So the blog has been long dormant, but since what’s old is new again, I thought I would try to resuscitate it as a means of keeping tabs.
If you’re new here: Hello there! My name is Brian Hugenbruch. I write things. I hope you’re here because you like to read things; if so, I hope you enjoy what I write. (If you don’t, no hard feelings.)
If you’re already caught up, here’s what’s been going on:
- “Or, The Modern Psyche” appeared in the anthology ALTERNATE PEACE from Zombies Need Brains, circa June 2019. (Acceptance was roughly three months prior.) This is my second Zombies story, and it’s a personal favorite.
- I sold “So You Want to Eat an Omnalik Starfish” to Syntax & Salt this year. It appeared online a few minutes after midnight on NYE 2020, so I’ll count this as last year’s news. This is the final issue of S&S, which is heart-breaking; however, I’m glad to have been a part of it, if briefly.
- In a personal first, I sat on a writing panel at RoberCon. This was a lot of fun–while I talk with crowds during my day job, it’s about encryption and not short stories. Perhaps I’ll do this again someday.
- I did NaNoWriMo (again) this year. It’s the first time I’ve worked on a fantasy novel since high school. It’s taking some mental adjustment to think this is okay; science fiction’s become second nature. Like all NaNoWriMo drafts, it’s horrible. Like every year, I know I can fix this.
The raw numbers:
- ~79,000 new words in 10 short stories and the first part of a novel draft.
- 73 rejections (story or poem; no novel submissions this year)
- 2 acceptances
Not the best rate of return, but it’s a step up from 2018. All one can do is keep trying, keep learning, and keep writing. And while I’m not one for resolutions, I’ll see if I can’t push myself a little further (on words, on finished stories, on submissions) all the same. I can hope for more acceptances–but hope and effort go a long ways further than hope alone does.
Here’s hoping anyone reading has a safe, happy, and productive 2020!
The Lettersea 