Dan Krokos

Everyone is making these really cool lists of things they liked this year. It’s really cool. Because of how cool it is, and because I don’t like missing out of cool things, I will make one too.

Instead, this will be called THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR.

Let’s begin:

In 2009, I was introduced to crime fiction. I discovered the authors Charlie Huston, Duane Swierczynski, and Josh Bazell. I picked up Beat the Reaper on a whim and fell in love. The three authors listed above (with a few others) inspired me to try my hand at crime fiction, putting the urban fantasy stuff in a drawer. Good riddance.

With the finish of SKINLESS at midnight on Chrismat Eve, I completed three books this year. Each one took exactly four months. I did not plan that. I hope that pace continues into 2010, since I have two books right now warring to get out of my head. One is Ford Kelly #3 and the other is a science fiction/fantasy type book thing. Both promise to kick ass. The two math classes I’m taking next semester promise to kick mine.

This year I got an agent. That was pretty cool.

This year I went to Bouchercon and got to meet a boatload of kickass writers. I hung out with Patrick Lee most of the time, not realizing until December that I am a HUGE fan. Seriously, THE BREACH will own you.

Hanging out with Janet Reid was incredible. Imagine following someone’s blog for a year, combing over it for tips on how to write queries and break into the business. Now imagine going out to a fancy restaurant with that person, and having them buy you dinner. And drinks. Learning more about the community firsthand. I still haven’t gotten over it.

I got to know one of my writer heroes, Jeff Somers, a little better. In January I was a fanboy who managed to get a copy of the last page of the original draft of The Electric Church from him. He MAILED it to me. I framed it and hung it above my bookshelves. Now we share an agent.

Thanks to Twitter, I have a lot of new writer friends, and with the help of Bill Cameron, Jeff Somers, and Sean Ferrell, created Team TEAM. I love them all.

I got closer to finishing school. Hoping for a million dollar book deal so I can quit early.

Some other stuff happened. It’s all boring. I forgot why I started making this post in the first place.