There’s no denying that 2020 has been… rough. I don’t know about you, but it’s been really hard to write, really hard to focus, really hard to feel motivated, engaged, inspired, and positive. Some days I felt like, “What is even the point of all this?”
But in spite of everything, it was gratifying to notice that my perseverance and hard work is starting to pay off! Little by little. I sold three more stories this year to pro-rated magazines: Strange Horizons, the anthology If There’s Anyone Left, and Uncanny Magazine! I’m under contract to work on some work-for-hire writing that I can’t talk about yet but which I’m really excited about! And on my novel-in-progress, I didn’t hit my Nano goals, but I have a new idea for its revision that is exciting to me and is getting me back into a good space with that.
So, here’s my eligibility post! What is that, you ask? Good question! I didn’t know what it was until a month ago, too — but it’s a post that lists the awards you’re eligible for each year, along with the stories that could be nominated. I think that it’s a bit of a hard sell for flash fiction to be nominated, but this is a good exercise that all writers should do if you’re not already doing it, so here goes!
I am eligible for the Astounding Award for Best New Writer 2021 for “Mr. Buttons,” published in Flash Fiction Online in 2019. This is my second and final year of eligibility for that award.
My favorite short story this year is “An Egg Before It Is Broken”, in Strange Horizons, which is eligible for both a Nebula for Short Story, and a Hugo for Best Short Story.
I also love my flash story, “A Leaf As it Falls”, published in If There’s Anyone Left.
Thanks for reading! Happy weekend to you.