The Year-End Wrap-Up Thing (Or: Too many hyphens for my liking).

Hi friends, neighbours, and readers. This time around I’m probably going to try and keep things short.

Where did the time go? Seriously; where did it go?

It’s been a funny year. That’s something that I’ve come to find myself saying somewhere around this time for the last few years now, and each time I do, the use of the word funny feels a little more ironic. Every time, I tell myself that things can’t get any more batshit. Every time, I turn out to be proven wrong. It’s become the new normal to see the world spiralling down into some hellish abyss with no return escalator. But, you know that already, and you probably don’t need to hear it again from me.

Now, I usually shy away from too much in the way of annual reflection. It’s usually been my belief that life is an ongoing thing, not something to be broken up into individual cycles. The idea of something like new year’s resolutions always strikes me as being on an almost I-promise-myself-I’ll-do-better-next-time-no-really-I-will level of pleading for yet another chance to fuck things up.

In general, the year’s been a pretty decent one. I switched publication of my entire catalogue from KDP and Amazon exclusivity. It hasn’t made much of an impression so far, but I’m still hopeful (you should know, I don’t do words like optimistic) that things will gain momentum. I’ve been trying to stretch myself in terms of self-promotion, too, embracing the medium of short-form video via TikTok, something that ain’t necessarily straightforward for a Gen X-er like me. I’m still to put myself out there more fully though, the introvert in me questioning why anyone in their right mind would want to hear me speak or get a good old gander at my face. I do know however that this is something I’m going to have to contend with moving forward, a next step if you will. One other thing that I promised myself I was going to do was look into the possibility of conventions and such public appearances. This was something that fell by the wayside. But on the plus side, two novels saw the light of day this year, so there are some positive things to be said about remaining a perpetual introvert. The very thought of whoring myself out fills me with dread, as the annoying little chirp in the left side of my brain asks me who the hell would ever be interested in anything I have to say? Throughout my life there have been times when I’ve struggled with low self-opinion and image, so the idea that anyone would be bothered by anything I have to say is a bit of a foreign one to me. It’s something that I’m working on.

Fuck, this is starting to sound like a pity party, and I didn’t want that to happen.

Short version: It’s been a productive year, I’ve been able to focus on writing pretty well. Hopefully, next year will bring still more of the same. I’m currently still working on the first draft of my next novel, it should see the light of day sometime next year. You need to buy more books by indie authors. Support the little guys.

Before I go, here’s some things that I’ve been up to:

Listening to: Pigs x 7 - Death Hilarious. Acid Ape - Fleshspa. Radar Men From The Moon - Vomitorium.

Watching: Stranger Things 5 (it has to be done, right?). Mitchell and Webb Are Not Helping (what went wrong?)

Reading: a whole bunch of books on urban legends, along with a helping of old-school ghost stories thrown in for good measure. ‘Tis the season, innit?

If we don’t catch up beforehand, enjoy the holiday season in whichever way you choose to spend it. Thanks for putting up with me.

Love,

- L