The Year That Was…

And so we come to the end of not just another year, but one of the years!

It’s not a year I’d hope to repeat, but it was not without its moments.

Obviously, the big thing was the pandemic and just…all that out there! (You know what I mean.)

For me, it was a year that began with a job loss and then COVID-19 announcing its arrival. Much of the year was spent unemployed, but I was lucky to find work before all funds ran out. (Not everyone was as fortunate as me — not that many people in the U.S. would have wanted my year. But still…it could have been worse. The biggest thing I carry into 2021 is just doing your thing for the sake of joy. Find your bliss in the noise [and cruelty] of the days.)

But enough about that…

2020 made me perhaps a bit more reflective than usual when it comes to all I’m doing and the things I appreciate.

While many query letters I sent seemed to fall into the void, people are doing well enough to keep going with what they already have going on without taking on new things. I can’t fault those agents who holed up like so many of us. Before the pandemic really hit, I received partial and full manuscript requests when shopping around the latest novel. It wasn’t a good year to submit things, and maybe opportunities were lost in the madness of the year. But…there’s still hope and options.

In some ways, this year made me think more about just going away from it all…not being so connected to everything. I think the thing that made 2020 sting a bit less is that I’m good about focusing on the things that make me happiest, even if the world around me seems on fire.

The year also strengthened my resolve to make things in the time I have. Even if nothing happens with the novel I’ve been sending around, it won’t stop me from writing the other books in the story arc, even if they are never read by more than a handful of people.

This weird year that was reminded me dreams are great and all, but seeing them through — no matter what BS online motivational speakers shout into the ether — is not as simple as doing the hard and smart work.

There were authors with books coming out on that infamous Tuesday on the 11th of September in 2001. Plans scattered and lost to a constant news cycle even people like me who are not into the news watched. And this year, so much got lost in the waters of all of us just doing our best to keep our heads up and sucking air.

I don’t know what 2021 will bring, and I’m not about to charge into it with swelling optimism that everything is now behind us…even though, well — I’m still optimistic. I suppose that’s just me: even in the worst times, I cling to hope.

So here’s hoping everyone reading this (and even the many more who are not), have a good new year.

– Christopher