Hope your holiday season is going well. We’re nearing the end of the year, so this will be my last post for the year. I’ll return on January 6th for Insecure Writer’s Support Group, which may be at a new address. Don’t worry, I’ll let you know where I’ve moved.
2015
This has been an interesting, difficult, but fun year. I had great intentions, and of course I didn’t accomplish everything I had set out to, but I got a lot done this year.
Accomplishments:
I wrote 45 short stories (including flash fiction) and 67 poems in 2015. I began working on draft 2 of my novel Native Landscapes. I plan on finishing in January. I outlined novel 2, which I will write (draft 1) in 2016.
Best book I read this year:
I’d been planning on reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman for a long time. I finally got to it this fall. What can I say? Gaiman is an amazing writer. He has a way with words that I can only aspire to.
Best movie I saw this year:
Song of the Sea came out in 2014, but I only saw it recently. It is a beautiful, somewhat sad animated movie based on an Irish myth. Not only is the story compelling, the visuals are amazing.
Best TV show I watched this year:
We writers have a complicated relationship with TV. I myself have spent numerous occasions discussing its ills. While I don’t have a TV set, I do watch some television. I’m a huge Project Runway fan. For two seasons in a row, I have been obsessively watching (and often rewatching) The Affair. It is well-written with superb acting. What I like about it most is that it feels real. The people aren’t airbrushed and perfected (physically and as characters). I like the convention of using different perspectives to tell the story. The tension and suspense are wonderful, because at the heart of this story is a mystery. Bonus points: There are bits of writing advice throughout the series. My favorite: “If you’re having difficulty with the end, you fucked up the beginning.” “The ending should feel inevitable. At some point fate takes over a story and even the author himself loses control.” (This helped me with rewriting the beginning as well as the ending of my novel.)
Blog:
This was my first full blogging year, which resulted in 222 posts. I learned a lot and I’ve figured out the right mix of posts that appeals to you, my dear readers. In addition to the posts here, I contributed 7 posts on female monsters over at Part-Time Monster. I participated in a few blogathons and challenges, the biggest being the A to Z April Blogging Challenge.
The top 20 posts (most viewed) of 2015:
- (tie) 5 Questions Before You Write the First Draft and Is There Undiscovered Depth to The Blue Lagoon?
- Finding the Way to Narnia
- How Agatha Christie Saved My Life
- F is for Forgiveness
- Remembering and Forgetting Love in Hiroshima
- A Disturbed Girl’s Guide to Finding Your Why
- Humility in Writing
- The Ultimate NaNoWriMo Tool Kit
- There’s an Elephant in the Bathtub
- Taking Up ‘The Invitation’
- The Power of Real Life Stories
- Committed
- IWSG Wednesday #5: Fear
- Alice Walker is My Own Private Librarian
- Digging for Inspiration with Robert Jordan and Dracula – a perfect October read (tie)
- NaNo2ndDrafto update – dealing with fear
- To Write Like Dr. Seuss
- When words are not enough #Paris
- The Female Writers That Changed My Life
- 31 residencies for writers
Newsletter
In May, I launched my monthly newsletter, which is for those readers interested in learning more about my writing. I’ve been sending out monthly updates with insider information on Native Landscapes. Sometime soon, I hope to add a free ebook as an enticement. In the meantime, sign up anyway.
Plans for 2016
- keep editing Native Landscapes
- start next novel, which I’ve already outlined
- write more short stories and poetry
- move blog to self-hosted
- participate in A to Z April blogging challenge along with other challenges and blogathons
- create ebook as an enticement to sign up for the newsletter
My theme word for 2016 is travel. While at the moment I have no idea if I will actually travel anywhere in 2016, the word has been coming up for me recently, so I decided to go with it. Travel can be so many more things than just physically traveling to a place. One way I will travel is by reading the world.
Link love: Here are some wonderful things to read around the web:
- 31 Perfect Things by Leo Babauta
- Grey Heron Nights series of posts
- 10 literary TED talks from 2015
- poem Kingfishers: Sirin and Alkonost, inspired by a post I wrote for Part-Time Monster
- Query Shark on writing and revising your query letter
Looks like a good year, Ula. Enjoy your break and all best wishes for the next one.
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Thank you, Anne. Have a wonderful new year!
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I am looking forward to having you back in 2016!
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Thank you, Solveig. I’m looking forward to getting back as well. Having some issues with new site, but I hope to have all issues corrected soon. Happy New Year!
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Good luck with setting everything up. Are you moving your old posts?
Happy new year!
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For now I need to just set everything up. I’m having a hard time with my server and no one seems to know why. I’ll be moving my old posts throughout the year. I especially want to move the Monday Inspirations series.
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Have a great holiday. I hope the move isn’t too stressful either.
Sounds like you’ve done a he’ll of a lot. Did any of those 45 short stories get published?
See you next year.
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Thank you, Deborah. Hope you have a great new year! Most of those stories are published on this blog. I submitted 2 for print publications, but they didn’t get accepted. It’s definitely something I want to work on – getting some short stories published.
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Ooh! My guest post got into your top 20! Cool!!
Enjoy the break and see you 2016! The theme of travel seems like a good one 🙂
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Overall, the whole series has been very popular, which is great. Happy New Year!
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Fab year, lady! Have a wonderful holiday. ❤️ See you in 2016. (Surprised but happy to see my Narnia guest post in your top 20!)
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Thanks, Sarah. Your post beat out Gulara’s post on Agatha Christie, which ruled the series for a long time. Happy New Year!
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Awesome work! Cool that The Affair TV show helped you with your novel. I think sometimes great script-writing and character development in a TV show can give us writers a great example of storytelling. I’m interested in The Affair too, I’ve never watched it but I love Ruth Wilson, especially in Luther.
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Thanks. Ruth Wilson is amazing. I like her in Luther as well, although that show can be a lot to handle at times. If you like her, you should definitely check out The Affair. Happy New Year!
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She’s a great actress. I know what you mean about Luther, it’s pretty intense lol. Will do. Happy New Year 🙂
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You’ve had an amazing year … and you say you didn’t accomplish all you set out to do? Oh boy – you’re making the rest of us look bad.
Congrats on all the wonderful writing you did this year, and thank you for allowing us to guest post on your site.
Here’s to 2616 – may it be everything you wish, and filled with love & laughter.
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My biggest goal was to get something published in a literary journal or the like, which I didn’t succeed at. Granted, I only submitted 2 short stories and several poems, which didn’t get accepted. I didn’t invest the time in getting enough polished work submission ready. Thank you, Ruth. Hope you have a wonderful New Year!
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Have a great hiatus…see, I used a TV word! Looking forward to reading more of you in 2016.
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Thank you, Corina. Happy New Year!
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Happy 2016 to you, too! May it be a wonder-filled year!
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What a wonderful year, Ula! So blessed to have found you in 2015. Wishing you a productive and joyful 2016!
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That’s what I forgot to mention on this post – all the wonderful relationships I’ve developed with other writers and bloggers. I’m glad we found each other. Happy New Year, Gulara!
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Congrats on a great writing and blogging year, Ula! Hope 2016 will be an even better one. Happy New Year’s!
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Thank you, Lidy. I have great hopes for 2016. Happy New Year!
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