Everyone else is doing it… if that’s not a good enough reason for me to do it too, then I don’t know what is. No, YOU’RE too impressionable. And so’s your mum.
In 2016 a massive bunch of cool things happened. Here’s ten of them! (In no particular order.)
Top 10… GOOD THINGS
- I had the privilege of beta reading the finished first drafts of two immensely talented friends: Kareem, and Sadir. (Thanks for making my own efforts feel so inadequate in contrast, guys…)
- I joined Marc Aplin & Jennie Ivins and the rest of the Fantasy-Faction team as a contributor!
- I released Danse Macabre in paperback on Amazon and Barnes & Noble!
- I’ve had the absolute pleasure of participating in the Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off as part of the Fantasy-Faction judging panel!
- I’ve made a fuckton of new friends via social media, including readers, writers, and all-round beautiful weirdos. (You know who you are…)
- I contributed two articles to Tor.com – and got paid to do so!
- I joined Reddit, and had an epic time as Writer of the Day on r/Fantasy!
- Danse MacabreĀ picked up a lot of momentum, and now has 30+ reviews on Goodreads – including write-ups from the likes of T.O. Munro, G.R. Matthews, T.L. Greylock, Booknest.eu, Hobgoblin Reviews, Observant Raven Reviews, Dyrk Ashton, Richard Ford, J.P. Ashman, and Grimdark Alliance!
- I finally met Marc Turner, one of my favourite modern fantasy authors, in person – as well as Joe Abercrombie, Tom Lloyd, Elizabeth Bear and Scott Lynch!
- I finished writing two short stories and several poems, and am finally back on track with writing my novel thanks to the encouragement of friends (not to mention the liver-shaving daredevil antics of that fellah Benedict Patrick, aka. Ben Paddy, aka. the Rogue with the Brogue).
A fuller rundown of my 2016 antics can be found here. But now…
Top Ten… BOOKS READ
Now, on to my top 10 reads of 2016! I briefly reviewed my reading year here, but here’s the Official Definitive Top Ten:
Top Ten…Ā ARTICLES & REVIEWS
These were, according to WordPress, the ten most popular posts of the year:
10 –Ā Janny Wurts & Raymond E. Feist, ‘Daughter of the Empire’ (review)
9 – Mark Lawrence, ‘The Wheel of Osheim’ (review)
8 – 2016: The Worst of Times, the Best of Tomes
7 – Steven Erikson, ‘Gardens of the Moon’ (review)
6 – T. Frohock, ‘Los Nefilim’ (review)
5 – Review: Jeff Salyards, ‘Veil of the Deserters’
4 – Daniel Abraham, ‘The Dagger and the Coin’ (series review)
3 – Self-published authors and the SPFBO: revitalising SFF
2 – Steven Erikson, ‘The Bonehunters’ (review)
And the most popular by far:
1 – A Beginner’s Guide to Malazan Characters: ‘Gardens of the Moon’
For what it’s worth, my personal favourites are the Self-Publishing/SPFBO article, the Los Nefilim review, and of course my interview with epic fantasy author John Gwynne (as well as my article about why his books are awesome).
Now for the final Top 10 list…
Top Ten… WANT TO READ IN 2017
In addition to the gorgeous-looking titles on my backlist, here’s a few upcoming releases I’m looking forward to:
And there it is! 2016 has been miserable in many ways, but in terms of reading it’s been ace. Bring on more of the same in 2017!
Happy new year!
Eric S. Fomley
A lovely collection of top things! Hope the new year brings even more!
Laura M Hughes
Thanks Eric – and the same to you! Plus, puppies. Because who doesn’t want a puppy?
Mariƫlle Ooms-Voges
Ehm… me… I don’t want a puppy. Keep your puppy but, have a wonderful 2017!
Laura M Hughes
Actually, I don’t want a puppy either. Eric can have ours!
J P Ashman
Another grand blog post. Stop being so good! You’re making some of us look bad.
Laura M Hughes
To be fair, that doesn’t take much. For some of you. š