Carpe Blogiem: 2017 – A Year In Review

Like my last four years in review. Here are how things went for me in 2017:

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

• I was among the privileged few to participate in the Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game as an author. As I’ve noted elsewhere, the other list of names included Phil Masters, David L. Pulver, Matt Riggsby, and Peter Dell’Orto. That is heady company. Dungeon Fantasy Traps is among some of my finest work to date.
• I was published in Pyramid a bit this year: #3/99: Death and Beyond (4.5/5 stars), #3/100: Pyramid Secrets (5/5 stars), #3/101: Humor (5/5 stars), #3/102: Epic (5/5 stars), #3/103: Setbacks (4.5/5 stars),  #3/104: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game (5/5 stars), #3/105: Cinematic Magic (5/5 stars), #3/106: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game II (5/5 stars), #3/107: Monster Hunters III (5/5 stars),
• #3/108: Dungeon Fantasy Roleplaying Game III (5/5 stars), #3/109: Thaumatology V (5/5 stars), #3/110: Deep Space (5/5 stars). I finally hit an “all year” streak! As of this year I’ve been published in Pyramid 54 times (twice in Issue #3/46).
• I more or less demolished the 2017 Pyramid Wishlist.
• I outlined, contracted, and wrote a new GURPS Monster Hunters volume. What’s it about? Stay tuned, I’ll drop some hints somewhere on the blog a the right time.
• My Patreon continues to do well and I thank all the people who make it possible for me to write and pay my bills. My non-game design writing for the tech firm went kaput, but I’ve started the designs for working on another game system and have started writing fiction.
• My mastery of the English language continued to improve and I’ve been working myself up to some of the more arcane rules. Beth says my comma usage has improved and that’s something because for whatever reason I find this the hardest thing to grasp.
• Home life is still pretty decent, I wish there were more that could be done, but we have a roof over our heads, bills are paid, and food on the table. That’s not something you can complain about.
• I ended up getting another cat so that Nimbus could have a friend when I’m not there. They kind of hated each other at first, but are best buds now. “Aurora Skye” is a mackerel tabby and so tiny compared to Nimbus. She make up for it by mothering the bigger cat and it turns out she’s the better at wrestling of the two.
• I ended Aeon, started The Chronicles of Ceteri, ended it, and started a Dungeon Fantasy campaign. Bleh. I try not to do that, but sometimes it just happens. The muses does as the muse wants.
• I went to Gencon 2017 and it was amazing. I must do that again if I can.

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

• I kept off the Steve Jackson Games forums most of the year – too much stuff to do and not enough free time.
• My mother’s health continued to be a problem and I had to suspend most of my online activities in December.
• I still didn’t publish anything in the fiction market in 2017 and that’s just not going to work for me. I have to try and do something in 2018.
• I’ve still continued to blog at a steady rate of about 2 posts per week (up until December).
• Mental Health: It has been a year of suck and my sanity is suffering for it. Lots of night terrors, lots of anxiety, lots of…well…just lots.
• Physical Health: The doctors still don’t know why my weight fluxes so much. Could be the insulin, could be one of my other meds, but they just don’t know. Most other issues are fine or at least being treated.

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