December – Review Of My Year

Goodreads tells me I read 421 books this year. While this is not at all surprising, my fiction count has been a lot lower than normal due to my college required reads. I didn’t write and publish any new books, again due to college. I confirmed that I’ll be taking a couple of modules in a final fourth year – I was asked to take eleven modules in one year to wrap up the degree and I said no. When you have 100% attendance, good results and have always paid fees on time, you gain stature.

What a year 2019 has been. I learnt film making and produced book trailers for my SF books with my own footage of London. I did pretty well in my college during second year of my Journalism degree and jumped delightedly into third year, learning many advanced skills.


Undoubtedly a highlight of summer was Worldcon held at the Convention Centre Dublin. I was a van driver for Logistics, acquired stage set items for Events, was the Media recorder filming with a camcorder and a mounted Sony cam, and I was the MacGuyver for the Hugo Awards. We had a brilliant time in a high-adrenalin environment, and I would love to time travel back and visit the Con again as a normal attendee. (We all would!)


This year I met several authors and if I can pick just one from Worldcon that would be Irish art legend Jim Fitzpatrick, who designed the Hugo Awards. Outside that event I was thrilled to meet American authors Carolyn Wilhelm and Gary Wilhelm when they visited Ireland. We each write in completely different areas but can enjoy and appreciate one another’s books.


At Octocon – the light version – I helped out all day and enjoyed scribbling notes at the backs of rooms during panel talks. Peadar ÓGuilín was on several panels and I made sure to have read his hit The Call beforehand, having heard about it while interviewing him for a podcast the previous year.

Culture Night saw my husband and I visiting a makerspace and hackerspace in Dublin, where we tried lockpicking and watched 3-D printing. I certainly mean to return, but college and work haven’t allowed the time so far. We also took a week’s break in sunny Kilkenny, disconnecting and enjoying nature and culture. I attended several talks in the Royal Dublin Society and Trinity College, which were entertaining and enlightening.

I wrote several small articles for the college Journalism Society, about highly enjoyable events we attended, like a play, photography exhibition and Christmas party. My husband and I kept up my website blog which features places to visit for people who need accessible venues; I also review books about horses and the natural environment. We now have more than 130 weekly posts, making it a useful resource.

I am setting my sights on attending COP26 in Glasgow next year. Who knows what else 2020 will bring?



This month I am making Rodeo Finn free by special request. This is a Young Adult book about 15 year old Finn from Ireland who visits her uncle’s ranch in Arizona for summer. Grab it for your Kindle, 1 – 4 January.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rodeo-Finn-C...
https://amazon.com/Rodeo-Finn-Clare-O...

Any reader not in UK or US should use the Amazon.com link and the site will then offer to take them to their local store. If you enjoy a book please leave a review, which helps other readers.

Watch my book trailers for my science fiction series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GadPp...
Visit my website:
www.clareobeara.ie
for news, puzzles, books, reviews and events. I blog here about disability access and places to visit. You can find my podcasts about Octocon on the News and Events page. I am also adding book covers to Pinterest boards after I review the books, so feel free to find me on Pinterest.