Click HERE for the Audio Edition!

 

And so another year has passed.  It can be hard to tell from year to year if one has accomplished anything.  It feels like everything that matters is going so slowly or makes no progress at all, while everything else flashes by at lightning speed.  That’s why it’s important to look back and see where we’ve been and where we’re going.  I’ve undergone a lot of changes this year (such as embracing the mantles of feminism, atheism, and a child-free life), although I fell short on many of my 2013 goals.  I’m still not especially good at handling time on the internet and depression has sunk it’s claws in even deeper.  Still, I’ve accomplished more than I thought I would.

An enormous thank-you goes out to all of my readers, commentators, and followers!  As of December, 100 people are following The Cat’s Cradle.  You have my deepest gratitude, and I hope you’ll continue reading and sharing my entries!  I literally cannot thank you enough.

SUCCESSES IN 2014:

1)  I added Audio Editions to The Cat’s Cradle!  Now you can listen to readings of these entries on The Cat’s Cradle‘s YouTube channel!  It now takes a lot more time to get an entry up and running, since I have to write it, record it, make the video, upload it, and update all the links, but I think this will help expand readership, and add to my own store of technological knowledge.

2)  I contributed several articles to Gemstone Publishing’s online newsletter Scoop!  As you probably already know, I enjoy writing about comics and other geeky topics, so I was very happy when Mr. Mark Squirek asked me to lend a hand.  Hopefully I’ll be able to do so again in 2015.

3)  I’ve continued submitting short stories for publication to Tor.com, Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show, An Alphabet of Embers, and Uncanny.  No bites so far, but the more rejection letters I get, the less it stings and the more determined I become to get one published.  (Guess I should write some newer material though, huh?)

4)  I finished two fanfics!  Both “Okami Amaterasu” (based on the video game Okami) and “Hidden Light” (based on the video games Final Fantasy VII and Dirge of Cerberus) were completed this year!  These are my longest-running fanfics to date and have received the most attention.  I am very happy to have them completed and am grateful for all of the support from my watchers in the fan fiction community.

5)  I put on my big-girl pants and tried to take care of other non-writing aspects of my life, such as bills, insurance, health care, and all those other things grown-ups have to do.  It’s rough because I get frustrated by these tedious but necessary aspects of life very quickly, but I’m trying.

 

GOALS FOR 2015:

1)  Treat my depression.  I’ve been battling major depressive disorder for nearly a decade and it’s reached a point where it is having a severe, detrimental effect on my creative and professional life.  So I’m going to a doctor and getting help.  I don’t want to spend another year fighting myself or punishing myself.

2)  Work on improving and maintaining my organizational skills.  It is very easy for me to just let things slide until they become overwhelming, and then I’m scrambling to get things in order.  I know this goal is a little vague, but in both writing and my personal life, I want to get things under control.  How, exactly, I’m not sure yet, so I welcome suggestions.

3)  Start recording and uploading Audio Editions for older Cat’s Cradle entries.  I won’t be recording every single old entry, but I want to make more of them available in audio form.  My goal is to upload one bi-weekly as a sort of “Throwback Thursday Special.”

4)  Ravens and Roses.  I really, really, REALLY want to make more progress on that.  Ravens and Rose is my original fantasy novels which is closest to completion.  I have a lot written for it, but I feel like I’m still missing some pieces.  January is an Editing Month according to LeNoWriCha, so I’ll spend as much time as I can organizing and editing what I have so I can see what else (if anything) I need to actually write.  Any of those extra bits will be written in February and editing will begin in earnest in March.  I want to have a submission-worthy draft by Fall 2015.

5)  Take up yoga and meditation.  I need to get my stress and anxiety under control or accomplishing the rest of my goals will be much more difficult.  So, some kind of exercise and relaxation routine should be put into effect.  I liked yoga the few times I tried it, so I want to make that, and possibly meditation, part of my everyday (or every other day) existence.  Hopefully that will also help me fight depression as well.

 

Those are my successes for this year and my goals for the next.  Best wishes to everyone for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year.  See you in 2015!