Okay, I’m back from my hidey-hole and going strong. A few of the things I did in December/January:
Wrote (and submitted) 14 short stories, 7 of which were based off the Congie world.
Finished The Team, though I’m reserving the right to change the ending. Rough draft ended up being 115k words, which is good, because I tend to add a lot of detail in the 2nd Draft.
Applied to Clarion West. If they accept me, I’m gonna be in Seattle from June 17th to July 27th. I don’t even wanna think about how I’m gonna pay for it.
Began (14k words so far) Forgotten’s story, currently titled One in a Billion. I’m telling it from two main char POVs, Forgotten’s and an Ueshi fighter-pilot cadet called Gaffe (yeah, maybe I need to work on that name a bit, but oh well.)
Little feats that made me proud:
Made my mom cry with Beda and Shael. Also pissed my sister off with same story.
Made Logan think OH THANK GOD!!! at the end of The Moldy Dead.
Made Kyle say, “Heh. Heh. Heh. They got owned. The Ooreiki got owned” at the end of Preserved.
Got a rejection letter back from Apex that was actually a letter. They want more of my stuff. I made the mistake of sending them straight horror, instead of horror with a sci-fi twist. I sent them The Moldy Dead instead.
Made Steven laugh (very difficult feat) with Dead Tired.
Created a story (Syuri) that Chancey had no problems with.
Wrote an alien love story and actually made it work.
Wrote a vampire story using nothing but dialogue and won first place in a contest.
Wrote a vampire story without spilling a single drop of blood (ewww) and had people like it anyway.
Wrote a sarcastic letter to myself (http://www.writing.com/main/view_item/item_id/1201904) in which, if I were blasting somebody but me, they probably would’ve laid down and died.
Figured out what a ’speculative fiction magazine’ was.
Submitted to said magazines.
Ordered a bunch of said magazines and realized I write pretty good, for a country bumpkin.
Wrote a scary story about a dog that didn’t poo. (Thank you Steven and Lily.)
Showed Twelve-A’s dark side in The Lab.
Cut The Candle down to 5000 words. (Oh my god that was a pain in the ass.)
Rose to the challenge and wrote a horror story about coffee beans. (Take that, Steven!)
Began working out the Congie Timeline.
Wrote a story with an insect as the POV.
Slaughtered the Geuji without mercy.
Screwed poor Syuri over something royal.
Gave Joe a new heart (still beating).
Pinned Daviin to the floor and made him beg. (twice)
Hit the top Congressional assassin in the face with a stool.
Turned an Ooreiki terraforming unit into a mountainous blob of metal.
Busted Sam from prison.
Saved the Jreet from enslavement.
Gave Joe a Sentinel. (albeit very unwillingly)
Proved Forgotten wrong.
Made myself laugh on all the rewrites. (I have a horrible memory)
I can tell it’s gonna be a good year 
-Sara King
www.kingfiction.com