Well, this is nice.
Apex Book Company has posted a very positive review of Bitter Seeds on their blog. Jenn Brozek’s review also includes an interview with me about the Milkweed books, demonology, and other sundry topics. I met Jenn at LAX in August, while we were both waiting for our flight to Melbourne en route to Worldcon. I was flattered by her interest in my book, and I’m deeply pleased that she enjoyed it.
Meanwhile, over at Locus Online, short fiction reviewer Lois Tilton lists two of my stories in her roundup of the year in short fiction! (Tilton’s original review of “What Doctor Gottlieb Saw” can be found here, and her review of “Still Life (A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale)” can be found here.)
And the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel lists Bitter Seeds among 2010’s “Transporting Book Successes”: personal recommendations from their reviewer, Jim Higgins. Wow! That’s my book listed alongside fiction from Connie Willis, Kim Stanley Robinson, Alan Furst (!), and Emma Donoghue (a Man Booker Prize finalist, no less). What a compliment.
I’m very happy to see these things here at the closing of the year.
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about 2010, as is can only be expected during this time of year. Mostly I’ve been thinking about it in terms of my writing efforts. This has been an incredible year for me—one I seriously doubt I’ll ever top. 2010 saw the debut of my first novel (obviously a once-in-a-lifetime thrill, that one); it was the year I finished a little writing exercise called Milkweed, which had devoured four years of my life; it was the year I made three pro short fiction sales (which is a huge number for me); it was the year one of my stories got picked up for a Year’s Best anthology; it was the year I went to Worldcon in Australia and spent a month Down Under.
It was a pretty damn good year.
Just thinking back on it leaves me feeling delighted and exhilarated. But I can’t help but wonder if this will be the zenith of my career. After all, with only a single novel out, there’s room to dream about building a successful career as a novelist. But once The Coldest War hits shelves, I’ll be a writer with a trend in concrete sales data, whether good or bad. And I don’t exactly churn out the short fiction at a rapid pace, so hitting another three sales is highly unlikely for me. (I’d be happy with one, quite frankly, and overjoyed with two.)
But overall I’m content to let 2011 attend to itself. I’m proud of my accomplishments this year, grateful for the opportunities and the fantastic luck, and dedicated to trying to write better next year.
And on top of all that… I decorated my Christmas tree last night, and now it’s finally snowing.
I am pleased.