Carpe Blogiem: 2015 – A Year In Review

Like my last two years in review. Here are how things went for me in 2015:

The Good (What I did well or that went well)

  • I was published in Pyramid a lot this year: #3/75: Hero’s Jackpot (5/5 stars), #3/76: Dungeon Fantasy IV (4.5/5 stars), #3/77: Combat (4.5/5 stars), #3/78: Unleash Your Soul (5/5 stars), #3/79: Space Atlas (4.5/5 stars), #3/80: Fantasy Threats (5/5 stars), #3/82: Magical Creations (4.5/5 stars), #3/83: Alternate GURPS IV (5/5 stars), #3/84: Perspectives (5/5 stars), #3/85: Cutting Edge (5/5 stars), and #3/86: Organizations. I had THREE cover issues this year (#3/80, #3/83, & #3/86). As of right now I’ve been published in Pyramid 36 times (twice in Issue #3/46). I was published ELEVEN times this year, losing out only in July. Eventually I’ll get the “all year” mark. It’s yet another goal to strive for.
  • I’m still working on the current wishlist, but all issues are done except for Spaceships III, Tech and Toys VI, and Zombies. I’ve got another 14 that are have no listed home, but are good to go.
  • My Patreon has been doing extremely well considering what it is – I’ve reached the point where I make (on average) about the same as writing for Pyramid. Between the two of them and my normal freelancing I’m not constantly scrambling for finances to pay the bills. This is kind of huge. Another $400 or so and I should be able to pay bills and get health insurance through the ACA.
  • I continue roaming the forums and answering questions. I seem to have become something of a GURPS guru – that’s just weird, but awesome.
  • I appeared in the Steve Jackson Games Daily Illuminator. This is a HUGE honor.
  • My work with the Pyramid Mentoring Group has been slow because life keeps eating the mentors (hey! If you want to write for GURPS why don’t you stop on by?) – but we’re still here.
  • My grammar and mastery of the English language improved much in 2015 and I continue to work hard to get to where I need to be. My teachers and mentors have remained patient with me and really, I can only get better.
  • Nimbus remains a source of delight and amusement. His built-in glucometer has saved me on half a dozen occurrences from night lows.
  • My mother’s home is in a precarious (but stable) situation. Everything is getting paid, but we’d still like to get it paid off and a few things fixed.
  • My mom met someone and TL;DR he moved in and they’re probably getting married. He’s kind of awesome and I love the dude to death (enough that I call him “Dad”). We’re enough alike that when he calls me “son” no one really questions it. It’s kind of nice having a dad. I never grew up with one and I always had to find my own father figures.

The Bad (What I could have done better or had no control over)

  • I finished writing FIVE novels for an urban fantasy series. It’s not good enough and needs more editing. I don’t really feel like I have the time at the moment. Sigh. Into the bin they go. Maybe publish them some day. Onto the next novel series. I really want to publish something in the fiction market in 2016. Here’s to hoping it happens.
  • My blogging has continued at a pace – though it’s gone from 3-4 posts a week down to 2 pots thanks to renovations and sheer lack of time. I’ve strived to make sure that the content remains the same. Hopefully the new year will find me posting more with even better content.
  • Physical Health: I don’t know why, but I ended up gaining back weight I’d lost – I amt at 473.8 lbs. I’m going to chalk this up to stress-eating and hyperphagia due to setting off my bi-polar disorder from said stress. I have to do better. I want to live longer than 50. My diabetes management came to a skidding halt as I was diagnosed with Polycythemia Vera (Tl;DR I make to many red blood cells) and I had to change my diet yet again. My doctor has helped me to manage it (it requires I receive regular phlebotomy – they need to take out 500 to 1,000 units at a time) and after a complete DNA sequencing (my disease presented very strangely) he has determined I’ve got some interesting aberrations. Aberrations he wants to study. My A1C at the end of the year was 9.0 – that is not a good number. Overall pain has been lower than usual. I hope this latter trend continues
  • The project I started on for a private client ended up getting delayed into rewrite Hell. We’ve since dropped deadlines – but I’ve put too much ink to page to ditch it at this point. It’ll be finished when I can get more time. I learned a lot from this – chiefly – never accept a private contract until the work is itself done and you have time. Although said project did morph twice into something different and that always takes time. This has made my skittish in taking more than 5k worth of word projects so if you’re interested in that sort of thing, take heed.

The Ugly (I don’t know how to categorize this or too early to tell)

  • Mental Health: My PTSD diagnosis is still getting reviewed. Remains probable. Hopefully some real news soon. I’ve a neurologist’s appointment tomorrow to rule out an physiological symptoms. Overall,I’ve kept fairly balanced and I’ve had few breakthrough incidents. I still feel like I’m grieving for my grandmother, except I’m not grieving. I miss her sometimes. I wish she was here – but not as a zombie. No, not as a zombie.
  • I didn’t do NaNoWriMo for the first time in a couple years – just too much to do.
  • My Dungeon Fantasy book is in editorial hell at the moment because PK has hurt one of his hands substantially. I do not blame him. Dude has had a hard time in the last few months. It’ll get done when it’s done.
  • The Dungeon Fantasy I talked about in my last update morphed into something that was…well, strange. Essentially, the PCs took the role of divine beings (gods) and their avatars. children, etc. EAch campaign story arc used a different GURPS line and I cycled through Dungeon Fantasy and (medieval) Monster Hunters, before the campaign wheel turned and I decided to revamp a supers campaign into something better (see below).
  • January 11th, 2015 will start the beginning of a new campaign (I’ve still only got four). But this one is all about the supers genre. I’m doing something I think is rather unique. This campaign will feature two groups of players (maybe three). One online (maybe two) and one face to face. The uniqueness will come from the fact that ALL players will be in the same “universe” and the things they do will impact the world and how other players may interact with it. Exciting stuff. More of that to come.
  • It looks like folks WANT to see adventures released on my Patreon page, but the numbers are still lukewarm. I’ll continue to monitor the situation and decide from there.
  • My mother’s boyfriend is renovating the house – this is awesome because hey, stuff is getting fixed that needs to be fixed. Moreover, I’m getting my own little place in the once-garage as an apartment efficiency. It’s bad because I’ve been living in the living room for over 8 weeks and my nerves are beyond frazzled at this point. Hopefully within the next two weeks Nimbus and I will be in our new digs and all will go well.
Like the previous year it was mostly good with a few bad things happening to send some shade to cover the shine. 2015 was not the year of “Some Day” as I had hopped, but so much happened I’m surprised I kept up with study, work, my (small) social life, and family. Here’s hoping that 2016 slows down where it should and speeds up where I hope it will.
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