2020 looks and sounds like a number from the future, doesn’t it? Like it’s always been a faraway date in the future where we thought technology and the world would be a much different place. We thought we’d be in a world more like the Jetsons and we’re not even close to that. Which is probably a good thing because why would we all need to live in the sky? What happened at ground level to necessitate every building being on a massive pedestal?

I digress. In many regards, we live in a much different place than 2000, I think we’re just used to the incremental upgrades and changes each year (in terms of tech at least). The iPhone in 2007 seems like the last true mega disruption we’ve seen. Smartphones are so common and look so alike now that no one really thinks twice about it. There are small changes every year that don’t get the attention that it did for 4 years or so. Tesla would probably be the biggest innovator but that’s at a price level way beyond most people still (and there is a question of long term quality there that still needs to be seen).

Speaking personally, 2019 was an okay year. I have been looking forward to 2020. Saying that does sound silly though. Why do we put so much value on a certain calendar change? Like there’s a magic power that comes along with it. It’ll clean the board, rearrange things for you so everything is just right. It’s always up to you to make a change. The number of the year has little to do with it. The next day is pretty much the same as the one before it. New Years Day is just 3 words we decided to capitalize to make it look important.

I’m fast approaching the year and a half mark of publishing The Darkest Winter. I managed to hit my goal of 100 books sold which is a major achievement. The downside is that my next book is still a mishmash of ideas I’m trying to find a compelling and meaningful story in. It’s been frustrating. While it took me a long time to write The Darkest Winter, it always felt like a had the path of it in my head. As I wrote each chapter, I knew where I wanted it to go and that got me to the end. Here, I’m just stuck in first gear and for some reason, the clutch is burning so that means I’m going nowhere fast.

The only part of my new book I’ve clearly had in my head is the first chapter. I’m editing it now, what I have is incredibly rough as I don’t feel like I know my main character yet. I have a cool concept (overly simplified summary: an idea to stop terrorism without war) but there are so many variables I feel overwhelmed in picking a direction. This idea is right now more interesting than books 2 and 3 of The Darkest Winter (I don’t know if my idea for book 2 is worth telling. If it is, it’ll be much shorter than book 1). My next step is going to be writing a detailed outline. I did a pretty simple one for TDW and that served me well for the first 12 chapters or so and then I added bits to is at I went to keep me on track. I think a robust outline is the only way I’m going to be able to crack this.

In 2019 I did keep up with my overall writing. I made 67 posts to this blog on a myriad of topics and that’s a good practice for me to keep up as it keeps my writing in good shape. The writer’s group I run (5 years now) is still going strong and that is another thing for me to be proud of. I and those in it continue to get a lot out of each meeting and that means a lot to me. I’ve also edited two books for other authors and I expect one of them to be published this year. That’s also a lot of fun for me to do and it raises my writing analysis skills quite a bit each time I do it.

There’s a lot to look forward to this year. My wish for all of us is to be happy and healthy for all of it. Take care of yourself and each other.