Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope and pray that you had time to relax and enjoy family and friends, and to remember what Christmas is really all about.

Christmas means, for this site, that another calendar year is nearly over. This year I finished my first year’s worth of stories, took a hiatus, came back refreshed, and have been going strong on Year 2, which started July 5. I’ve been fueled by all of the comments, star-ratings, suggestions, title submissions, and retweets supplied by everyone who reads the stories on this site. Thank you so much to everyone who provides me with feedback and reader interaction! It’s a huge encouragement, and it’s the reason I write.

I had hoped to have the Fifty-Word Stories book out this year at some point, but unfortunately a variety of circumstances have prevented that. I’m expecting to have the book ready some time in January or February, though, so even though it won’t be a Christmas present, you’ll still have a chance to get some microfiction in paper form for your shelf, your coffee table, your bathroom, your ceiling, your front door, your fireplace, or wherever else you may want to put it. The draft copy I received has been getting pretty positive reactions, especially from people who haven’t been following the website for the past year-and-a-half, so I’m feeling pretty good about how this is going to turn out, and I think it will make a good gift, for yourself or for people you know.

I have some other thoughts and plans for the coming year, including another Mere 50 Words guest-submission contest, live-writing events, site enhancements, a possible return to nanofiction, stories from special guests, and as much reader-interaction as I can make available. I want to break out of the box a little and make this a unique and interesting year.

I’m excited about 2011, and I hope you are, too! Keep on reading, and I’ll keep on writing…