Tag Archives: RPGs

Awards, Comics, COVID, Family, Life Stuff, Novels, Poetry, RPGs, Utility Drawer, WFH (work for hire/tie-ins), Witchy Stuff

2023 WRAP-UP-Y THING/HAPPY 2024!

Writing

I actually was not going to do a 2023 wrap-up post because I’m sick and I didn’t think I had that much to say, but I realized I was wrong, so here are some things I did or that happened in 2023 that I’m proud of or happy about (in no particular order):

  • Had my second Marvel book published (Marvel Zombies: The Hunger)
  • Had two poems selected as Rhysling Finalists (“EMDR” and “A Spell for Winning Your Personal Injury Lawsuit”); neither placed in the top three, alas
  • Had my first role-playing adventure published (“The Case of the Great Underwater Panther”)
  • Got an agent for the book of my heart
  • Found the perfect crit partner for said book
  • Wrote my first solo comic book script

Everything Else

  • Started driving again, after having been unable to do so since getting hit by a cop and a subsequent spine surgery in 2019
  • Attended Stasia Savasuk’s Style School (literally life-changing; you should totally do it if you can)
  • Reconnected with several members of my LaFountain family (and connected with some further back in my Métis line)
  • Went to Paris and London over the summer and got to sit inside the circle at Stonehenge during the full moon
  • Got a really nasty case of Covid while in Europe that murdalized my immune system; said immune system is still rebuilding (I am not happy about this, but it has been an ongoing challenge I’ve had to overcome, so the fact it hasn’t completely derailed the latter half of my year should probably be acknowledged)
  • Lived to tell the tale

Here’s hoping 2024 brings more of the good and less of the bad for all of us! Happy New Year!!!

Appearances, Causes, Family, Interviews, Novels, Preorder Link, RPGs, WFH (work for hire/tie-ins)

ALERT!!! NEW RELEASE DATE!

First off, I know everywhere still says Sisters of Sorcery is slated to release Sept 20 (next week), but I have been informed that the release date has been pushed back to SEPTEMBER 27. So you’ll have to wait just a tiny bit longer for your copy. Sorry about that!

Also, it will be the day of dueling releases here in Marcyville, because my husband, Jeffrey J. Mariotte, ALSO has a book releasing that day – The Squad, the first book in his new Major Crimes Squad: Phoenix series. So pick that one up, too!

It was great seeing everyone at TCC, but I got food poisoning from Denny’s pancakes on Saturday, so that ended the con early for me. Apologies to everyone who was hoping to get a signed book on Sunday. We’re planning on attending TusCon 49 in November, so hopefully you can pick one up there!

I also have an adventure in Coyote & Crow’s latest crowdfunded effort (which looks like it will be very successful). It’s my first ttrpg credit and I originally pitched it as a Scooby Doo episode, so you really don’t want to miss it!

I was also involved in Part Two of Gwendolyn Kiste’s Pro-Choice Horror Roundtable, which you can read here.

Oh, yeah, and I recently signed a contract for a Super Sekrit Project that you guys are going to LOVE. But I probably won’t be able to talk about it until next year – gotta love those NDAs, heh.

Everything Else

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month. You all know this is a very important cause for me, given that my youngest son was diagnosed with neuroblastoma when he was only 4 months old. I’ll leave you with some facts and a link to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation, a pediatric cancer charity started by a young girl who eventually lost her battle with neuroblastoma. Please consider donating something if you can. Less than 4% of federal research dollars go to pediatric cancers, and Big Pharma has no incentive for research, given that childhood cancers are “rare” in comparison to adult ones – the ROI isn’t large enough for them to bother. So research money has to come from private sectors – that means US.

Comics, Novels, Poetry, RPGs, Short Fiction, WFH (work for hire/tie-ins)

GOODBYE TO THE OLD, HELLO TO THE NEW

Writing

So, everyone is doing their end-of-year posts. I don’t usually do these, but it’s been a rough year and I’m proud of the things I managed to accomplish despite that.

In 2021, I:

  • Sold 13 new poems; saw 7 of those published
  • Sold 4 new stories; saw 3 of those published
  • Pitched, sold, & delivered a story for a WFH RPG anthology; saw it published
  • Pitched, scripted, sold, & delivered a comic book story
  • Pitched, sold, & delivered a WFH RPG adventure
  • Pitched & sold a WFH novel

    • (I can’t talk about those last two yet, but will of course share more when I can.)

    That’s a lot for me, especially considering that the nerve issues in my neck I’ve been dealing with since I was rear-ended in 2019 make it so I can’t spend a lot of time at the keyboard.

    Things I am looking forward to in 2022:

  • Finishing & delivering the WFH novel
  • Writing a solicited story for a WFH anthology

    • More RPG work? More WFH work? Nothing firm in those areas yet, but some good possibilities, so we’ll see.

    Also, I got this really nice tweet about my poem, “The Things We Pass Down,” in the Wanderers chapbook. (Note that “moved” in the tweet should be “woven.” Thanks, autocorrect! LOL)

    Nice tweet about my poem, “The Things We Pass Down.”

    Everything Else

    I hope you all had a wonderful [insert your preferred winter holiday/break], that you have a very happy New Year’s Eve/Day, and that 2022 makes up for how crappy 2020 & 2021 have been for most of us.

    A cool blurry picture of my youngest with a sparkler on New Year’s Eve (2020).