This December’s prompt was “goodbyes,” as The Confabulator Café, which I have contributed short stories and poetry to for the last three years, is closing down. For my last piece on the Café I wrote a poem, only the second I’ve had published there. “Farewell” is about the many farewells I had to make this year, both to the Café, and to my home and all it encompassed.
Last Friday was the reception for Best of elementia, an anthology of works that were published in elementia magazine over the last fifteen issues. My sonnet “Curse of the Huntresses,” which first appeared in elementia issue xiv, was republished in the Best of elementia anthology, along with an author interview of…me! The Best of reception was open mic, so I was allowed to read three of my pieces: “Curse of the Huntresses,” published in issue xiv and Best of; “Ghosts,” which won first place in Showcase Selections, and “Place of Lore,” which was not only published in elementia’s issue xii, but is also my first ever published piece.
An online version of Best of elementia is at JoCoLibrary/best of elementia. My poem is on page 136, author interview on page 71.
I could not pass up the Café prompt for this month; mythical beast vs 
mythical beast. As a fantasy fanatic, I almost had too many ideas for this one, but I ended up with a story near and dear to my heart. “Battle of Wills” is in effect an excerpt from my current novel-in-progress, but from a viewpoint not used in the book after the prologue. It also works as a stand alone story, without ties to the larger world of the novel.
For my latest Café contribution I tried my hand at flash fiction again! The first few stories I wrote were flash length, but the majority of my pieces 
sprawl well into the three and four thousand word ranges. This month, the prompt was new beginnings with a twist, and The Mage certainly has a few of those.
I had a short story go 
live on the Café today! Since December is freestyle month, this is actually an old story I wrote quite a while back. I started writing it for the Café but it hasn’t been posted until now. Deadly Seduction is a sister tale to my novel-in-progress, so it’s fun to have this story go up just after NaNo.
I decided to try writing for NaNoWriMo this year. I was attempting to finish a novel I started three years ago (writing over the summers), which I had about 30,000 words in.
I didn’t get 50,000 words in November, but I did achieve a “halfway win” with 25,008 words! I also have my first officially novel length manuscript, with a total of 56,000 words in the book. However, it may end up needing another 50,000 some to be a completed manuscript.
I had a Café story posted this Friday! The prompt was the mysterious appearance of a 
new key on your key chain. There are no ghosts or ghouls in Will of Bequest, but there is a funeral and an opal in honor of the month. And of course, that key.
I have returned to the 
Café after a hiatus (and also to one of my previous story worlds)! This month’s prompt was to tell about the worst person to come through someone’s door. But who is the worst person in Devil’s Alley? It might change depending on the perspective…
My story “The Thirteenth Cat” is live at the Confabulator Café. I have now posted a story a 
month to the Café website for a whole year! (Excepting January, when the Café was closed.)
It doesn’t seem like it has been that long…
Last night was the reception for elementia issue xiv! I wasn’t as special as last year, since the lights didn’t go out during my reading (haha). I must have done a decent job reading though, because I even got congratulations from some of the other readers. 😄
ISABEL NEE 