole in the year. As a result I didn't get close to hitting that target of writing nine stories in 2009. Instead, I managed 4. I have another ready to edit and if I can get it done before the end of the year I'll improve on that so it's not an utter write off.

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On the upside I did manage to get a lot of stories accepted and published this year. Five. Far more than ever before. On the downside most of those were written/edited in 2008 and early 2009. Following the same logic I can expect a lull as I get more stories written, edited and sent out. Fingers crossed that the success I have had will breed more.

I also feel better about writing than I have for a long time. I've had two ideas for strong stories clamouring for attention and wanting to be written. Both feel like they will be pretty easy to turn around. That's not happened for a while, a long while. So that's good.

I shouldn't forget that despite taking months off to heal I still beat my record on submissions. Some of that is because e-zines turn stories around far quicker than those that accept posted submissions. But also I've been diligent about sending them out and logging who had what. It does mean I'm close to hitting 150 rejections but that goes with the territory. I've made my peace with that. Generally, I feel good about this. It's just a matter of getting on with it - as ever.