2019: I see a path

[schneefink]

Fic I wrote:
Kingdom of Magic (Inheritance Trilogy/Harry Potter) – a new WIP: I wrote the first chapter in one quick burst of inspiration, and since then have only a lot of backstory snippets
Who You See and See It Again (The Seer and the Sword) – it was fun to revisit the book and I enjoyed writing the drabbles
Choosing to Swim (Tensorate series) – kind-of fix-it that was hard to write but I think came out ok
Raising the Stakes (Original) – written for a flashfic exchange, it was fun, and I still like the title for a vampire story
Forget-Me(-Not) (The Gardener's Hand) – missing scene from the books that I'm glad I added
The Cost of the Second Lie (Winternight trilogy) – same as above
Things That Make You Think Different (Steerswoman) – I finally wrote Steffie fic!
The Price of Lives (Sorcery of Thorns) – what if I made the ending sad again?

I published ~12k, a little less than last year. All of it short (the longest is 2.7k), and pretty much all of it for small book fandoms. Which meant that I didn't get a lot of feedback, sadly, but what I got was generally positive.

I narrowly completed the 120 days writing challenge on getyourwordsout, again, but most of it was snippets. And I wrote 3/5 squares of a line for hc_bingo (and I thought about trying to finish it but then I realized it was more stress than fun so I stopped. Maybe next year.) No progress on my ongoing WIP Undead Memories – I was hoping I would be inspired by the new TAZ:B graphic novel but that didn't happen – and I started a new one.

Fandoms I was into for some time/to a certain degree this year: hard to say, especially with the smaller ones - when does something count as a fandom? I had a disappointing break-up with The Magicians in spring, a fling with The Untamed in summer, and discovered The Magnus Archives in late autumn. Not sure yet how long that fascination will last, but it would be nice to be in one medium-sized fandom for a bit longer again.
Other media I enjoyed without being very fannish about it included "That Time I Was Reincarnated As a Slime", "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse," and half of "Oh My General" (or as DD and I like to call it "pretty dumb people"), and I read many books I enjoyed, including "The Gardener's Hand" and "Echoes of the Fall" and "Children of Ruin." Sadly I found barely any time to read after I started my new job in fall.

I went to Worldcon! It was amazing. My first time going to a convention like that, best spontaneous decision. I had a great time, I met people, I went to interesting events, just the whole atmosphere was fantastic. I'm definitely planning to go again when it's in Europe again.

Fandom-adjacent, the D&D campaign I DM'd finished (it was great), and right now I'm playing a Warblade in the next campaign. Doing a shit-ton of damage to monsters with my sword feels great.

In non-fannish events, I got a marginal part-time job in April at a bank, that was good, but not a long-term solution for financial reasons. In October I got a better part-time job, and I'm officially a tax consultant trainee now. Not what I would have expected only a short while ago, but I enjoy it, and I finally have an outlook on what my career could look like! Feels good.
Doing uni classes at the same time is a bit more tiring than I expected and it might take me a bit longer to finish my degree than I hoped, but it's okay.

I'm living in an apartment that suits me well at the outskirts of town with my best friend, which is great. Fortunately, everyone in my family is mostly healthy and well. I kept meaning to go on dates but never put the effort in so that didn't happen… but next year.
The state of the world is pretty stressful, but I'm doing better at compartmentalizing and not being anxious about it all the time.

Plans for 2020:
- continue with my job and studies
- find enough time to read and write and sleep and make time with friends
- be a bit tidier in general
- go on at least two dates
- regularly do a bit of sports
- Overall, do as much as I can, as well as I can.

I'm so glad to be here on DW with all of you, and I hope 2020 will be a good year for everyone and for you in particular.

Comments

[karanguni]

/cheers you on in new job and in pursuit of your degree!

What are you studying, if you don't mind me asking?

[schneefink]

Thanks :)

I'm getting a Bachelor's degree in Business Law. I'm about halfway done with it, and hopefully I'll be able to finish it in 2022.

[smilebackwards]

Oh my God, The Seer and the Sword. I loved that book!

[schneefink]

Me too! It was my favorite book for many years as a teenager, and I enjoyed rereading it. So many tropes I still love :) I was very excited to see prompts (and fic!) for it.

[michelel72]

You had a lot going on! And I actually like that you stopped when you realized hc_bingo was more stress than fun; I respect the folks who finish a line or a blackout, but it does seem like it can be a lot of pressure.

[schneefink]

hc_bingo makes me write stories I otherwise wouldn't and I love that, that's my goal when signing up for it. But it would be a nice bonus to finish a bingo one year :)

[enemyofperfect]

I hope 2020 is a good year for you too!

[schneefink]

Thank you :)

[eglantiere]

sounds like you had a busy and a plentiful year! may 2020 bring all your plans to fruition, and keep its surprises pleasant and enriching.

[schneefink]

I did :) Thanks!

[nnozomi]

Thank you again for the lovely Steffie fic! I hope 2020 goes well for you.

[schneefink]

Thank you and you're very welcome, I really liked the prompt :)

[merit]

My job title was tax consultant a few years ago! Subsequently moved more into a compliance type of role since then though. Hope the job continues to work for you.

[schneefink]

My job at the bank was in the Compliance department, so other way around for me ^^ So far so good :)