Monday, January 22, 2018

Year in Review: Year 3

This will be my third year doing  a Year in Review. It's fun to look back through my posts and save some of my favorites, or the ones that seemed most useful, by putting them out in a review post. It comes in handy to have a reference post, but it may also come in handy in case someone wasn't looking for a particular topic when I posted it, and now they need that information.

Before I jump into the reviews, I'm putting out an invitation to women in horror to hand over my blog to you one day in February, Women in Horror Month. It would have to be an actual post, something informative or interesting about horror, but it doesn't have to be horror fiction. And you are, of course, welcome to include a little something about your most recent release or an upcoming release, as long as that's not the entirety of your post. Just drop a comment below if you're a woman in horror interested in doing a guest post in February.

Speaking of which, I'll be putting out sign ups to help with a blog tour for the release of my short story collection. Coming soon!

Okay, now for the review. If you'd like to see last year's, click HERE. There's a link in that one to the previous year.

February 6


Check out these awesome women in horror, from Ripley to the Soska sisters.


March 22


This stemmed from a conversation about horror on Facebook, and spurred more conversations for me, as well as a workshop that I've now done for two different writing organizations. I've continued learning since this post, researching horror through the decades and how it's been classified (gothic romance, dark fantasy, supernatural thriller, etc.)

May 24


Wherein I continued the soul searching and research started in the March 22 post. All about pigeonholing horror. Hey, no one wants to be misunderstood or forced into a cliche.


July 19


A hopefully encouraging post about changing up your routines or writing methods to get yourself "unstuck."

September 13


I answered questions about short stories people had left in comments. Includes where to submit short stories, structure, etc.

September 27


About how I'm using a free online software meant for to-dos and daily chores and goals for my writing.


October 19


Some horror film recommendations from my month of watching a horror movie each month (October).


I did fewer posts in 2017 than 2016, and had fewer posts to pass along today. I figure I'll have plenty of posts on my first foray into self-publishing in the upcoming year to post in a review post in 2019.

Now for links. Bear in mind that I'm not endorsing them, merely passing them along. Always do your own due diligence when submitting.

Accepting Submissions

Ninth Letter is accepting short fiction, poetry, and essays. Up to 8000 words. Pays $25 per printed page. Deadline February 28.

Darkhouse Books is seeking cozy to cozy-noir short stories involving librarians for the anthology Shhhh...Murder! They're also seeking poetry, flash fiction, short stories, and creative nonfiction with the theme of sanctuary, refuge, asylum, or shelter for Sanctuary. Up to 5000 words. Pays royalties. Deadline February 28.

Chicken Soup for the Soul is seeking stories for The Best Advice I Ever Heard. Up to 1200 words. Pays $200. Deadline February 28.

The Future Fire is seeking short stories and poetry for Making Monsters. They want retellings of classical monsters. Up to 5000 words. Pays £50. Deadline February 28.

Red Rabbit Publishing is seeking action filled sci-fi short stories for Red Rabbit Presents. Up to 6000 words. Pays up to $180. Deadline February 28.

Have you looked over your posts for the last year? Have you slacked off on posting? Any of these publishing links of interest? Anything to share? Are you a woman in horror who would like to guest post?

May you find your Muse.



13 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I remember the short story questions and answers.
I'm sure I had fewer posts last year as well.

Christine Rains said...

I posted less last year too, and I'll likely do less this year. Blogging does take a lot of time, and I'm focusing on more writing this year than everything else. Thanks for the links! I wrote a short story last month for the First Line Literary Journal, and my local critique group tore it up this past Saturday. Time to fix it up and submit it before the deadline! :) Have a great week.

cleemckenzie said...

Less is more for me in 2018. I'm taking more time away from blogging...sort of weaning myself off the weekly commitment.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Hi Shannon - I'm posting about the same - just didn't do the A-Z in 2016 ... I suspect I'll do the same again - just shorter posts and not so erudite. But always thank you for the links - cheers Hilary

Shannon Lawrence said...

I think a lot of people did.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Good luck getting that off! I spent this past year doing more writing than blogging, too. I imagine it will continue.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Mine wasn't as purposeful as that, but I had several times I sat down to write a blog post, had no inspiration, and told myself it's okay not to stick to the old schedule. Post when there's a reason.

Shannon Lawrence said...

A lot of us have pulled back a bit.

The Cynical Sailor said...

I remember your post about Habitica. It sounds like a great too.

Jennifer Lane said...

Shannon, that's a great idea to do a year in review post. I'm off to check out the getting unstuck post!

Rebecca M. Douglass said...

What a great idea, to do the annual review. I'm laughing a bit at some of the comments about backing off from so much posting, because I planned to do that--and have ended up posting more in January than ever, partly by mistake (like posting something on Saturday kind of by accident :O ).

Jen said...

I love this idea of an annual review. And I've always clicked on several of your older posts to read! I've been lax in reading and commenting but I'm so happy to be back to the blog realm. It just keeps pulling me back in.

Women in Horror Month? I love that! I'll have to put that at the top of my calendar for Feb :)

Have a wonderful week!
Jen

Sherry Ellis said...

An annual review is a great idea. Then you can see exactly how much you've done and see if you've accomplished the goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year.