Looking back at 2012

Before jumping into my 2013 writing goals, I’d like to self-indulge a bit, and look back at my writing accomplishments of 2012.

2012 was a bit of a crazy year that saw us undergo an almost 4 month renovation of our home. There was a lot of work involved before, during, and after the reno that sucked all my free time. However, despite all of that, I kept my Marvel 1980s blog updated and regularly contribute to Biff Bam Pop and two articles to Back Issue magazine. My short story, “Dirt Man”, was published in the Biff Bam Pop anthology, Strange Worlds.

I also made a lot of headway into my first Trevor Galloway novel. So much so that I used it both for submissions for various writers grants and for the Borderlands Boot camp. Unfortunately, I was turned down for those grants, but I was accepted into the Boot camp which is happening at the end of the month in Baltimore.

In early November, I attended the World Fantasy Convention held here in Toronto (Markham, actually) and met with a lot of other writers and was reminded of the amount of work demanded of even a part-time writer.

Also in November, I pounded out 50,000 words for NaNoWrimo detailing the YA exploits of a young woman with mysterious powers over shadows and darkness. In December, I felt a bit burned out after NaNoWrimo and it took me a while before getting into the right mind frame to tackle the Top Cow Talent Hunt. It was a deadline deal as I sent off the script and synopsis on December 31st and should hopefully find out the results by the end of the month!

So, looking back, it was a solid year that I’m hoping to build upon during 2013.

World Fantasy Convention 2012 wrap-up

The 2012 World Fantasy Convention was fun, intimidating, thought-provoking, and inspiring. Held within driving distance of Toronto, it was an easy decision to attend. The $225 price tag was expensive, but I can appreciate that the price and the limited number of tickets would keep the geek riff-raft away!

The con took place at the Sheraton Hotel in Markham, ironically the same place that hosted the PolarisCon earlier in the year which left a terrible taste in my mouth. Fortunately, this wonderful event has cleansed my psyche of the negative impression left behind by PolarisCon.

Imagine a gather of introverted writers, all coming out of their caves to meet and talk and network. Yeah, I have a difficult time imagining all that awkwardness. Maybe it’s just me! I’ve had a handful of stories published (for money, yes for money), but I haven’t broken in to any of the more significant or distinguished publications. I’m working on a novel, like everyone else at the con. I’m a professional blogger and comic book journalist/history (accredited by the San Diego Comic Con). I found it difficult to be taken seriously and had a few respected pros glance at my badge and then dart away from me.

Maybe I’m just too much of an introvert or too paranoid, but I got the impression from some professionals that they had no time to talk to anyone outside of their professional clique. And clique makes me think back to those awkward teenage years. Everyone has to start somewhere and I was hoping the “pay-it-forward” mentality would be a bit more prevalent. 

With that said, it wasn’t a complete void of thoughtfulness. There are a few classy professionals who have never made me feel that I was imposing or intruding upon them. And for that I’m thankful and appreciate the efforts they made to include me and to simply call me out by name and talk with me.

Highlights included the launch of Guy Kay's new book, an amazing panel on the Lexicon of Horror, the Chizine party where I talked comics for two hours with a PR rep from 2000AD, my cell phone going off during Peter Straub's reading, autograph session, dinner out with Ian Rogers, great food spread and beer at the hospitality suite, and panels, panels, and more panels.

First post of the year - 2012 writing goals

Yes, it's April, but that's okay. It's actually a perfect time to review my writing goals for 2012.

My goals to kick off the year were:


[  ] published 4 short stories
[  ] write a new short story each month
[  ] get two Back Issue! assignments
[  ] write my novel
[  ] contribute to Black Glove magazine


Revisiting them now:


[ 1/4 ] published 4 short stories (1 slated for publication this year)
[ 1/12 ] write a new short story each month (1 new story so far)
[ 1/2 ] get two Back Issue! assignments (1 out of 2 so far)
[  ] write my novel (hacking away at it)
[  ] contribute to The Black Glove (ongoing)
[  ] contribute to Biff Bam Pop! (ongoing)


As writing my novel is my primary focus this year, I'd like to break that down a bit more. Originally I started out with the following schedule aimed at getting my novel written for World Fantasy Con 2012 here in Toronto.

Mar - write 17,000 words
Apr- write 17,000 words
May- write 17,000 words
June- write 17,000 words
July - write 17,000 words 
Aug - Revision
Sept - Revision
Oct - Revision
Nov 1 - World Fantasy Con


So where am I now? I have about 19,000 words written, but I'm really struggling with putting together the overall plot.


I had a great chat with author Ian Rogers over the weekend and he reaffirmed that there was a market for good dark fiction set in Canada. So I'm mulling over whether to press on with my novel or to grab some pieces from the novel to flesh out something in the 10,000 word range as a chapbook.


I'm not sure where to go, but I guess for now, I can try and do both! We'll see how successful that is.


A tip of the hat to Daniel Huber for encouraging me to continue this writer's blog.