I usually do an end-of-the year wrap up post, but last December I was very much Not In The Mood. So instead, you get a HELLOOO 2023 post. (It’s January 31. It still counts. Right?)
For the first time since my teens, I made no resolutions for 2023. I have goals, yes, both personal and for my writing, but those are ongoing and not connected to the new year. It’s been oddly freeing! I’m one of those people who really likes the symbology of fresh starts: New Year’s Eve, my birthday, heck, I’ll even take the new moon. But this time, I just… couldn’t. With the resolutions. And so, I stepped into 2023 as clear and clean as a blank page.
That said, I have lots of exciting things ahead that I’m looking forward to this year. In February, I’ll be back in person at my beloved ‘local’ convention: Boskone, from February 17-19 in Boston, MA. Run by the New England Science Fiction Association, this is a great event. Just big enough to attract plenty of fantastic writers and publishing folk, but small enough so that you can actually find people to connect with and not get overwhelmed.
I’ll be moderating three program items: the group Rapid Fire Reading for Broad Universe; a meet up for young writers; and a panel on older characters in SF/F. If you’re attending Boskone, come and say hi!
I also have stories in two upcoming anthologies. Fit For The Gods will be out in August (there’s an official cover reveal coming soon, so I’ll wait to share it, but you can already add it to your Goodreads if you want.) This anthology has SO MANY great authors, and it’s thrilling to have had my story selected. My own story is a take on Odysseus and Circe, from the point of view of Scylla. I can’t wait to share it with the world!!!
From the blurb: “Featuring stories by a bestselling, cross-genre assortment of some of the most exciting writers working today, an anthology of gender-bent, queered, race-bent, and inclusive retellings from the enchanting and eternally popular world of Greek myth.”
This will also (hopefully) be the year of Femmes Fae-Tales, an anthology of fae-related stories by women and non-binary authors from the SFFChronicles.com forums. (Click here for more information.) Many of us were part of the group that put together DISTAFF, published in 2019, an anthology of sci fi tales, and we’re excited to share this foray into the world of fantasy. My own story is one of a dark descent into the addiction to wild magic… Cover reveal coming soon!
As for works in progress, I’m halfway through the second in a sci-fantasy novella trilogy about a trio of ghost hunters in southern Brazil a few decades into the future. I hope to finish all three books and revise in time to start searching for a home for my novellas by summer. I’m having such a blast writing this; my characters are so much fun and so is the magic I’ve created for them! It’s also dark at times; there are zombie-ghosts, which is something I NEVER thought I’d write, seeing as I’m super scared of any zombie media! (When I realized my ghosts were going to be zombies, my reaction was ‘Oh no. OH NO!’ But the story needed them, and so be it…)
Usually in my end-of-year wrap up, I give a shout out to my favorite books of the year. This time, I popped up a recap on Instagram instead. Choosing just ten books is an impossible task, so I limited my choices to authors who were new to me in 2022. Check out my selection here!
As for 2023, I’m off to a good start with reading, and have so many more books ahead! Some of the 2023 speculative fiction releases I’m excited for: Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo (Alex Stern #2); The Witch King by Martha Wells; the new Murderbot novel, System Collapse, also by Martha Wells; Threadneedle by Cari Thomas; The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoc; The Eidolon, the new Tarot Sequence spinoff series by KD Edwards; A Power Unbound, the conclusion to Freya Marske’s Last Binding trilogy; Dark Moon, Shallow Sea, the first in a new epic fantasy series by David R. Slayton; and the Being Ace anthology. I’m sure I’ll be adding many, MANY books to my TBR list, and that’s just upcoming releases, not counting the older books already on that list.
Wishing all of you a fantastic 2023, with or without resolutions, and here’s to plenty of great reads and great words (for the writers among us) ahead!
Juliana Spink Mills 