Musician Nikole Potulsky said something in a recent Facebook post that really resonated with me:

“Self confidence says, I can do it. Self esteem says, what I can do has value.”

Okay, not so much “resonated” as “mind blown.” I know exactly where I fall in that equation, and now I also know what I need to work on.

To that end…Hugo Award nominations are open. If you are in the position to nominate, please consider my 2016 short story publications in science fiction and fantasy:

• “Unraveling the Truth,” Tempest: All-New Tales of Valdemar anthology
• “Hedging the Witch,” Uncollected Anthology, Issue 9: Fabulous Familiars
• “Land of the Living,” Haunted anthology
• “Tendrils, Twining,” Uncollected Anthology, Issue 8: Out of the Woods
• “Ignite the Night,” Sparks anthology
• “Rhapsody in Blue,” Uncollected Anthology, Issue 7: Happily Ever Afters
• “Queen and Fool,” Clowns: The Unlikely Coulrophobia Remix anthology

I have no idea whether any of these stories are Hugo-nomination-worthy. Fear (lack of self esteem) tells me they probably aren’t.

Fuck that.

I didn’t think I’d written anything special with “The Scent of Amber and Vanilla,” but Publisher’s Weekly liked it and then it was shortlisted for The Year’s Best Crime and Mystery Stories 2016, so clearly I know nothing. Nothing.

What I do know is that I’m going to keep writing, and keep getting better, and keep working on the self esteem portion of psyche.