No Longer End of Year - How About Beginning of Year?

I'm sure you're all getting tired of end of the year lists. If you're kind enough to have been checking in here, you're also likely tired of me mentioning the ones that I made. (Sorry about that. Well, sort of...) So, let's leave that behind. Now on to the New Year Stuff!

Okay, this is sort of another list of sorts, but it's too cool not to mention. George RR Martin posted a Song of Ice and Fire update on January 1st. Most of it was about the status of A Dance with Dragons. (Short version: I'm working on it. Glad you want it, but you don't need to write me everyday saying so. I'll tell you when it's done. I promise!) After that he goes on to make a few suggestions for authors people should try in the meantime. Here's what he wrote:

And if it's more epic fantasy that you're yearning for, there's never been more good fantasies being published than there are right now. Try Daniel Abraham, try Scott Lynch, try S.L. Farrell and David Anthony Durham and Peter S. Beagle, try Lisa Tuttle and Robin Hobb and Ellen Kushner, or any of myriad other authors whose work is making fantasy such an exciting genre to be a part of...

Cool... Awesome company to be in, but especially awesome for the endorsement to come from GRRM. Yikes. I'm very pleased, indeed.

That little shout out was a pleasant addition to my rather good mood going into the new year. My family had been in a bit of a funk for... well, for about six months. This had a lot to do with the fact that Fresno - where we moved last summer so I could join the faculty of the MFA Program at Cal State - can be a difficult place for some people to adjust to. You can include us in those "some people". I won't go into details, but I do want to say that a great deal of our consternation cleared up on - voilà - January 1st! My wife and I woke up talking things through in a way that really made sense for a change, and our outlook improved by leaps and bounds. It's real, genuine, and it's going to help us make the best of living and teaching in Fresno. And I don't mean to suggest there's slim pickings. I've actually landed in a terrific job that rewards in a variety of ways. I'm feeling very, very positive about both arms of my career and about the health of my family. Nice way to start the year...