This Sunday is my birthday. (12/12 — easy to remember.) I'll be 34 years old.

Ooooolllllldddddd.

My original goal as a writer, long ago in college, was to sell a novel by age 35. Well, I managed that. My other goal was to be a full-time writer by 40. Doesn't seem especially likely, given prevailing economic conditions, but who can say? Six years is a long time. Six years ago I hadn't sold any novels at all. Check back with me in late 2016, assuming I'm not living in one of President-for-Life Palin's Reeducation Camps for Coastal Elites.

We have a babysitter lined up for Friday night, so my wife and I can go out. We're too broke for true extravagance, but we'll get some dinner and maybe see a movie. Perhaps Black Swan, which combines my wife's love of dance with my love for Aronofsky movies.

33 was a rough year — though easier than 32. And looking back, I remember the good parts far more clearly than the bad. What more can I ask? (I've now lived longer than that nice Jewish boy Yeshua Ben Miriam did. Though obviously I've accomplished considerably less…)

Originally published at Tim Pratt. You can comment here or there.