Well…what can any of us say about March 2020? I am currently several weeks into shelter-in-place, as I hope you all are as well. We will get through this and persevere, but that does not mean it won’t be very hard along the way. But here’s what I was doing from a creative perspective in March!

Writing:

I have been busy at work editing and submitting the next draft of my script “This Time Last Year”, after it had its wonderful table-reading on March 7th.

I turned in that draft on March 31st, so I have spent the start of April diving into Camp Nanowrimo. Having the structure of an online writing event feels very beneficial right now, so I am excited to throw myself into a novel draft I’ve been just starting on recently.

Events:

The aforementioned table-reading, but I was also a speaker and panelist at FOGcon this month! Right before everyone had to head inside, I got to spend a weekend meeting with some great writers, artists and fiction fans, and I am so glad I was able to experience that.

In a very different type of event, I was also a guest with Atthis Arts for Virtual Con, an online convention hosted on Reddit’s r/fantasy boards. It was great to spend a few hours answering questions and getting to know folks, and just seeing the ways people are staying connected in the midst of all this.

Reading and Watching Resolutions:

Hoo boy, this was a heavy month for reading and movies (which I assume is going to be the case for a while). My favorite book of the month has to be The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, which took me on a real ride. The best movie I watched was probably The Wicker Man, though emphatically the original from 1973

General

I am so incredibly thrilled and honored to announce that my debut novel, The Traveling Triple-C Incorporeal Circus, is a finalist for the Independent Book Publishers Association’s Benjamin Franklin Awards, in the Best New Voice: Fiction category. As the official event in Redondo Beach was cancelled for April, there will be an online presentation in May, where everyone will get to celebrate some wonderful work coming out of independent publishers.

I also turned 30! A bit of a wild month overall, and while I wish a lot of things were different, I am so blessed to be able to stay connected with my peers, my friends and my loved ones. The rest of 2020 is going to look very, very different for all of us, but changes will happen and we will make the best with what we have. Stay safe and take care!