Each year, as December comes around, I look back at the year that is about to finish and take stock of how I feel about it. Am I left bewildered by how time has slipped between my fingers so? Or does it feel like I’ve taken my time to live through each day fully?

Well, perhaps not each day. But I’ve learned that how time passes is a function of one’s will and focus. Still, even without such a conscious effort of awareness, this year has been rich and eventful for me, and, sometimes, a little frustrating.

Big wins have been finishing a huge revision of a long-standing project, editing a novella, and attending the Milford Workshop (find my account of the workshop here). Gladstone’s Library, where Milford is now taking place, is nothing short of amazing. As far as libraries go, this one exists to write in. I wish I could move there for a couple of months each year, but a week once in a while will have to suffice.

I still ended up going twice to England this year, the second time for another less formal workshop called Villa Diodati, where I met a small group of friends to talk, write, and have a pint or two over a long weekend.

The Villa Diodati group.

Most of the year, though, I was home, working on my long-standing project, which is an epic fantasy novel that I started too long ago and rewrote too many times (read about that here and here). This year’s was the biggest rewrite ever, and after getting feedback from a few beta readers, I was gratified to find that there isn’t much more that needs changing. But before I continue with this project, I’ve decided that I need to write something completely new to cleanse my palette and to truly test how much I’ve learned. Always chewing on the same project is not beneficial for developing as a writer.

That’s why I’ve been writing short stories in between to keep the creative juices flowing while dealing with the arduous epic fantasy project (which I love, but, ah! it’s epic). The frustrating part of the year was getting so close to publishing some of those stories. In total, I had 5-6 holds. One resulted in acceptance (the story is not yet published). A couple were rejected, and a few are still (nerve-rackingly) outstanding.

What I published in 2024 is a Bulgarian translation of my story “Salvaged,” which originally appeared in Escape Pod. Find the original here and, if you happen to speak Bulgarian, you can listen to the translation here. I wrote a blog post about the experience of translating my own story in what is supposed to be my mother tongue. Though having a story available in Bulgarian is a milestone for me, the experience was not what I expected. You can read about it here.

The readers’ comments from my foray in the short story publishing world made me realize that my strength (which fits what I most enjoy writing and reading) are longer-form fiction, starting with novella and up. So, I’ve decided to let short story writing be (at least for now) and focus on longer projects.

The last win I want to mention is finally starting a newsletter. The intention has been on my mind for so long, and now it’s done. You can sign up here to receive a brief “hello” from me once a month or so.

This year, I also took a few weeks’ time to go back to learning the craft. I plan for other such stints in the future. This time, I focused on character. It was refreshing. I also beta-read two books for friends, which is always a great learning experience.

Another area of construction is me trying to streamline my routines so I can better focus on producing new writing the days that I’m not at my day job (which is what’s paying for the above-mention workshops; sadly, writing doesn’t yet). Deciding to focus less on short stories is part of this, but also throwing out other less necessary tasks from my to-do lists.

I’m also trying to squeeze in more reading. Though I miss reading reading books, I caved in (after long time resisting—I might write a post about why later) and started listing to audio books during my long drives to work. This significantly increased my having-read list, but I still miss reading reading. That’s still an area I need to improve. I hope that, with my kids growing up, my evenings will clear somewhat, and I can hunker down on the couch with a cup-of-something and a book before going to bed.

So that’s it. I find the end of each year a bitter-sweet affair, with some hopes and wishes fulfilled and others still cooking or no longer relevant. We’re never the same compared to how we started any calendar period, and that’s the one thing that will always remain steady: The one constant the passage of time always upholds is change.

Here’s me hoping whatever change has come to pass in your lives has been for the better. Now let us train our gazes forward and prepare for another New Year.

Me taking the medieval-castle-thing too seriously (Arundel, England).