the annual year-end post

2023 has been the biggest year ever for publication of my writing, for this is the year that my book, Gifted Amateurs and Other Essays: On Tolkien, the Inklings, and Fantasy Literature, came out. Most of it was written long ago, and the idea of somehow preserving my more scholastically-valuable writings in book form took shape when the Mythopoeic Society named me Scholar Guest of Honor for its conference that turned out to be held in 2022. A Scholar GoH should have a book, and the Society also publishes books, so I figured if they thought that highly of my work they might be willing to publish one.

They were, but the publication process is full of niggles and the book didn't come out until the following spring. It's received some gratifying reviews, focusing on readability, something I've always aimed for in my scholarly work, even at the cost of having academics look down their noses at it.

The odd thing is that, owing both to the advent of e-books and the absence of conventions (I haven't been to one since that Mythcon), I haven't yet seen a physical copy of the book other than my author's copies. It's not that I really look forward to autographing copies of it, it just feels odd that I haven't.

Besides that, I've had three hefty scholarly book reviews published in 2023, two in issues of Mythlore that have already come out, and one in Tolkien Studies in press, along with the other work I normally do for Tolkien Studies: the annual bibliography, contributions to "The Year's Work in Tolkien Studies," and one heck of a lot of editing.

It's also been a big year for concert reviewing, and I've had 30 reviews published in my professional venues.

Again not a big year for traveling, though. One vacation, one theatrical expedition. Here's the places I've stayed in away from home in the year:

Seattle WA
Sequim WA
Amanda Park WA
Tukwila WA
Ashland OR