It’s been a busy year for me so far, and I’ve got some good news to share. My novel, Scars of the Golden Dancer, has been nominated for an Ursa Major Award. This is an award that everyone can vote in, so please, if you enjoyed my book, go vote for it. Voting closes at the end of March.

In the meantime, I’m heading to Fur the ‘More 2023 for March 10 through March 12. I was the Guest of Honor at the con last year, and they’ve asked all previous GoHs to come back for their tenth event. So, I’ll be back at the con this year with many other awesome GoHs.

I’ll also be running a table in the Dealer’s Den for my personal imprint, Dancing Jackal Books. I’ll have copies of Scars of the Golden Dancer, Knotty Works, Dissident Signals, and When the World Was Young available. I’ve also decided to experiment with some table theming this year, so even if you don’t need any books, stop by and let me know how it looks.

Outside of being in the Dealer’s Den, I’ll be attending the following events at the con.

Friday:

• 10:30 AM: Opening Ceremonies
• 1:30 PM: Where do Furry Writers Come From?
• 4:30 PM: AWOO Presents
• 6:30 PM: VIP Reception
• 8:00 PM: Guest of Honor Meet-and-Greet/AMA

Saturday:

• 2:30 PM: Historical Fiction
• 7:30 PM: Guest of Honor Dinner

Sunday:

• 1:00 PM: Fantasy Fiction
• 4:30 PM: Closing Ceremonies

I’m excited for Where do Furry Writers Come From? I’ve grabbed some of my old angsty high school poetry, and if the other panelists let me, I’ll read some of that along with some snippets of early stories of mine. Now if you don’t want origin stories, come to the AWOO presents panel. I and other writers will be reading excerpts of their work, and I’ll be reading a sample from Gnoll Tales, my collection that will be coming out this summer.

Finally, if you can’t make it to Fur the ‘More but will be at Texas Furry Fiesta the weekend after, I’ll be there also, hopefully with an artist alley table. I’ll also be running a Sci-Fi panel. This is also the release con for my friend Utunu’s book Rafts, a project that I’m excited to finally see hit print.

I kept busy in 2022, and I managed to get a lot done. When the year started, I was knee deep in finishing up Scars of the Golden Dancer, my first novel, and getting that through the publication process. I also followed that up with Knotty Works, a collection of previously published adult works from various places. Both books debuted at Fur the ‘More, where I was also the guest of honor.

I’m still surprised, even though it has passed, that I was the guest of honor at a con. I’m still honored they asked me, and I let that fact help galvanize me to finish Scars of the Golden Dancer. It also has launched me into attending cons to sell my own books, something I’ve wanted to be doing for a long time.

I don’t track exactly how many words I write in a year, but I estimate since I finished the novel I’ve written around 40,000 new words. That’s not a ton of new content, but I have been working on writing a new novella, which is about halfway done. It took me eleven years to write Scars of the Golden Dancer, so I’m doing a shorter, quicker book for my next one. I also wrote a couple of short stories throughout the year. There was a bit of exhaustion after releasing the books, but I’m back on track now.

I’m planning right now put out two new books for this year. The first is called Gnoll Tales, which will be a short collection of nine myths and folktales about anthro hyenas, or gnolls as they’ve often called in fantasy literature and games. Gnolls often get the short end of the stick with little culture surrounding them, so I’ve decided to write my own for them. I’ve wanted to do this book for a while, and while some of the content has been appearing on Patreon, I’m in the process of writing and revising four more stories to include in it. Some of these are shorter than my usual fare, closer to flash fiction, but they share mythology.

I’m also working on novella called The Blood of Life that looks like it will cross into short novel territory. This I’d like to release near the end of the year, but I’ll have to see how the process for that goes. I’ve been putting up chapters on Patreon as I finish them, and once I wrap up Gnoll Tales, I’ll get back to that.

I also had a story come out in the When the World Was Young anthology, “Eyeshine of the Soothsayer.” This is a collaborative project I helped spawn, so I’m so glad I was able to contribute.

Finally, if you’re looking to hear some of my stories in audio form, I had four stories come out on the Voice of Dog this year. You can listen to “Making it Fit” (18+), “Same as Me,” and “Emotional Support Wolf” on the podcast. Also, “The Art Generator” is one of the three flash stories in Fireside Meeting at the Abandoned Tavern.

Anyway, 2022 was a busy year for me, and I’m hoping to make 2023 just as awesome.

I didn’t get a post a journal about MFF before I went, but I was there this past weekend selling books. This is the first time I ran a table at that con, and it went really well. Sales were robust, and I sold out of some stuff while I was there. In addition to my books, I got to carry the new When the World Was Young anthology that debuted at the con. I’m not going to be selling the online since I’m not the publisher for the book, but I plan to carry it at cons going forward. Since I helped spawn this book, I hope it does well.

For the rest of 2022, I’ll be working on new projects for 2023. I’ve got two projects I’m hoping to get out next year. The first one should be out in March, and I’m hard at work trying to make it happen. I’ll give you some more details when I know more.

I’ve struggled with writing The Blood of Life more than I thought I would. I wanted to crank out this book this month for NaNoWriMo, but I’ve, at best, gotten small spurts of words down. The fact it’s not done is driving me kind of crazy.

I’ve also introduced a lot of elements while writing this that came up on the fly. The story has gone from a tight focus on two characters to having plot threads that span generations. There’s a mystery at the core of this book now that goes back hundreds of years, and that has caused the book to become more complex than I thought it would be.

I also didn’t want to write this like I wrote Scars of the Golden Dancer, throwing down a ton of words to finish it and then spending years fixing it up. In that respect, there’s a reason I pause now and don’t just power through scenes when I’m not sure where they should go. I’m also still learning how to really write a novel, and that’s something that is different than writing short stories.

I’m still trying to get the draft done this year, but wow, there’s a lot going on in this book now I didn’t expect to have shown up. Also, I’m calling it now. What I thought would be a novella is turning into at least a short novel.

It is Megaplex time and I will be at the con with my books in the dealers’ den. You’ll also find me at two panels this year I will be doing.

* Friday, August 5, 2022 at 11:00am – Plot & Characters
* Saturday, August 6 at 12:30pm – Fantasy Writing

The times could be a bit better since one starts right as the dealer den opens on Friday, but I will have friends covering my table while the panels are going on. In addition, I have been serializing my next book, The Blood of Life, on my Patreon. This is still a draft work, but I am excited to be working on this novella and sharing it.

Anyway, I hope to see you at the con.