2016 Wrap-Up

So Cat Rambo—current President of SFWA and an absolutely amazing human being. Seriously, if you haven't gotten the chance to spend some time with her, even in passing, do it—posted on Facebook, encouraging authors to collect up everything they had that could be Hugo or Nebula or whatever-other-award eligible from 2016. And a lot of people have taken the call to action… myself included, as it turns out. I think it's a good idea, both from a professional standpoint—if you do the work for them, maybe they'll be more likely to read your stuff—and from a personal standpoint—look at how much I did this year, go me.

So yeah, it is a little chance for authors to pat themselves on the back… and the way this year has been so far, I think we could all use a little upper.

So, what did Voss Foster put out in 2016 (Please shoot me. I just referred to myself in the third person completely unironically.)?

BOOKS

The Inn (EvenstadMedia Presents #3): Book Three of my dystopian epistolary sci-fi series. I feel like this one was a big improvement from the second book, which for me is the weakest of the series so far. I'll openly admit that. It's not bad, but it's not the strongest book.

The Tunnels(Evenstad Media Presents #4): Book four of the same series. This is the midpoint of the whole series, and it does exactly what I wanted it to. The stakes really ratchet up on every side of a very multi-faceted conflict in this book, and it sets up a good run for the climax (Note: this is very uncomfortable, talking about my own books this way. FYI. I apologize for the bragging.).

SHORTS AND ARTICLES

Rifle in Hand (Horseshoes,Hand Grenades, and Magic): This is less a story and more a vignette. An old woman is called in for a job that the young soldiers just can't quite seem to get right. And, as with all the stories in the anthology, close enough definitely counts.

Ivory (Merely Thisand Nothing More: Poe Goes Punk): My retelling of some classic body horror (Poe's Berenice.). It's, to me, the most horrifying of all Poe's stories. Something about it is just chilling, and I was super-excited to get the chance to put a new spin on it. I won't say that I did it justice, but I'd like to think I at least managed a humble homage to one of literature's most talented masters.

I've Never Known aWorld Without Mass Shootings (Vox.com): This was my gut reaction to… everything. I started really looking into it after the San Bernadino shooting, and actually had a very early draft of the same article that I wrote just for myself at that point. It had finally become too much after that, and I had to do something. Writing is what I know. After Pulse in Orlando, I tossed it out into the world, and it really caught fire. I'm still proud of this one. I'm proud of all my work, but this one is really special to me, because it's so real and so raw.

Hii Shadir(Domesticated Velociraptors): Apparently 2016 was the year of the vignette, because this is skirting very close to that, as well. But with a concept as intriguing as "domesticated velociraptors," I couldn't very well pass up the chance to write for it.

In the end, 2016 was a pretty light year for publishing, but it was also the best financial year I've had since I started writing professionally. I feel like I made strides and am really in a good position for 2017. Also, I'm back to the crazy idea of undertaking the Bradbury Challenge. The whole thing: 1000 poems, 1000 essays, 1000 short stories, and a short story written every week. I've attempted this all in the past, but I'm determined. So keep me on track if you see me straying. By any means necessary.

Here's to 2017 being better… because it would have to try pretty hard to be worse…

Voss