Personal Year in Review (2024)

Cancer-free! Last spring, I hit the fifth year of clear scans after my second diagnosis. I can now go from oncology appointments every six months to just once a year. It hasn't cured the copious amount of anxiety I have around mortality, but I can breathe a bit better.

2024 was the third year without my mom and the second without my older brother. It was also the first anniversary of my oldest brother deciding to cut contact with me. Days are bursts of bright memories and the ever-present ache of absence.

I did my first book signing in January, and Domestic Bodies turned a year old in November. I never thought I'd type those words... I'm still a bit dazed. My book also received some lovely reviews.

Blighted Feast came close to being published (again). It's still waiting for the right publisher. I might give it one or two more years before I bin it.

I learned new painting techniques last year, especially when I made my younger siblings and husband flower paintings as part of their Christmas gifts. I now know I can finger paint petals during the congealing part of the acrylic drying phase and use cotton swabs for stippling. I'll never be an expert, but it's still cool to try new things.

My local library is going through changes... including one that might end the writers' group I attend.

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Submission by the numbers: 

Submissions sent - 42

Rejections - 25

Solicited works - 1

Acceptances - 4

Work published in 2024:

"We Can't Afford Three Houses" in Trollbreath Magazine

"Wordless Esteem" on the Zoeglossia website 

"Camping at the Planetarium" in the Midnight Fawn Review 

"The House of Disappearances" on the Tiny Frights podcast