2022 Goals at Sketching Details
Last year, my goal was to make sure at least half of the films I watched were directed by women. I met that goal pretty easily. Modern horror, especially, has an immensely talented field of female directors and services like Shudder make it easy to find their films. It’s honestly how I want to explore cinema from now on. Most of my favorite films released in 2021 were directed by women.
For 2022, I’m looking globally. One of the gigs I miss is when I used to be the international film editor for The LAMB. Every month, I got to pick a theme to explore from around the world. Member sites of The LAMB had a deadline to submit coverage to me for inclusion in the final list. I also made it a point to explore what films fit that category was available on Netflix and Hulu at that time. It was great and drew me to so many new titles I consider among my favorites.
So in 2022, I’m going to make it a point to cover more media not created in America. Netflix is actually a great resource for this, as the streaming service has been investing heavily in original programming from all around the world. You couldn’t escape Squid Game when it debuted as the most streamed series on Netflix, and that’s only encouraged Netflix to push more globally diverse titles.
This allows me to go back to some of my favorite content I’ve written for the site. Writing about shows like Chucky (I’ll finish the first season soon, I promise) and Dragula reminded me how much fun I have writing about TV. In the long long ago, when I spent summers traveling convention to convention to speak at panels, I wrote a lot more about anime and international horror/sci-fi/fantasy series. I’m going to start doing that again. Some series work better as long reviews, and some series work better as episode by episode critical analysis/recaps. Just expect more of them.
I mentioned during my Favorite Horror Games of 2021 list that I want to review more games. That’s also a priority. Game criticism is fun. More of that will be coming soon.
I will be bringing Spookier Times back by the end of the month. A lot happened last year IRL that made it difficult to focus on longer audio/video content, but I’m slowly starting to feel like myself again. I’ll be perfectly honest: I spent most of September-November 2021 fading in and out of dissociation and depression naps, and January-September was a constant sense of stress and panic. I white-knuckled my way through Haunted: A Slip Story because needed a project to believe in again. That confidence is back and I’m ready to return to my beloved Spookier Times. You can thank Encanto for that. We’ll be going deep into magical realism soon.
The other goals are long-term projects I know I’ll finish. My new short story collection I Hate May will come out in May. Extra Intent will release new chapters every four weeks or so on Kindle Vella. I will release another full length game this year, and it will be a completely different experience from Haunted. I don’t like to repeat a gag in visual media and I can guarantee you the next Slip Story will be quite different. Oh, it’s interactive weird fiction, but how you interact and to what patterns and effects will play different.
Those are the big goals for 2022. Well, at least the ones I’m ready to talk about now. I have other ideas that might break out into the world this year, but I’d rather not over promise and under deliver. I will make this a good year for me. I have my voice back and I’m not afraid to use it.
#31Days: A Collection of Horror Essays, vol. 2 is available to purchase at Ko-fi, Smashwords, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Google Play, Kobo, and Amazon.
Read my serialized novel Extra Intent on Kindle Vella for free.
You can also buy Haunted: A Collection of Weird Fiction at my Ko-fi or where eBooks are sold.
Buy my books at Ko-fi or sign up for a monthly membership for exclusive articles and stories.
