2006 in Review

Happy New Year, everyone!

I thought it fitting that my first post for 2007 should be a round-up of 2006. It was pretty big year for me as a writer. I had just finished my Short Story 1A & 1B course at Tafe and felt a little lost because there was no safety net anymore, no other people to workshop my stories. I found myself getting over that quickly because the class had given me the tools I need to start a career as a writer - it's what I wanted to do more than anything.

So, I set myself a couple of goals. To get published and to win a competition. The first goal, I achieved in May. Two of my flash fiction pieces, Bedtime Story and Angel of Death were accepted into FlashSpec Volume 1. This was a turning point because it was very exciting to see my work in print within five months of setting the goal and it gave me the confidence to keep writing and keep submitting.

I also had my first radio interview with ABC radio in Ballarat in November. That was exciting - I got to read out one of my micro fiction pieces. That was real highlight for the year.

Later in the year, two of my micro fiction pieces, Decapitated and Silent Treatment were accepted by Flash Shot, which was also quite a buzz. Sadly, I didn't end up winning competition but, I'm sure I will in 2007.

The only let down in 2006 (apart from quite a few rejections) was that my sci-fi story, The Jaunt isn't going to be published as planned - the anthology it was submitted to fell through, but I've adopted a philosophical attitude towards it, knowing that it'll probably happen to me again, but I guess it's a part of the writing life and I've accepted that and moved on.

Above all else, though, 2006 saw me produce an absolute shit load of new material. I think I wrote about fifteen new stories which I didn't think was a bad effort, as well as completing a first draft of my novella, The Devil's Number.

So, 2006 was quite a busy and exciting year for me. In my next post, I'll talk more about how 2007 is going to be one of the most exciting years of my life - both as a writer and a new Dad!