I wasn’t sure I was going to write a year in review post, but then I was asked to participate in the final SF Signal Mind Meld of the year, so I thought it would be interesting to look back at the year, both from a genre-blogger perspective as well as a more personal perspective.  The turning of the year is a good time for introspective navel-gazing.

On the genre-blogging front, I spent a lot of time being annoyed this year. These are the posts that got the most eyeballs this year:

• Oh Dear: SFWA Bulletin Petition
• Silence is Complicity
• Obligatory Hugo Nomination Reaction Post
• WisCon: The Frenkel Decision
• WisCon and Harassment
• An Apology is Made
• I Don’t Know Who Was In My Room
• Dave Truesdale Explains It All
• Reframing and Punching Down
• Cognitive Dissonance

I am going to take this opportunity to mention that I’m eligible in the Best Fan Writer Hugo category. I’m proud of my work and think it’s worth considering.

I also went to a lot of conventions this year: Boskone, Balticon, Readercon, Capclave, and World Fantasy. I had a lot of fun, got to be on programming at Readercon and Capclave, and got to meet so many awesome people. I never thought I would love conventions as much as I do.

I got an airplane for the first time in a decade and it wasn’t awful.

We also bought our first house and that was the best thing about the year. I never thought I’d be able to buy a house so I really can’t describe how wonderful it is. The closets are completely disorganized, the flowerbeds are a horror show, but I have a bird feeder and wow, I love my bird feeder.

I made a lot of visual art this year, too. I spent a lot of time experimenting with different media and making messes.  Messes are good. I feel like I am–slowly–figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. It’s hard to put into words–and that’s actually the point. It feeds a different part of my brain and heart.

2014 was, in a lot of ways for a lot of people, a really hard and exhausting year. But there were a lot of good things in it, too–and a big part of the good for me was the people who take the time to read what I have to say here and who chat with me on Twitter and other places.

Human connection is so important and I’m so grateful to have it, online and off.

I’m hoping 2015 will be full of more connection, more art, more words, more love.