2020 Retrospective
I set myself only one goal this year. That was to finish The Dragons of Asdanund, which I published earlier this month. As usual, I did a few other things that I think are worth mentioning -
- I published two instalments of my contribution to the Fox Universe/Earth-F project, which you can read for free on Wattpad. They're about a globe-trotting Chinese detective called Doctor Fung and his American sidekick Dan Barrister. I describe the stories as Hercules Poirot meets Indiana Jones. Go here if you want to read them. (You might need to create an account, but you can use Facebook or Google to log in too.)
- I published a new short story for my newsletter subscribers, called Theory and Practice. The police in the city of Tsan investigate an inventor over complaints of excessive use of magic. She's definitely hiding something, but is it a crime, or a new invention, or just an old source of shame? This story is set in the same world as my Dragonrider books and The Schemes of Raltarn & Tomaz, but is spoiler-free. To read it (and previous stories for subscribers), please join my newsletter. The welcome email will contain a link to the stories.
- I wrote two science fiction short stories, and am most of the way through a third. These will be included in a collection that I'll release in the new year, though the third is quite long, and might well end up as a book in its own right.
- I contributed to a literary festival run by our local council. Thanks to the pandemic, this had to be virtual, and so there's video evidence. I talked about my editing process, since I was editing The Dragons of Asdanund at the time, and read a bit of that book. You can watch me here (about six minutes) or watch the whole festival here (about ninety minutes).
Overall, I'm pleased with what I've achieved, though this has been one year I'll definitely be glad to leave behind. I know I'm one of the lucky ones - I still have a full-time job, and can work from home, and nobody I know has died of the virus or been left seriously ill by it. And yet my (admittedly modest) social interaction has all but disappeared. I haven't seen any of my family since this time last year, and I haven't been more than a couple of miles from home since March. It shames me that I live in a country that's one of the richest in the world and has one of the highest death rates from the virus. It shames me more that some of my compatriots aren't ashamed of this.
(This is not a political blog, but wanting people not to die from preventable diseases shouldn't be a political issue.)
Anyway - good riddance, 2020. Come back in a few days to see what I've got planned for 2021.
- I published two instalments of my contribution to the Fox Universe/Earth-F project, which you can read for free on Wattpad. They're about a globe-trotting Chinese detective called Doctor Fung and his American sidekick Dan Barrister. I describe the stories as Hercules Poirot meets Indiana Jones. Go here if you want to read them. (You might need to create an account, but you can use Facebook or Google to log in too.)
- I published a new short story for my newsletter subscribers, called Theory and Practice. The police in the city of Tsan investigate an inventor over complaints of excessive use of magic. She's definitely hiding something, but is it a crime, or a new invention, or just an old source of shame? This story is set in the same world as my Dragonrider books and The Schemes of Raltarn & Tomaz, but is spoiler-free. To read it (and previous stories for subscribers), please join my newsletter. The welcome email will contain a link to the stories.
- I wrote two science fiction short stories, and am most of the way through a third. These will be included in a collection that I'll release in the new year, though the third is quite long, and might well end up as a book in its own right.
- I contributed to a literary festival run by our local council. Thanks to the pandemic, this had to be virtual, and so there's video evidence. I talked about my editing process, since I was editing The Dragons of Asdanund at the time, and read a bit of that book. You can watch me here (about six minutes) or watch the whole festival here (about ninety minutes).
Overall, I'm pleased with what I've achieved, though this has been one year I'll definitely be glad to leave behind. I know I'm one of the lucky ones - I still have a full-time job, and can work from home, and nobody I know has died of the virus or been left seriously ill by it. And yet my (admittedly modest) social interaction has all but disappeared. I haven't seen any of my family since this time last year, and I haven't been more than a couple of miles from home since March. It shames me that I live in a country that's one of the richest in the world and has one of the highest death rates from the virus. It shames me more that some of my compatriots aren't ashamed of this.
(This is not a political blog, but wanting people not to die from preventable diseases shouldn't be a political issue.)
Anyway - good riddance, 2020. Come back in a few days to see what I've got planned for 2021.
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message 1:
by
Jenni
(new)
Dec 30, 2020 02:01AM
What a busy and productive year. I too feel at a loss when it comes to those who have not respected other's lives this year, but let's hope lessons are learned and remembered as we travel towards 2021 the year of the vaccines. xx
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Jenni wrote: "What a busy and productive year. I too feel at a loss when it comes to those who have not respected other's lives this year, but let's hope lessons are learned and remembered as we travel towards 2..."Thanks. I hope you're right. Though as a species, we never seem to learn a lesson any way except the hard one.
