Hello everyone. With 2023 coming to an end, now seems like a good time to wrap up my year in reading and writing. This is a bit of a hard thing to do, because I feel that the last three years have been one massive blur. It was surprise to me to starting writing about a story I’d written and then realise that it came out last year.
What I Wrote
This has been a really big year for me in regards to my writing. I got my first story published in a professional market, and I self-published my novella Neighbour, the first story set in my World of Green and Black. Here are the three stories that I have published in 2023, and where you can find them:
Neighbor
My story about a telepathic alien tree-fungus with bad neighbours. Self Published right on this site.
Or download here:
Hell
Published Reedsy Writing Prompts (Contest #206)
An update, edited version was also posted on my blog, and can be found HERE.
The World in a Ramen Cup
Published Analog Science Fiction and Fact (July/August 2023 Issue)
The issue this story appears in can be purchased digitally at DiscountMags, or print issues may be available by contacting Analog directly as explained on the FAQ page here.
Whilst I have only published three short stories, I have written a lot more. In fact, I might be able to share one of my new shorts sooner than expected. Regulars here may also remember that I was working on a longer story – I hesitate to say novel yet, but it is getting there – called Amanidas. This project is going quite well, and will hopefully be ready to share sometime next year. That being said though, not sure how long it will be, and it will require a ton of editing, so don’t hold your breath waiting for the robot shenanigans to come out. And of course, there’s more happening the The World of Green and Black.
I’m hoping that 2024 will be a super productive year. At the very least, I’m hoping that all the hard work I did in 2023 will start to pay off.
What I Read
Now let’s talk about some of the books I’ve read this year. This year was a very big comics/manga year for me, as I started reading ‘The Promised Neverland’ by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu, and also re-read that famous ‘Death Note’ series by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. Death Note has been one of my favourite stories for a long time now, so once I decided to grab one of the books to look at something, I quickly got sucked into re-reading the entire series. I’ve started writing up an essay on the series, because I have a lot to say about Death Note, and what the story implies about human morality and the way we handle power.
This was also the year I caved in and read some popular fantasy romance that my friends have recommended but that I’ve seen getting flamed online a lot. By some, I mean ‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas and ‘Fourth Wing’ by Rebecca Yarros. ‘Fourth Wing’ in particular has been getting a lot of hate, and I can understand why people don’t like it… but what the hell, I had a ton of fun with both books. Never thought I’d be into Romance books, but I liked these a lot and will be continuing both series.
As for 2023 novels, well, there is the aforementioned ‘Fourth Wing’, which I enjoyed a lot more than I was expecting. I also read ‘How to Sell a Haunted House’ by Grady Hendrix, which whilst not the scariest book I’ve ever read was quite enjoyable, and makes me want to check out more of Hendrix’s other novels. I also ended up grabbing Stephen King’s ‘Fairy Tale’ at Sydney airport when I realised I’d forgotten my Kindle before my holiday (but don’t worry, I remembered to pack the Kindle charger.) ‘Fairy Tale’ was on my to read list already, since I do love Stephen King doorstoppers, but lately it has been hard to psych myself up for these longer novels, so I probably would have kept putting off Fairy Tale. The only thing I knew about this book when I picked it up was “Stephan King wrote an Isekai” and yup, it was exactly what I expected from a Stephan King Isekai.
My two favourite 2023 releases though are ‘The Terraformers’ by Annalee Newitz and ‘Camp Damascus’ by Chuck Tingle.
I’m not going to say I’m surprised by how good a book by the author of ‘Space Raptor Butt Invasion’, and ‘Kissed on the Weiner by my Own Weiner’ turned out to be. (Talking about Chuck Tingle, not Annalee Newitz, just in case there is any confusion). I’ve already read Tingle’s ‘Harriet Porber’ books and seen that he can do some very clever, very moving writing. If you only know Chuck Tingle from the silly smut books with the funny titles and that isn’t your thing, then do not let that dissuade you from trying Camp Damascus. This story is a horrific look into the horrors of gay conversion therapy that isn’t afraid to point the finger at the entire holy-than-thou community that indirectly supports the practice, and that shows just how false any supposed ‘cure’ from these torturous practices can be.
Meanwhile, ‘The Terraformers’ is an exploration of the greed and cruelty of large corporations, told by a bunch of genetically altered humans, flying moose, talking cats and living trains who are trying to construct a public transport network. It sounds wild and whacky, but it really is a very thoughtful exploration of society and morality. Not only that, but I loved the worldbuilding here. So far ‘The Terraformers’ is my top pick for novels written in 2023.
Book Bingo Card 2023
Every year I generate a Book Bingo Card. I have a page of previous cards and themed ones here. Feel free to browse them for your own reading challenge needs. Here’s this year’s card filled out.
As you can see, I didn’t get a single Bingo this year. I filled seven cards this year, one of which I squeezed in at the last few days. I suppose I could also have put ‘Genesis of Misery’ by Neon Yang onto the ‘has clones’ square, but the clones were a small part of the story, and I strongly disliked that book for reasons related to my own tastes rather than anything the writer did wrong, so I didn’t want to have to talk about it too much. (Basically, I don’t like stories starring religious fanatics as POV characters.) I’ll give a mini review of the other books that make up this card. But probably in their own separate post, since this wrap up is getting a bit long.
So What Now?
2023 has been a really good year for me personally. I wrote a lot, and finally got some recognition for that writing. I went on a ton of adventures and took some risks in life, and I think I’m finally getting a handle on this adulting thing.
2024 will also be a big year for me personally. Professionally, well, I do have more things in store for this blog. And for my Twitch. Next week, I’ll put up a post with the 2024 Book Bingo Card, and all the plans I have that I’m allowed to talk about.
So until next week, happy reading everyone.
~ Jayde
Jayde Holmes 