Every year, I do a review blog where I catalog all the writing and festivals and horror-related activities I have accomplished in the year. This year, frankly, I just don’t want to.
2020 was a shit in show. In 2020, I survived.
There will be a wave of blog posts this week, next week that say these same things. So again, I didn’t want to waste the keystrokes. But I am not working this week, so for the sake of consistency… here is my 2020 in review.
2020 began normally enough, but then as the COVID-19 pandemic erupted, it became something else entirely. Largely, everything I would do in person (horror movie festivals, book signings, horror movies, travel) was cancelled. I told myself that I would redirect my energies, that I would use my time at home to actually do the writing part of being an author.
Instead, I just sort of scraped through quarantine; I muddled through remote learning; I floundered through the “new normal.” Rather than redirected, I just kind of existed. At times, I fell apart.
Rather than rehash all the things that didn’t happen because of the Rona or lament how virtual experiences aren’t the same or summarize the rants I have spouted in therapy these past few months, I am going to focus on two simple things from my 2020. Two author things. I am going to step way out of character and silver lining 2020 a bit by looking back through a very restrictive lens.
Book #5
If nothing else during this abysmal year, I got a novel under a publication contract with Crystal Lake Publishing. Crystal Lake Publishing finally had a submissions window and accepted my novel Followers.
I am thrilled to be working with a new publisher and see this novel come into the world, especially during such a strange time.
In Followers, Sidney escapes from the disappointments of her life into the horror genre and conversations with online followers—until those virtual followers bring horror into her real life.
NaNoWriMo
I have never participated in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) before. I have always been too busy to commit to writing 50,000 words in one month. Yet a pandemic and successive quarantines seemed like the perfect opportunity. By November, I seemed to have adapted enough to actually begin to utilize my time.
50,000 words was much more challenging than I anticipated. It sounded so easy until I was grinding. It took undivided commitment on multiple occasions from me. Yet it was also nice to imagine what it would be like to write more. I proved to myself I could do it… and finished my novel in progress in the meantime.
During NaNoWriMo, I completed my novel Green Eyes. Green Eyes is my first meandering out of the horror genre since I have been published. Instead, I felt compelled to approach more real horrific topics.
As I cross into 2021, I will need to start editing the manuscript and finding a home for it. 2020 has taken the strive out of me. I am giving this book time, working it at a more natural pace. Maybe it was a lesson I needed to learn.
Happy New Year!
I don’t think the rolling of the calendar will magically change things. I don’t think the numbers humans assign days will influence global events. Yet I am still ready for the arbitrary close of the year. Even if it means nothing, I am going to attempt at the fresh start nonetheless.
2020 was not a completely loss. Every experience is worth something, but I am still looking forward to putting many experiences from those months behind me.
If nothing else, I will keep writing…
Fiery Pen 