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What a year! I wanted to get this posted at the beginning of January but a few things cropped up. At least this post will still show up in January, albeit the last day.

The beginning held great promise with going to Maui, gaining a bonus-mom, and spending six weeks outside of Breckenridge, Colorado. Then along came co-vid 19 and a job layoff. Since our life had gotten shaken up (as was the case with many people), we decided to throw in a move from Wisconsin to Idaho. There’s a long story behind that decision, but I want to keep this post short.

Despite the upheaval riddled with much uncertainty, I still progressed in my writing.

What I Accomplished

I wrote four novels.
My goal was to write more than this, but life had a few other plans. I learned to roll with what life threw at us.
I published two novels.
Typing that makes me smile. The other two from the four that I wrote will be published in 2021.

I completed Dean Wesley Smith’s challenge of writing one short story each week for a year in mid-April.
Thanks Dean. This one taught me a lot about sticking to my goal and finishing no matter what. I managed to keep the streak going through travels, co-vid, the job loss, and getting the house ready for sale. I wrote a few more short stories throughout the year, giving me a total of 20 short stories for 2020.

I entered the Writers of the Future contest every quarter.
I received three honorable mentions and a semi-finalist award. If you love to write speculative fiction, I encourage you to enter Writers of the Future. It’s free, it gives you practice on finishing stories on a deadline, and it’s fun.

I had fun.
Typing this is a bit strange considering the weirdness of the year, but I can’t say that the co-vid challenges made it the worse year ever. I’ve had years way worse than this. I took advantage of things not happening to focus on improving my craft, exploring a new area (I love the outdoors), and really digging in to write.

With all the things happening so far at the beginning of 2021, I’m optimistic that things will get better. It’s the only way I can keep moving forward. In the meantime, I plan to keep writing, publishing, and creating art.

Here’s to an improved year.