Another year about to end. They seem to go past very fast of late.

I had hoped to be able to finish A DANCE WITH DRAGONS during 2007. Way back around this time last year, I had even hoped that the book might be published during 2007. Neither of those happened, and to that extent the year was a disappointment… for me, as well as for my fans.

Other projects fared better. THE ICE DRAGON, HUNTER’S RUN, DREAMSONGS, the SWORN SWORD comic book, the incredibly cool miniatures from Dark Sword, and soon to come the minibusts from Valyrian Resin and the replica of Longclaw from Valyrian Steel. The rebirth of Wild Cards has been especially exciting. INSIDE STRAIGHT will be out in less than a month, BUSTED FLUSH has been delivered, our new Wild Cards website is up and running, and the Wild Cards comic series and RPG are on the way (from DBPro and Green Ronin, respectively). And then there are the two new anthology projects that I’m co-editing with Gardner Dozois, WARRIORS and SONGS OF THE DYING EARTH, both now well underway. So it’s certainly been a productive year. In some ways an exhausting one.

Still, the new year looms. I am not a big believer in New Year resolutions, but I do have some goals for 2008, both personal and professional, and the most urgent of those remains A DANCE WITH DRAGONS. For more about DANCE, see the Update page of my website, which I intend to update in the next day or so. See also the Samples page. I’ve been alternating the first Tyrion chapter and the first Dany chapter there for the past year, but as a holiday gift to my readers, and a thanks for all their patience, I’m going to put up a new sample soon.

(It may take a few days to get the update and the sample up, be warned).

Here’s hoping that 2008 is a year of triumph and wonderment for all of us.

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Even when they win, they lose.

Yesterday Mike Nugent kicked a field goal in overtime to give the Jets a victory over the Kansas City Chefs. Closing out the dismal season with a win.

Alas, that win changed them from a 3-13 team to a 4-12 team.

If they had finished 3-13, the Jets would have had the third choice in the April’s NFL draft. At 4-12, they drop down all the way to sixth pick. There are three other teams that finished at 4-12, and all of them get to pick before the Jets now.

Why do the other three 4-12 teams get to pick before the Jets, you ask? The tiebreaker is “strength of schedule.” The Jets played a stronger schedule than the other three 4-12 teams, so they pick last of the bunch.

Why is their strength of schedule stronger than the other three teams, you ask? Well, for starts, the Jets had to play the Patriots twice. That means 32-0 before you even consider the other fourteen games they played.

Just another reason to hate the Pats.

(Who, by the way, will pick seventh, immediately after the Jets, thanks to their trade last season with the 49ers. I think Pioli and Belichick must have incriminating photographs of all the other GMs and coaches in the league. How else to explain these trades they make? I mean, they picked up Wes Welker and Randy Moss for loose change and old jock straps, I believe. Great work there, Miami and Oakland).

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