I was a little surprised it was time to do the old “end of the year” publication summary, and then I thought, somehow, I’d already done it?
My story “Single Malt Spacecraft” was upvoted a few times on the Nebula recommended reading list. (Not by me, I swear!) and I achieved a long-held goal of breaking in to Nature with “Blue Eyes” which made Andy Duncan’s year-end list (thanks, Andy!) but my favorite story I had out this year is “On the Changing Role of Dock Workers” which Analog chose to release as a podcast.
I had fourteen short stories come out this year (I think that’s a record?) Here’s the full list of this year’s publications, as always with links if available online:
- “The Rooster of Io” in Amazing Stories 12-2020 – Marshall Blaine Richards has to solve the mystery of who killed the only man working on a female-staffed space station.
- “Blink if You love Me” in DreamForge 12-2020 – A lovelorn researcher on Proxima Centauri B breeds faster-than-light fireflies.
3. “Iron Priest” on Daily Science Fiction 9-2-2020 – what if killer robots were Catholic?
4. “Falling for the Wrong Guy” in Pangaea III – conclusion of the shared world anthology trilogy, my story continues “The Wrong Way to do the Right Thing” (in Pangaea II), with Daicey, gun for hire, and her best friend, Brikka the Neanderthal, as they get swept up in larger events.
5. “From the Trash” in Little Boy Lost – June 18, 2020 – Facilities manager Nanlee hates children, murder, and people interfering with the Lunar colony toilets. So naturally she finds all three in one day.
6. “Barley Wine and Potable Myths” in Lackington’s – June 18, 2020 – A short order cook from a space station reflects on nostalgia and preserving the past in bottles of liquor.
7. “On the Changing Roles of Dock Workers” in Analog July/August 2020. Mary wishes being a dock worker meant what it used to mean as her boss nags her to fix a rebellious robot. Available as a podcast.
8. “Single Malt Spacecraft” In Lightspeed Magazine June 2020. The twenty year time dilation on Fresia’s cargo runs are ideally suited to aging scotch whisky. (also available as a podcast!) Called “The best kind of weird.” – Aurelius Raines II
9. “Sister Thrush” in Way of the Laser: Future Crime Stories June 2020. Patrick’s kid sister Alyssa comes home in a robot bird body, asking him to help her cheat the mob and the cops before her stolen body gets confiscated.
10. “Blue Eyes” in Nature: Futures – Genetic modification and discrimination are traps in this very short piece. 5/27/2020
11. “Seeing Clearly” on Little Blue Marble 4/10/2020 – a robot mermaid with laser eyes gets the feeling she should think outside her tank after the humans stop visiting her.
12. “A Hitchhiking Robot’s Guide to Canada” in Flash Fiction Online 4/1/2020 Another one of those that is what it says on the tin. “Fun, familiar, and smile-worthy” B. Zelkovich “…damn” – Jon Stout
13. “Volatile Memory” in Flame Tree’s “Detective Thrillers” anthology. Sandra is investigating the murder of her partner. It would go smoother if he wasn’t tagging along offering color commentary.
14. “Some Form of Contact” at Daily Science Fiction, 2/10/20. Danger makes her horny. She’s not alone. Aliens and humans react to first contact by seeking… other contact.
I honestly thought, “Bah, I didn’t have anything come out this year,” right up until I checked my publication list page.
Same thoughts about poetry. Though I stopped submitting or writing poems altogether for half of this year, I did have four poems published including my first ever Angry Political Poem. (yay!)
1. “Arab Law Student Shot by Police” performed on YouTube for Cleveland Humanities Festival 2020 by Hillary Wheelock.
2. “Homeland Offense” in Dreams & Nightmares, January 2020
3. “The Hot One” in Kaleidotrope January 2020.
4. “Unlooping, a Time Travel Rondel” in Asimov’s January 2020
It’s been a wacky year. Like many writers, I suffered a lot of writer’s block. Two months of no writing at all, and most of the rest of the months at reduced output. I also didn’t submit as much as I usually do, 140 submissions for the year, down from 156 last year — not bad, considering I had so few new pieces to shop around. I did give myself a goal of writing 1,250 words every day for October and I made that all but 9 days of the month so I’m calling that a big win.
Mostly that month I worked on my first ever work-for-hire novel, which I turned in before deadline and at requested length. I’m very glad I happened to sign myself up for something less brainy this year, where I could just write someone else’s world and not put too much of myself into it.
2020 firsts:
- First work for hire project.
- First Novela sale (Unlikely Heroines to Analog)
- First time in Nature
- First time in Flash Fiction Online
- First time teaching a multi-part class
- First time asked to be on a panel without applying first
- Sold my first novel (YEAH that was this year!)
- First time volunteering behind the scenes at a convention
- First zoom-panel, YouTube Reading, and first time having my work read by someone else on YouTube. HEY it’s 2020.
Wew. What a year. From my point of view, it was just a lot of sitting on the couch.
