2019 in Retrospect

Hey everybody!

I'm a little slow getting around to this, but one of my favorite things about the new year is taking stock of the old year.  We can get into a rut, forgetting that, while we may just be hauling buckets of dirt day after day, in their aggregate, those buckets form a mountain.

So, to make myself feel better, and to remind you all to stop and take stock yourselves, here are my accomplishments from 2019:

1.)  Podcast Appearances

- Horror Metal Cast
- Necrocasticon
- Matters of Faith
- Unnerving Podcast
- The Horror Show with Brian Keene

2.)  Personal Appearances

- Farpoint
- White Rose Comic Con
- Scares That Care
- Killercon
- Harriburg Comic and Pop Con
- Signing at 2nd and Charles in Harrisburg.

3.)  Publications

- SKINWRAPPER (English version)
- HUNTER OF THE DEAD (hardback limited edition)
- THE HEMATOPHAGES (hardback limited edition)
- BRAINEATER JONES (Author's Preferred Edition)
- 100 WORD HORRORS PART 2 featuring my drabble "Clockwork Offal"
- THE BIG BOOK OF BLASPHEMY featuring my short story "A Strong Man's House"
- "The Suffering City" (short in support of "Laughter" Kickstarter)

4.)  First Screenwriting Credit

- "Welcome to Daisyland," Episode 2: "The Voice"

5.)  First Foreign Sales

- THE HEMATOPHAGES (Italian version)
- SKINWRAPPER (Italian version)

Interestingly, for a few months in 2019 SKINWRAPPER was available in Italian only.  Fans would have to wait until August for the English release, and I delighted in reminding them of it.

6.)  Completed Works

- THE PERFECTLY FINE HOUSE (with Wile E. Young)
- THE THING UNDER YOUR BED
- "Rotten Kingdom," Issue 1

7.)  Sold THE PERFECTLY FINE HOUSE to Grindhouse Press

8.)  Tapped to write the CLICKERS reboot

9.)  Created my Literary Estate

It sometimes sounds grim, but preparing for the future is tough.  I'm glad I finally did it.  Make sure you do, too, if you haven't already.

10.)  Won NaNoWriMo for the 11th year in a row

11.)  Lost my Agent

Yes, this can sound like a bad thing, but the breakup was entirely amicable.  Having an agent convinced me my work was good enough for the big time, and the surprisingly positive rejections we received convinced me doubly so.

12.)  Hired my First PA

Something I've been wanting to do for a long time.  I'm glad I finally pulled the trigger.  Jess was a godsend, and here all too briefly.

13.)  Bought a small business

Although it has nothing to do with my writing career, the elephant in the room can't be ignored.  Looking back now, I'm shocked I managed to accomplish all this other stuff while simultaneously standing up a balloon shop.

And now that I've actually finished that post, as always, I'm shocked at how much I accomplish in any given year.  It really doesn't feel like that.  If you had asked me without looking back, I would have said, "Nothing.  All I did was publish one novella."  But, really, it was quite a bit!

What about you, dear readers?  What did you accomplish in 2019