Last year kicked off with the inaugural seven-day Smoky Writers Retreat at the end of January and ended with a nearly finished fantasy manuscript, a short story, and a whole bunch of audiobook contracts. I also went back to school for another degree. This year is either going to be awesome or make me cry. Possibly both.
Though the second Smoky Writers retreat isn't until February this year, 2015 started with some really awesome news. Are you ready for it?
Are you sure?
As of this week, I'm the newest assistant editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show Magazine!
Get it, boys.
I've been writing "Lady Lauren's Panacea", the magazine's fantasy book review column for the past year and a half, and I received the offer in the midst of my promotion for EXORCISING AARON NGUYEN's KDP Select Free days. For the foreseeable future, I will try to do both.
So what's this Smoky Writers Retreat?
So glad I manufactured that question! It's a retreat started by Alex White, author and podcaster extraordinaire, which takes place in the Smoky Mountains and was created for us to have several days of focused writing time, broken only by several delicious meals that we don't have to cook. The evening holds readings from that day's work, followed by games, drinks, and long soaks in the hot tub.
It's like being a writer and a rockstar at the same time. Is it February yet?
Back in School
Yeah, so living with mom and dad is more and more acceptable for millennials like me, and when you've got an English degree and no desire to go back to answering phones, you're basically stuck with Starbucks and house rules. To be fair, the house rules include wine o'clock and no rent, so I'm okay with them.
So I'm back in school for a degree in Echocardiography, which is ultrasound on the heart. THAT'S RIGHT, I'MMA MAKE THE BIG MONEY. Or at least enough to get my own place and, like, feed myself properly.
Anyway, I'll finish by Summer 2016. Then I'll be singing that Roxette song nonstop. "Listen to your hea~rt..."