Reflecting back on this year, it feels good to be going out on a high note with a story* that quickly became my most viewed, most read and most applauded.

(*Note: it also happened to be a story I had doubts about even writing. Share your drafts with fellow writers — sometimes all we need is a little push to quiet those negative thoughts we hold onto.)

I feel great about the response that story received but I am much prouder of another year full of my writing, collaborations with other writers and incorporating more of my artwork.

Putting my own Medium spin on the Instagram trend of collaging your most popular nine posts (#2017bestnine), I am sharing my favorite nine stories from (out of more than 100 that I wrote!) this year: (chronologically)

• The Last Call

The story of Ahote Black, a singer on the verge, as he says goodbye to the dive bar that broke him. My first audio play (a 2017 Audio Verse Finalist!) features “Blood Heart,” the song I wrote with the talented Michael Aquino.

• EL HUEVO STUPENDO

A comic I wrote and drew about an unlikely oval hero on a quest to find itself.

• Hey There, Grey Chest Hair

A man (…ahem) speaks to his new offspring from (just above) the heart.

• To-Do List for a Kid

A checklist for anyone who has [been] a kid. (from my Poems 4+ collaboration series focusing on positivity during National Poetry Month.)

• grey

A woman recalls the day that changed her relationship with her ex. (part of my A Flash of Color series of short flash fiction stories I continued this summer following brown | gold | white | silver)

• One Swipe Left

Another one I hesitated in publishing. The story of a couple who meet on a dating app and then IRL before the messages stop… Told entirely in text.

• First 5 Pages of My “The Lego Bill Murray Movie” Spec Script

This is very out there—or maybe the most niche of niches—but it was truly a delight to write, especially for such a star. If no one else, I certainly enjoyed it.

• Square Penguin in a Round Hole

The illustrated story of an outsider who doesn’t quite fit in. Start to finish, this may have taken a day to complete. The words and drawings were done in such a fever pitch, part pure excitement / partly to not allow time to second-guess.

• A life in timeline.

Closing out the year by looking back actually sparked this collaboration. I sketched a woman in February and never wrote something for her. So, with the talents of 35 other writers and myself, we (in 8 words or less) gave her enough memories to fill a lifetime.

My 2017 by the numbers:

All told, I published:
10 short works of fiction,
9 nonfiction stories,
8 plays and scenes,
8 artwork features,
6 humor pieces
+ a whopping
62 works of poetry. (30 poems from April’s daily entries for my Poems 4+)

But… the year (and I) ain’t done yet! Here’s to 2018!