The obligatory end-of-year wrap-up post you’ve been waiting for

The year in writing, recognition, loss, and life

If nothing else, 2024 for me was a year of transition and disruption. And — I hope — a year I learned to be more grateful and empathetic.

After 40 years of full-time work, much of it in academia, I entered a new phase of life last January. Some call it retirement, but it has hardly been that. My pursuit of creative writing and some freelance work has kept me busy enough. In addition, my wife and I and our cat had a couple of health scares that made us reevaluate our values and gave us greater insight into the workings of the U.S. health care system, the good, bad, and ugly of it. We also mourned the passing of a few friends from our church family and continue to honor their memory.

In other words, a lot of life happened in 2024. Here are some highlights from the year:

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‘Lower Strata’ nominated for Spillwords’ Publication of the Month

At the risk of turning this blog into one long series of brag posts, I’m happy to share that my short story “Lower Strata” is in the running for Spillwords‘ Publication of the Month. The story is one of sixteen nominees, each selected, according to the literary magazine, “100% based on the popularity within the last 30 days.”

Now, the decision to decide which publication earns this distinction falls to the readers, who can cast their votes here. (To vote, you’ll need to sign up for Spillwords. But it’s a fine little literary magazine, and unlike other publications, the Spillwords folks don’t pelt you with emails, so signing up won’t burden you much and will help the magazine grow its audience.)

Continue reading “‘Lower Strata’ nominated for Spillwords’ Publication of the Month”