Happy New Year 2020!

We made it. It’s finally 2020 and I’m expecting delivery of my flying car any second now. Aaaany second…

The day might be arbitrary in some ways but I think, while the “New year, New Me” thing is a bit trite, it has some merit. much like the way passing through a doorway literally resets our brains— why did I come in here again? —a new day, a new week, a new year, a new decade, gives us the chance to stick in pin in everything that’s gone before and make a fresh go of it. We can turn the page and start over at any time/day/week we like but when seven billion people and more are doing the same thing at the same time, there’s a little bit of magic in that, I think.

I’m not really a New Year’s Resolution person but I do like to make a plan or two. Or five. You should see my wall planner. It’s epic. Some personal ones this year are to lose some weight, partly for health reasons (my knees hurt) and partly as my brother is getting married in the late summer and I wanna dress fancy. Plus, given my advancing years, healthy eating/exercise is a thing I should really be paying attention to if I want to outlive my dog, given that I sit on my butt 12 hours a day.
I’ve got no plans to go anywhere or do much other than attend UK Meet in September. I’m a writer after all, so vacations are a pipe dream at best when paying the rent is the top of my wishlist. I do want to spend some time at the beach though. I live minutes away, but most of last year the Word Dragon simply couldn’t walk that far. Now she’s a bit more limber, I think we’ll give it go once a week, even if we have to get a cab home.

Writing plans, on the other hand? Well, I’ve got a bushel of those. In terms of releases, my sincere hope is that the schedule will look something like…

 

…which makes me feel a little short of breath and a lot like crying to be honest. It’s too much, I know, but there’s a bunch of stuff I really want to wrap up this year so I can concentrate on doing less next year, so I can be less stressed out all the time. Plus, four of these (okay, three and a half) are already written and three are going to be fairly short, so that’s not so much work, right? Right?
Also, on top of this, I am determined to finish 72 Seasons. With everything that happened last year, it was the one thing I had to let go of entirely but I’ve got it all plotted out and I’d like to write something purely for pleasure too. Also there’s a fanfic I need to finish. Maybe.

Pretty sure my fingers will just be nubs by next December.

On top of that, I’m thinking about rebranding a bit. Nothing too drastic, but maybe tidying up the website, getting someone more talented than me to redraft the logo…maybe take on a different pen-name for the Love…but darker stuff. I’ve been resisting that idea but it might be time. I’m going to talk it over with some people before I make any solid decisions.

Basically 2020 is going to be a year of cleaning up the mess I’ve made the last four years so we can go forward with that fresh start we all want for the new decade. At least, that’s the plan. Of course, the dog might expire at some point and I will inevitably get sick or burn out or did I mention the fingers worn to nubs? All of those things will affect what comes next but that’s okay. Flexibility might not be my middle name but I can spell it, so we’ll get there. Eventually.

So here’s to our fresh start! The world might be burning but let’s go out dancing if we have to go. I’m feeling positive right now and I hope it lasts. I hope you guys stick around too. I really can’t do any of this without your ongoing support. Even the lurkers—you might not comment or email or even buy my books, but I still know you’re there and it helps so much whenever I think about quitting.

My wish for you this year is that you’re safe and healthy; that when you glimpse happiness, you can hold onto it for as long as possible, and when the bad times come, you can remember that the wheel keeps turning and those won’t last forever either. That you get to hug your loved ones, let go of anything taking up space in your brain that’s no longer useful, and find pleasure in the small stuff.

And don’t forget to ask for help if you need it, and pay it forward when you get the chance. Taking care of each other is more important now than ever. And smile, for god’s sake. Force it if you have to, but smile. It gives you the good brain chemicals even if you don’t feel it in your heart. Do that and I’ll try my best to write some stuff to take your mind off things for a little while.