Happy very late December!
Now that my initial rant is behind me, let’s move on to more positive things.
What did I do this year, other than survive?
In writing, this year was a wash. I’ve been too busy to write much long-form fiction.
I had pieces more-or-less edited and ready to go, so I built up my self-publishing catalog.
In March I released the self-pub version of MORO’S PRICE and the Lonhra Sequence short story SAINTS AND HEROES. In April I released FILIGREE’S Rule, an updated collection of my previous blog posts about publishing.
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Just after Christmas I sat down and took a look at RED AMBER, the Neolithic M/M/F fantasy I’ve been playing with since (no kidding) 1989. In multiple versions. Last worked on in October 2017.
Upon a review of chapters, another 1800 words spilled out effortlessly. I thought: ‘Okay, good, these characters still want to talk to me’.
I was lamenting the set-up for a pre-teen boy’s mother to die in childbirth, when a similar but much deeper rant by the fabulous Megan Derr caught my attention. Megan is stuck; that character death has been in the making for several books.
(Seriously, if you like the queer SFF coming out from Big 4 publishers in the last few years, you will probably love Megan Derr’s books. She’s been writing and publishing in the genre for decades.)
In comparison my character’s death seemed…
Arbitrary. Expected. Tropey.
I still see so much of the ‘heroic orphan’ trope in fantasy, that I tend to rebel at it in my own work. My characters may disagree with or live far distant from their parents, but family is still often in the picture.
So then I thought, ‘This woman does not need to die to advance the plot.’
She will grieve over losing her unborn daughter. She will owe her life to a rival in village politics. Her survival…even though the book’s main character is her son…means a deeper exploration into found-family and artisan dynasties, as she allies with her rival’s unhappy daughter. Hopefully that leads to a better book.
I’d like it to be a book worthy of querying a literary agent, because 1) I think a dual-path publishing strategy is great, and 2) the Lonhra Sequence books are probably un-agentable at this point.
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Art was a much better year for me!
I finished three massive fiber art projects: my twelve Violet Protest Project panels, a related book called ‘Violet Nation’, and ‘Rivers Under the Sahara’ (which has thematic links to RED AMBER).
‘Sahara’ went off to a major gallery show, and is now in the catalog at 23 Sandy Gallery.
I entered five different arts and writing grants this year. Struck out on three of them, with two still in limbo. That’s fine; it’s *never* wasted effort to apply to grants.
I sent artwork to TusCon in November, the first SFF con on my radar in a decade. My ‘Aquifer Tapestry’ sold, at a nice price for a 30-year-old piece.
I had enough sales this year from my Etsy and SaatchiArt Online shops to justify their continued existence.
After a hiatus of three missed shows, the Tempe Festival of the Arts had its Fall 2021 show in early December. I made the award ribbons: balmy palm-tree backgrounds with bright pops of fabric and beads.
I’m gathering and sorting materials for more book-art and wall-hanging pieces in 2022. In addition to my ‘larger’ books, I’m planning more mini books for jewelry, spurred in part by an old Ethiopian book-amulet necklace seen on Twitter.
I shop with caution. Thrift stores are my favorite way to find great supplies for cheap. Thrift stores and warehouse fabric stores are also magnets for the kind of low-information folks who are either Covid-asymptomatic and selfish/desperate, Covid-denying, and/or incapable of properly wearing their damn masks.
Yes, that’s classist and elitist of me, but it’s also regrettably true. With Omicron raging through Arizona, I could fill a ‘Let’s Go Darwin!’ bingo card with pictures of people’s #MaskFailures.
Still, thrifting was great for me this year. Beads of glass, jade, amber, porcelain, cloisonne enamel, shell, horn, and wood. A few thousand creamy bone and iridescent shell plaques pulled from circa 1998-2005 picture frames and other home-goods. Gallon-size bags of cotton embroidery floss. Yardage of handwoven and embroidered fabrics from India, Bhutan, Thailand, Guatemala, and Bolivia.
Some fabric and bead trades with online and work friends rounded out the haul.
I need to get into gear and upload new finished jewelry and art pieces onto Etsy and SaatchiArt Online.
I need to finish art.
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Paradoxically, I can buy these supplies and make these plans because I have a decently-paying non-art day job.
I don’t rely on art for living expenses, so I can afford to make experimental art. This tends to be bigger and/or more detailed, which means it can enter good shows and sell for more money. It also looks better in my portfolio.
I’m still low on savings because of medical debt, but things are getting back under control.
I hope 2022 is a better year.