Dark Anemone, Red Heels - Best of 2016 Nailpolish Stories

You will never find me on a Best Dressed list.

You might find me on a Best Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Eater list.

But you can find me over at Nailpolish Stories in their Best of 2016 issue!

“Best of 2016” stories were selected for their use of unique language, breadth of story in so few words, emotional impact, and the complex and original relationship of the titles to their stories."

I hope you enjoy reading my two pieces, "Dark Anemone" and "Red Heels." I am thrilled to be in such great company, including that of blogging buddy, Tyrean Martinson.

IWSG: Not Done Yet

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Do you know what I'm insecure about this month? Not having a good answer for December's IWSG Question!

In terms of your writing career, where do you see yourself five years from now, and what is your plan to get there?

I love lists. I am passionate about planning. I get giddy about goals. Yet questions like this always stump me. I'm not exactly sure why, other than the usual suspect: FEAR. Fear of failure. Fear of not being creative/smart/tough, etc enough. Fear of other people's reactions, including indifference. Fear of success, of achieving the goals but feeling empty inside, of all that hard work being for nothing. 

But you know what? I'm not getting any younger. And five years from now, I won't be any younger. (Who said writers can't do math?) And Fear and all Its brethren will always be lurking in the shadows, lurching from dark doorways, eager to lick the nervous sweat from the back of my neck. 

Well, they can lick all they want.  

So, while I can't answer the IWSG question exactly, I can tell you I won't be lolly-gagging my creative life away. I don't know what the future holds, but I do know one thing:

I am not done yet.

This Certainly Looks Like A Lot Of Words

The title of this post comes from an episode of Seinfeld, and it's one of my favorite J. Peterman moments -

And it pretty much explains my November. I moved though National Novel Writing Month mostly slow and steady, like a tortoise. Occasionally, I wrote fast and furious, like a tortoise attacking a basil plant (I'm looking at you, Larry!) I ended up with a "win" and a pretty solid draft. I have a beginning, a middle, and an end - something I haven't achieved during my last few NaNo attempts. I actually have a story.

Speaking of words and stories, I don't know about you, but I love to get and to give books as gifts. Maria Zannini has A Gift Guide for The Reader over on her blog. (You might recognize one or two of the authors listed!)

So, here we are at the beginning of December. If you started a project - a story, a novel, revisions, classes, an art project, a goal of some sort - way back in the beginning of November, you now have something that did not exist before. You created something new, and that is awesome! You won, too! 🏆

Happy December, everyone!