This will be the last post of 2012, so I thought it’d be fun to look back at the year. While my quest (and make no mistake, it is a quest) to find an agent or a publisher for Ages of Aenya continues, it’s been a great and productive year for my little niche of the Internet I call The Writer’s Disease.
This year I rewrote Anna & the Devil, the story of a nun trapped by fear, a college favorite I’d lost to a computer virus; I also did a major edit for my favorite childhood comic, with original artwork from 1981, The King of Castle Grayskull; and of course, I am very proud of my seven year old, Jasmine, who illustrated all of the pictures for my first children’s book, No, Sophia! Later in the year, I worked an old novel into the first novella on this blog, the zombie-horror/adventure, The City of the Drowned.
In Reviews, I discovered some truly great fiction. With the death of legendary author Ray Bradbury, I just had to pick up The Martian Chronicles, and, not surprisingly, it blew me away. My review even got the thumbs up from the director of the opera adaptation. Not to be outdone, in the fantasy realm I rediscovered a story I’d loved as a kid, but in 2012 I finally got around to the book version. The Never Ending Story, by German author Michael Ende, is better than the movie by leagues. I was also fortunate to have read Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, which now ranks as my #2 favorite novel of all time.
With regards to the miscellaneous, the absurd, and the popular, I was honored to interview Michael Sullivan, author of Theft of Swords, and was utterly flabbergasted to get a response from Alejandro Núñez, astronomer at the Hayden Planetarium, who was generous enough to answer my questions about Aenya regarding the effects of an orbitally locked moon/planet on human like inhabitants. This was also the year I came out to the world, officially, as a naturist/nudist in What Naturism Means to Me, my most popular article to date with over 6000 hits, and I am happy to report that I have yet to be socially ostracized. I’ve even added a Naturism section. As for Ages of Aenya, we got to see some fantastic new artwork from two great artists; Thelana 2012 and Emma, by my friend from the Ukraine, Alexey Lipatov; and an awesome scene of Xandr fighting the merquid by my Italian colleague, Tazio Bettin. Least but not last, David Pasco, my #1 fan and figure sculptor, graced us with his interpretation of the horg and bogren (complete with bios).
What can you expect from 2013? More great reviews, articles, and fiction, of course! I am currently reading American Gods by one of my favorite writers, Neil Gaiman; and on the story front I have big plans. Two-thousand thirteen will be the year of The Princess of Aenya, an entirely new novel, the first I’ve worked on since 2001, set in the Aenya universe. Sneak Peek: You will see the first three chapters here with original artwork. For those familiar with Aenya: Princess will center around Demacharon, the disillusioned ex-commander of the Hedonian army, and Noora Radia, the young princess of Mythradanaiil, once capital to the entire planet, now in ruins.
As for Ages of Aenya, my wife continues to send out queries on a weekly basis (love you, hon!) like a bluebird or cricket calling its mate. Hopefully, some agent will realize he or she would be foolish to pass me up. If there is any point to this blog, to the two years and the hundreds of hours I have dedicated to it, it is to show that I am not just a guy who, in a mid-life crisis, decided to pick up a keyboard. Writing is my life. I have dedicated everything to the craft—I not only aspire to make entertainment for the masses, but to create art that will be remembered for generations. I believe in Ages of Aenya. It has taken me thirty years to learn to write it. I believe in the story and in the characters, enough to visit every bookstore if need be, until the world sees what I have been seeing all this past decade. But if, by the end of 2013, no agent calls, I may consider making an e-book, except it won’t be $2. You don’t spend your entire life making something to sell it for less than a copy of 50 Shades of Grey.
So that wraps it up for 2012. To all my friends, my fans, and to the people who have shown me support:
HAPPY NEW YEAR.
The Art of Storytelling 
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