Happy New Year to everyone!  I’m excited to start over, however arbitrary a choice in time to do so it is, or perhaps however traditional/stereotypical a time it is to start anew, and look forward to a year of pursuing new writing, new relationships, new growth in myriad dimensions (I’m considering a move to an alternate world, don’t you know?) and new newness.  New new new.  Now now now.

This past year I published a couple of things:  a story called “Map of Seventeen” in the Beastly Bride (eds. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling) which has been selected by the editor Jonathan Strahan to be included in his annual anthology The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year (due out from Night Shade Books in March 2011).  The other thing I published was a collection of place-based vignettes I’ve been writing called Map for a Forgotten Valley, which The New Haven Review released in its most recent issue just a few weeks ago.  It’s the year of maps for me, apparently.  Hopefully next year I can begin to travel them and chart new territory.

As usual, at the beginning of the new year, I’m wondering what others have read in the past year that knocked the back of their heads off (or their socks, or whatever).  The Nebula Awards are coming up soon.  I have until February 15th to make my nominations.  So if you have any Scifi/Fantasy recommendations in short story, novelette, novella, and novel forms that you think I should look at, please leave me a comment pointing me in the right direction.  I always read as much as I can each year, but there’s always HEAPS of books and stories that I miss completely.  So recommendations, please!

Looking forward to another year of writing, reading, teaching, running, eating good food, enjoying, laughing, and looking around at the world.