Happy New Year!

​As is usual, I'm not making resolutions, but looking at the year past and considering how I did on my plans I had then, as well as considering what to do this year.

So, in 2019, I made the following plans:

1.  Finish the novel that's about 1/3rd drafted now.  The novel in question here was/is Long Weekend. Instead of working on that novel, I wrote and released Homecoming. The year away from Long Weekend was useful, and I have some clarity on the MS and where I want to go with it.

2.  Work on more essays and short stories, perhaps for a collection. Yeah, this didn't happen.  At all.

3.  Begin to revise old non-fiction/academic stuff and granting access to it. This includes revising the dissertation in some way. Big old goose egg here, too. This was motivated by a student of Dr. Barron's contacting me for a copy of my essay on The Waste Land and the Tarot. I had a disk (yes, disk) somewhere around here with a lot of grad school papers on it.  I'm not entirely sure that didn't get thrown out, though, as I keep looking for it and not finding it, and with all of the packing and moving things around for renovation, you would think I would have unearthed it.

4.  Get started in some real way on Octave Thanet's critical biography or whatever it turns out to be.  Again, nothing happened here other than some thinking about it. 

What DID happen in 2019:

1. The house was dismantled and renovation started. We began demo in June and currently I am working in the renovated front bedroom. The office, kitchen, and den are still works in progress. We do have the flooring down and some painting done, but I have no kitchen sink. My current kitchen involves a griddle, instant pot like device, and a butane burner. I am washing dishes in the clawfoot tub, which is outfitted with a plastic bin for the washing and a drain tray.

We're hoping to be back in the part of the house where we typically live (office, den, kitchen) by February.

And, if we hadn't set up an office in the front bedroom Homecoming wouldn't have been finished.

2. In May, Donna Rovito asked if I would step into the role of Associate Editor of Physician Family. I was honored to be asked and my work has continued with that publication and with Donna. In that role, I also became part of the AMAA Communications Committee, and I've enjoyed working as part of that team. In addition to helping with editing, I also got in a couple of reviews in 2019.

3. I also took on the role of Reedsy Discovery Reviewer.  Back when Elegant Freefall launched, I used the platform for a review, and I realized that there were not any actual queer reviewers over there. So, I applied and became a reviewer. In the last couple of months of the year, I managed to publish reviews of five books (and I have my first review of 2020 coming in a few days). 

4. Sophie, Chester, and I took lots of walks.

5.  I stepped out of my introvert cave more this year. I was much more active in the writers' groups I'm in, sharing my experiences, asking questions, encouraging other folks. After Homecoming released, I reached out to a local shop to see if they would carry paperbacks, and they said yes! And, I'm trying to be more proactive about reaching out to other local writers and being a part of the South Arkansas Literary Festival in whatever capacity they find me to be useful in.

I also hit my 50 books challenge for the year.

So, a good year--and unlike 2019, I did not start 2020 with dreams about my old life. The decade that just ended was full of med school, residency, and the first couple of years of Dani being out of training, and I think we're both hitting a good stride.

Plans? Journal consistently, keep reading a book a week, get a better toe-hold on those projects I dropped the ball on in 2019. These are all connected, which will hopefully help!