2024… What can I say to you? What can I say about you? You looked at 2023 and said hold my beer. For my household, 2024 was challenging on all fronts. So what happened?
My 2024 Year in Review
- The following publications of mine came out:
- the trade paperback and eBook of The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales came out in February, which included two new stories of mine, “The Curse” and “The Bell Ringer,” plus a ton of new art by me
- My short story, “Not Today,” was published in the anthology 99 Fleeting Fantasies by Pulse Publishing in February
- “Eye of the Beholder,” a short story I co-wrote with the amazing Jennifer Brozek was published in the 2024 Gen Con Writers’ Symposium anthology called Interdimensions in August
- the hardback, trade paperback, & eBook of my memoir, Voices Carry, came out in August, which is definitely the most important book I’ve ever written
- My art was featured in the Norwescon 46 Art Show
- I began selling products (like cards, stickers, clothing, etc.) featuring my art over on Threadless
- My wife settled on her new name–Molligru, named after the character Molly Grue from Peter S. Beagle’s The Last Unicorn
- I got to see & photograph the Aurora Borealis for the first time in my life. There was also an eclipse, though it wasn’t in full here in Seattle
- DiNozzo turned 14 on March 14th
- Malley & Riley turned 17 on May 21st, though their vet thinks they might be older than that
- Molli and I finally got in to see the long COVID / autonomic function doctor and finally began treatment for our long COVID issues
- Edited an art book for Jeff Sturgeon, which will possibly come out in 2025
- I was a guest author and interviewed on/in:
- I was a guest author & panelist at my first Flights of Foundry Con
- I was a vendor/guest at GeekGirlCon 2024
- On the awards’ front…
- Soul Jar, the amazing anthology I was in, made the long list for the Bram Stoker Awards
- Dragon Springs & Other Things was a UK Wishing Shelf Award Finalist
- The Bell Ringer & Other Holiday Tales was a Fresh Fiction Fresh Pick and has been nominated for their 2024 Readers’ Choice Award
- I was diagnosed with:
- POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome)
- Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), which kills you if left untreated. Molli was also diagnosed with this.
- ME/CFS (Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome), which doesn’t kill you but makes you feel like you’re dying. Molli was also diagnosed with this.
- and the big one…the follicular variant of papillary thyroid carcinoma aka thyroid cancer.
- Finally got medical confirmation of having Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which I’ve had since I was a kid. Also got confirmation of being autistic and having ADHD, which I’ve strongly suspected for most of my life, so I join the AuDHD club.
- I underwent a complete thyroidectomy (thyroid removal) and now have to take synth-hormones for the rest of my life but that’s okay because at least I no longer have cancer! We recheck in 6 months but signs are, I beat it. <3
- Malley-Cat’s knee surgery failed and now he drags his leg around with him. He also had a bizarre eye storm and is on his way to becoming a pirate.
- Molli and I turned 47 and are inching our way closer to 50. We also celebrated 28 years together. O_O Holy smokes. We really want to have a big party when it hits 30 so all this COVID stuff better get its shit together in terms of vaccines that completely inoculate vs. just making the symptoms less severe.
- The newest news is that I just signed a contract, literally yesterday, to paint four covers for four books by the amazingly talented T. J. DesChamps. I’m so excited about this folks!
So much of this year has been Molli & I trying to figure out our finances with her disabled and unemployed, alternated with way too many medical appointments for both of us due to long COVID issues. Just when I thought we were returning to a more normal schedule, I got cancer. Since my POTS and likely my cancer, not to mention our MCAS and ME/CFS are likely from having repeated COVID infections, I am NOT happy with the way the world is handling COVID.
Despite all of this but especially the cancer, I managed to accomplish more than I thought I did. Every year I do one of these lists, I’m both amazed and gratified by the experience and the results.
I’m not a fan of New Years’ Resolutions (mostly because they don’t work for most people) but I am a fan of wrap-ups. Of looking back and reminding myself that even amidst chaos, I am working hard and living.
Here’s to a new year.
