Celebrating 2024

2024 was the year, I decided: the year I was going to commit to my writing. I made a schedule and put in the hours. Now I’m looking back on the results and feeling just a little bit proud.

Things I Finished

I’ve had a few anthology publications.

Early in the year, my story “Like Mother, Like Son” was published in House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature, Vol. 4. My poem “Directions to the Underworld” appeared in Augur Magazine, and my story “Picking Hazelnuts With the Devil” was published in the Brighton NightWriters’ anthology Echoes of Light.

My story based on Prince Edward Island ghost ship folklore, “Ghost Ships Passing in the Night,” was selected for a beautiful illustrated anthology, Whispers in the Earth: World Folklore Reimagined. I’ve connected with a lovely community of writers through this project, including a Kickstarter launch event and meeting several participants in Glasgow at Worldcon. The ebook is out for the original backers, and the print edition will be out sometime in the new year.

I’ve also enjoyed some success writing scripts. Morley College Radio recorded a performance of my short radio drama Plan A. I participated in the Liverpool Fringe’s 24 Hour Play Fest, co-creating a play called Between Brighton Rock and a Hard Place with a talented team. It was a fun, adrenaline-fueled event where I wrote the script into the night, and the director and actors practiced and performed the play the following day.

I reworked my website and social media presence.

I also republished a second edition of my short story collection, Dream Signs, which had gone out of print.

Things I Participated in

Networking and events have been a big part of my writing year, too.

I attended New Writing South’s Playwrights Industry Day, my first Worldcon, the London Festival of Writing, a London Songwriters retreat in the Peak District, and a writers’ retreat in Kenya. I joined writing-related online communities and the British Fantasy Society, and continued connecting with writing communities both online and off.

I read at the Echoes of Light launch, at Strong Women, Strange Worlds’ QuickRead event and Holiday Extravaganza.

I had a thoughtful interview with Gabriela Blandy about my book on the Enneagram personality model and hosted a creative writing workshop to raise money for Survivors’ Network.

I got more involved with the local queer community, donating books to the Ledward Centre and selling them at the Queery.

I’ll be doing more writing workshops and events in the new year.

Projects in Progress

I’ve had a few pieces of good book news.

My poetry collection The Heart Decided to Move is forthcoming from Read Furiously in April 2025. It focuses on my experiences moving to the UK and incorporates prose pieces and illustrations.

My novella Worth Working For is forthcoming in 2026, so I have two new books lined up!

I’m in the process of casting a short musical I co-wrote with a talented collaborator, for performance in the Brighton Fringe in May 2025. Stay tuned for more about it!

I also finished multiple drafts of a cozy fantasy novel. Stay tuned for more about that, too!

Prioritizing my writing (while maintaining my professional job) has been a good move. I had no idea what I’d be able to do in a year. I’m surprised by how much it turned out to be, and how much confidence I’ve found in the process of focusing my time on what I love.

It’s been a good year. May 2025 be another one!