The Trump years and the non-vaccine COVID onset set a very low bar, and 2021 did the very minimum to leap over it, but I remain determined to celebrate every win. So, dear readers, may I present to you…

2021: A Year that Did Not Suck Quite as Bad as the Previous 5

Ok, it started poorly, what with a gallows set up in front of the capitol and new COVID variants popping up like MyPillow ads on late night TV, but at least there haven’t been any Nazis advising the president since January 20. That’s progress, right?

I know I’m grasping at straws, but there’s been a paucity of life preservers being thrown in these waters, so I’ll take what I can get. The Democrats have been disappointing, but in any criticism of them, I like to point out that the other side are actual fucking fascists. Again, it may be the bare minimum better, but at least it’s better.

Any-hoo…on to my personal year. I’ll do it by the numbers.

1 — Trilogies completed. With the publication of Galloch and Threll, the Mika Bare-Hand Books are complete.

1.8 (approx) — Novels written. I began and finished Threll this year, completed rewrites on another novel, and have three other books I’ve worked on throughout the year.

2 — Number of novels I put out. I published Galloch on Jan 1 and Threll on Dec 17. Getting more than one book out in a year was a big goal of mine. It may seem that I hedged it a little by the very early release of one and the very late release of the other, but I actually have two other complete books I could have brought out this year if I wasn’t pursuing some other avenues with them right now. I plan to get at least three books out next year. It should be a very achievable goal.

57 and 4 — Number of things I submitted and number of things I sold. This is down from the 7 I sold last year, but considering I have 8 still pending, 4 out of 49 is actually a little above my historical average of submissions to sale. Also, I’ve concentrated hard on long-form work this year, and did less writing and submitting of shorter form. Despite that, I think I wrote some of my best short work this year, which brings me to my next number.

3 — Number of awards eligible stories. If you’re eligible to vote for the Hugo/Nebula and other awards, please give these stories a read. My complete eligibility post is available at adamstemple.com

—The Clock, Having Seen Its Face in the Mirror, Still Knows Not the Time (Clarkesworld, 8/21)

•  “…A tear-jerker of a story, imagining John Joseph, one of the earliest automatons to achieve sentience, how he befriends a young woman and outlives her, and how his people are treated in different lands.” —Karen Burnham, Locus Magazine
• “A touching story about a clockwork man and his long life…a lovely, wonderful read!”—Quick Sip Reviews
•  “Best story of the collection. Poignant and sentimental. I loved the nonlinear presentation. Hit.” GoodReads reviewer

—To Go Forth in Mail Shirt and Shield (Daily Science Fiction 6/9/21)
—Werewolf Eulogy (Wyldblood Press 2/16/21)

2 — Plans for next year. Write more. Write better.

Happy holidays and happy new year to all.