A Look Back at 2020 and Ahead at 2021
Well, it’s that time of year again…
I like to take time at the end of every year to look over what I managed to accomplish, to count my blessings for all the good things that continue to outweigh the bad.
I’m not going to talk about how lockdown affected me, how my plans got ruined, or anything else negative. Plenty of that out in the world right now, and we don’t need any more.
Instead, I’m going to talk about all the good things that 2020 brought me:
On the work front:
I finished up The Last March, the final book in The Silent Champions series, bringing that particular series to just under 1 million words. I wrote Cerberus Books 3-12, with the series finishing at close to 1.2 million words.I started the Deranged and Questing live show, finally getting to not only play Dungeons and Dragons, but do it for an audience.I gave a Villains and Antagonists Masterclass with Wordsmith AcademyI’ve figured out the details for the Hero of Darkness rewrites (more details to come) and have begun planning the remaining 4-7 books that will be required to finish up the series.
All in all, a pretty good year of writing and storytelling.
On the personal front:
I took up kayaking! Summers in Canada are gorgeous, and there’s something like 1,000 lakes within 200 kilometers of my city. I managed to find a kayak in my size (a VERY hard thing) and got some excellent exercise on local rivers and lakes.My oldest son graduated high school, got a job, enrolled in college (starting Fall 2021), and moved out on his own.I managed to be fairly faithful at going to the gym. I managed 3-4 weekly visits on average, though I started the year strong by going 6 days a week for 60 days. A few injuries aside, it was a great year for fitness.I got to spend more time with my wife and kids thanks to the lockdown. We binge-watched a few TV shows, got into a few new board games, played some video games together, and had soe quality hours together.
Nothing too big or fancy, but given everything this year has thrown at us, I’d say it’s a win.
2020 had its fair share of hiccups, and there’s no guarantee that 2021 is going to be any better.
But at least with a brand new year ahead, we can be hopeful that even if the world around us doesn’t improve, we can improve ourselves and our surroundings in at least small ways every day.
Like I’ve done every year, I’m also going to share what I hope to accomplish in the year to come, giving you an insight into my life—both as a man and the author who writes the books you love to read.
My Professional Goals for 2021:
Rewrite and Relaunch the existing Hero of Darkness Books (currently 1-7). Books 1-3 are going to get a major overhauling, and Book 4 will have some edits and rewrites done as well. After writing 40+ books, I know I can write the Hunter’s story exponentially better than I did when I was just starting out, and I’m excited to dive into this project (more details to come in the next blog post).Write (and hopefully release) the Hunter’s second story arc. After the events of Darkblade Savior (Hero of Darkness 6), there is an entire second story arc (4-6 books) that remains to be written. I’m early in the planning stages and figuring out exactly what that second story arc is going to look like, but I’m excited (and more than a little daunted) by the HUGE story that will need to be told in those books.Continue to grow Deranged and Questing. Our twice-weekly D&D show on Twitch is one of the highlights of my week, and I’m excited to bring you more epic roleplaying adventures for another year.Change up my approach to writing. For the last three years, I’ve been very much in a “hurry up and finish” mentality, focused so much on the goal of completing and releasing books that I’ve failed to fully enjoy the writing journey. This year, I’m going to be working hard on changing that mindset. It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to focus on really loving the creative process, enjoying the time I get to spend writing, and worrying less about having to finish really fast for the sake of releasing another book. This might lead to a bit of a financial impact initially, but I believe that ultimately it will make for better-quality books, which will resonate better with readers (and thereby sell better).
My Personal Goals for 2021:
Improve my fitness. I managed to fit in 3-5 weekly gym training sessions pretty much every week of 2020 (barring a few weeks off for injuries), but this year I’m going to focus on making those sessions really good quality. I need to get stronger, increase my flexibility, and up my cardiovascular endurance, and hopefully that will lead to effective weight loss.Spend more time with my family. If the lockdown has had one positive benefit for me, it’s that I’ve been able to spend more time with my wife and kids. Not being able to travel out of country—or currently, out of county—means I need to make the most of the time I have in Canada. I want to find more games and activities to enjoy with my family, cook more delicious meals, and be better at being present and in the moment rather than being too focused on work.Get outdoors more. It’s harder to do in winter, but I’m excited for snowboarding and snowshoeing. Once the weather starts to warm up, I now have a good pair of hiking boots that’ll make exploring the wilderness around my city just that much more possible and enjoyable. Then, when summer comes, my wife and I both have kayaks, which I plan to take out on the water as much as possible.
I’m a simple man with simple goals, but I’m looking forward to another awesome year of enjoying life in Canada and making the most of what I have.
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