Normally I eschew writing year end letters to family. AKA “The Bragging Letters.”
Mostly as I thought they were on the pretentious side, and glossed over the lives of the family (made them seem like the Cleavers...okay I’m old. But I did watch them in reruns).
But here I am writing a pretentious bragging letter. My kids? Don’t have any biological ones. Though I have one furbaby, and I am a fur auntie to a bird and dog. Though my literary children bloomed.
This year was the birth of my bouncing baby pen name! Lorna Woulfe honors both sides of my family. Lorna for my maternal Grandmother, who I found out long after her death, was also a writer. Her father was also a poet (and I’m very lucky to have his book). Woulfe honors my father's side. Woulfe is what Wooley is derived from, according to a researcher (have not had a chance to corroborate that information.
In June “Pride Park” was released. In honor of the Pulse Nightclub shooting, many people came together. Members of the LGBTQ community and allies, put together this incredible collection. I edited and wrote the foreward. Also, with the help of another, took the projects reins and brought it across the finish line. Proceeds go to The Trevor Project for at risk LGBTQI+ youth. (https://www.thetrevorproject.org/) It was a labor of love, and I was extremely honored to work on this one.
Pride Park is under my previous pennish name L. Anne Wooley.
My first two credits under Lorna Woulfe are in two anthologies, both published in October 2018. “Cracks in the Tapestry,” which also brought my first five star review, and “42 & Beyond.”
“Cracks in the Tapestry,” features my poem on the back cover! (another first), and basically covers the theme of the anthology. The reviewer said how the entries inside all fit the theme very well.
Link to all four volumes of “42 & Beyond:”
https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=42+%26+beyond
My contribution is in Vol. 1
I believe this volume reached #5 on Amazon's best sellers list! Another first. 42 & Beyond is a tribute to Douglas Adams who actually shared my birthday (though he was first).
So there you have it! 2018 was great in so many ways professionally. 2019 will see more publications and I’ll be promoting those as they come out. And hopefully it will be onward and upward. Happy New Year friends!
