Greetings, dear readers. It would appear the year of two thousand and thirteen has crept upon us. Great Scott and gadzooks!
Agh, I’ve come over all faux 19th Century. It must be the research I’ve been doing on the costume I’m preparing for the Conflux 9 Steampunk High Tea on 25 April. Are you coming to Conflux this year? It’s Canberra’s 100th anniversary and the 52nd Natcon – the panels have just been announced (I am so lucky to get a preview of all the goodies, as I am the con’s webmistress) and they look goo-oo-ood.
If you are umming and ahhing over whether to attend or not, you should definitely come. It’s going to be a great three and half days, with events on each night. I’m not sure how many workshops/panels I’ll be able to attend – I’m yet to see what my hours will be like this year (some exciting news on that below) – but they look fantastic.
I suppose I’m a little more excited for this year’s con than the last, as not only will it be bigger and better (it’s doubling as the national SF convention as well as our annual Canberra con) BUT I am also going to be writing again in 2013 after work forced a complete hiatus last year. I have changed jobs (I start next Tuesday) and am now a fulltime university student again. The government department I’m working for has somehow seen fit to sponsor me for a year of study and field research so I can complete a Master of Arts in Strategic Studies. It’s a wonderful professional development opportunity and it will also provide me with the headspace to make sense of the frenzied experiences of the past two and a half years, as well as consider where I want to take my career over the next five to 10 years.
I will also have the headspace to do some writing in 2013. Here’s what’s in the works:
- a short speculative fiction story set in a small regional city
- a novella set in post-apocalyptic New South Wales (Australia)
- some poetry (totally scary!!) to be performed at Bad! Slam! No! Biscuit! – even scarier!
- early development of a crime series featuring a female policewoman and set in regional New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory
- early development of a contemporary fiction novel set in Sydney and coastal Tasmania
The stories have been stacking up in my subconscious over the past 12 months and my brain is starting to overflow with ideas – I need to get them out before the characters start harming each other! I am not allowing myself to get into them completely until the other issue in my life is resolved – I have been tackling a research project to complete the Master of Philosophy (Business) that I have been undertaking at a glacial pace over the past four years. I have to submit the thesis by July this year, so this is my number one extra curricular priority…productive procrastination on my steampunk costume notwithstanding 
So, these are my writing/creative goals for 2013. What are yours?
