How do you measure a year in the life of a writer?

I don’t have a book out yet. So I’m not tallying paperback sales, Goodreads reviews, or readers who reached 100% on their Kindle editions.

I do have some numbers to look at. In 2023, I had 2 poems and 8 short stories published, finished 1 novel (my first ever!), and wrote 11 new stories and poems. I submitted my stories and poems 204 times and received 146 rejections. Those numbers represent a lot of work, dedication, and time spent.

But I feel like those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Maybe I should play my Rent soundtrack, and borrow from “Seasons of Love,” and measure this year:
In edits,
In stories,
In typos,
In publications?
In poems,
In nights,
In drafting,
In strife…
How about love?

Yeah, how about love? That might be the true measure. After all, only a small percentage of writers make their entire living writing. For most of us, it’s a labor of love. I’ve felt a lot of love this year, both for the writing craft and for the communities I’ve found as part of it:

• I spent time with my beloved Lincolnwood Writes, the writers’ group at the Lincolnwood Public Library. This group has been going since before the pandemic and they are a terrific bunch. They were the first ones to read and give feedback on my novel’s first chapter, for which I’ll be forever grateful.
• I joined Threads in 2023 and connected with hundreds of writers, editors, artists, publishers, and agents. My feed is filled with talk about writing, publishing, drafting, rejections, and the myriad facets (both bright and dark) of the writing life. It’s delightful.
• This year, for the first time ever, I wrote a story for an anthology as an invited author. That was an honor, and I’m proud of the collection we put together.
• In 2023 I got myself 2 accountability buddies, fellow writers with whom I agreed to check in periodically about our works in progress. It was thanks to them that I finished my book. I was so motivated to have something to tell them during our weekly check-ins! They have been lovely and encouraging all along the way. After I write this post, my next move will be to send them notes to talk about projects for 2024.
• In September, I rented a tiny cabin in the woods to dedicate the weekend to writing and hiking all by myself. I don’t do this often, but it’s a form of self-love for my introvert nature.
• I wrote a custom (what the youngsters might call “bespoke”) horror poem for my 666th follower on BlueSky, because why not.
• I hung out with the Chicago Horror Writers Association, got to know my fellow members better, and served as the chapter secretary.
• I attended every free lecture I could find, to learn more from other people about the business of writing. In the process, I even got selected for a 60-second live pitch event (wow, that was an experience!) to pitch my book over Zoom, and had my novel’s first line chosen for one of Reedsy’s very educational First Line Frenzy events.
• I joined the Chicago Writers’ Association, mainly to enter their first chapter contest (which I did not win), and I look forward to exploring future opportunities with this group.
• I spoke at public meetings and went door to door to encourage people in my town to vote for excellent candidates for library board, and to defeat their opponents who wanted to ban books.
• I beta read other people’s stories, and cheered on my fellow writers’ successes. It’s wonderful to see other creatives polish their work and succeed.

To all of you reading this, best of luck in 2024 with your labors of love! I’d love to know what you’ll be working on in the coming year. Tell me about it in the comments.

A while back, I promised a custom sonnet for whoever became my 666th follower on BlueSky. That honor went to a writer named Mark.

“Mark,” I said, “you get your choice of genre, humor or horror.” To my great delight, Mark said, “How about both?” Because only thing better than horror and comedy is a horror comedy!

Have a gander, Mark, and thanks for the follow. This was fun to write.

Debbie Dybbuk Does Caesar’s Palace

I roam Las Vegas as a restless haunt,
To wreck my ex, and though I cannot kill,
An agent of revenge is what I want,
A person I’ll possess to work my will.

This dressy dame will do the trick, I think,
All giant hair and glitz and chardonnay.
I seize her brain and body in a blink
And strut those high-heeled Jimmy Choos his way.

She flirts with him, and laughs, and eggs him on,
Her foxy figure under my command,
And, drunk with lust, his inhibitions gone,
He bets it all on one last poker hand.

He got away with leaving me to rot,
But keeping all my money? I think not!

Coming soon: December Tales II: A Collection of New and Encore Ghost Stories. It includes my story “On the Back Roads,” set in a small Appalachian town in the 1970s.

The Kindle edition is available now for pre-order!

Our kids were born in Chicago. Monday night wasn’t the first time they went trick-or-treating in the snow.

Our 12-foot-tall inflatable yard ghost didn’t fare quite so well in Chicagoland’s snow, ice, and hail on Halloween night. Even the undead can’t conquer Mother Nature.

Better luck next year, buddy!

Nothing makes a horror writer smile quite so big as having a new story published on Friday the 13th! 🎃

Check out Water Dragon Publishing’s new collection of dark stories, Dragon Gems Fall 2023, edited by Christine Morgan, and featuring my story “The Cutoff.” The link takes you to a page with options to buy the book in paperback, hardcover, or ebook.

I’m just getting into my author copy, but the stories look to be lots of spooky fun with a bit of humor too! The collection is a mix of science fiction, horror, and fantasy.

And no, the stories are NOT all about dragons. Although I do like the idea of this cute little guy reading my story. And then maybe roasting and eating the book afterward, just because he can.

Tonight I attended Pitchapalooza, and whoo-eee, what a ride!

Pitchapalooza is an online event where the hosts choose 20 writers out of a hat and each writer gets 60 seconds to pitch their book. It’s run by authors Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry, also known as “The Book Doctors” and the creators of America’s Next Great Author.

Billed as “American Idol for Books,” the event is aptly named, since each author gets a limited time to impress the judges, with instant feedback. Fortunately for us writers, Arielle and David are much nicer than Simon Cowell!

Well, that four-leaf clover I found this summer must have paid off, because they chose me to pitch my novel-in-progress. I raced through the 200-ish words that I’d written an hour before, and I brought it in right at the buzzer. Although I didn’t win (congrats Hannah Jackson), both the judges and audience seemed to like my pitch, and the judges’ feedback was absolutely spot-on. It was incredibly nerve-wracking, but I’m so glad I did it. I’m still on an adrenaline high several hours later!

I highly recommend every aspiring book author attend one of these events. If you get selected to pitch, it is great practice, and even if you don’t, you learn so much from watching other people’s pitches and the judges’ critiques. Some tips they offered at the event:

• Delivery is important. Be lively; don’t read in a monotone. The pitch is your audition, and your unique voice needs to shine through. Tell that story like you were telling it to your buddy at the coffee shop or the bar.
• Structure the pitch well. Make it clear as early as possible whether it’s fiction, nonfiction, a story collection, a memoir, etc. Outline most of the plot, but not all of it. Leave them wanting more.
• Practice. Video record yourself reading your pitch. Play it back to find areas that could be stronger.

This week I did my first-ever author interview with Luna Station Quarterly, an online magazine that recently published my story Jane and the Crows.

Jane and the Crows is a dark fairy tale that I originally wrote for a contest in 2019. It did not do well in the contest. In fact, it knocked me out in the first round. But there was something about it I liked. So I went back to it several times over the years to expand and revise it before it eventually found a home at LSQ.

It was a lot of fun to revisit that story for this interview. It was my first attempt at writing a fairy tale (I’ve since written several others). They’re one of my favorite types of story to write. I love the way they combine elements of humor, horror, and fantasy.

LSQ’s interview questions are very in-depth. They plumb the story’s characters, plot, and themes. I had never analyzed one of my own stories like that before. It felt kind of like dissection (which I love! former biology major here), and, at the same time, like hanging out with old friends (Jane and John).

Who says ghost stories have to be dark and sinister? I say they can be funny!

My latest micro story, “Driving Me Mad,” appears this week on White Enso’s “Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai: 100 Days, 100 Supernatural Stories.”

For the first time ever, I offer you two formats: print and audio! In addition to publishing the stories in print form, editor Linda Gould has also made them available as a podcast.

Listen to “Driving Me Mad” (read by the author)

Read “Driving Me Mad” (scroll to “Day 79”)