This year my writing world has been productive. More productive than it has been in the last 3 1/2 years (basically since I started & finished my bachelor's program). This summer I made it a point to get more involved in the industry. 

 I read from the genre I love to write in and completed the entire Sigma Force series, the entire Millennium series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series), and tried as best I could to get through Oryx and Crake. I'm all for a apocalyptic stories, whether the beginning or at the end, but for some reason I just could. Not. Get. Through this story. I know it is critically acclaimed and Atwood is a great author, but the voice of the main character never seemed to mature from his toddler years to his narrative elderly years. The flash backs weren't as hard to follow as I had thought they'd be, but I was annoyed and disgusted with the child pornography sections of the book. I felt that, while it showed that dystopian break down and decay of human nature, it could have been done in a far less graphic way. 

I also paid attention to industry news. Reading agents' blogs, industry articles, tech and how the world of publishing is changing, prepares me for my technique for when I will begin to query. I also networked with fellow writing peers, have gone to (free) workshops, listened to publisher lectures and watched what others are doing. I've also taken advice. This website for instance, was promoted and suggested by a freelance writer (if it's free it's for me!). I also wrote to promote through the Examiner. However, that comes with its own set of challenges. The Examiner is a great opportunity to build a foundation of credibility, a forum of readership, and exposure. It, however, does not pay what I would expect. Granted, you get out of it what you put into it, but for pennies on a click and regulations about what is a qualified post, I soon felt that it was about quantity over quality. I as writer never want to sacrifice quality for a quick buck. I also was dismayed at the level of peer-posts. Your material is not editor reviewed and if I were a part of the readership of the Examiner, I would soon lose interest in the amount of grammatical errors, surface reporting or opinion-based articles. 

I spent the greater half of the year editing, revising and using friends for peer critiques on my completed pieces. The feedback I received was wonderful and even though I didn't meet my goal of completing all of my WIPs for query next year, I know that because I have to spend some delicate time combing through and re-writing I need to take my time and not rush for a self-imposed deadline. The story will be better for it--like The Last Scion and Call of Bone. 

Ready for query is Ulterior Motive and the Gingerbread Man. 

Tree of Life is sadly a few months over-due, but I'm okay with that. Just as with TLS and CoB, it'll be better for the time I'm taking with it.

On a related writing note, I've outlined and began fleshing out 5 new stories. The Deprogrammer (thriller), Tucson Two Step (a political thriller and the title is tentative), Sanctum (fantasy), Morte, a story of espionage, and The Path, a zombie story.

Now to get ready to set new goals. I will be finishing up Tree of Life and Call of Bone by end of the year, then sending out queries on Ulterior Motive and the Gingerbread Man. While 2011 will be a focus on querying and networking, I'll be also working on finishing the WIPs collecting dust.  

So, what did you accomplish this year? What did you do this summer?