We’ve made it, it is the end of 2019, and we’ll be into a new decade next month. It is exciting because it is the end of the 2010s. Technically we will be in the 20s. As with every decade, you see social, cultural, fashion, and musical trends change decade to decade. I am quite excited to see what the 20s will shape. It is always humorous to look back at the previous decades and see what was once cool looks pretty goofy now. How will we look back at 2010-2019? With any luck, with more wisdom, and understanding of the big-tech age we’ve sprouted into.
Welcome to another edition of Unprocessed Thoughts
A lot happened in 2019, as I mentioned in the newsletter this month, with the release of the final Scrappers chapter. The White Hand was released and is the only novel published this year. However, I have had three short stories published and have continued the monthly flash fiction. It truthfully needs a new name as they aren’t flash fiction, they mutated into regular old short stories. If you didn’t know, flash fiction is anything under a thousand words. Short stories are generally a thousand to ten thousand.
Onto the main point, 2019, I also spent time learning speech to text software. I promise I will do a blog post on it for my author friends reading this. Trust me. It is a game-changer. Thanks to the speech to text software, I was able to crank out two large manuscripts at incredible speed. It’s night and day for the first draft processes and publishing process.
Learning this tool and writing short stories has allowed me to focus on the main purpose this year: work smarter, not harder. So, I am continually learning how to improve upon this. It is an ever-learning process.
Beyond 2019
Now, with the end of the year, I often reflect on what I have done over the year and lifetime. Most people do. Then they jump into “a new year, a new me” mindset. I don’t think I do that. Truthfully I don’t overthink it. For 2020, I am shifting focus on revising a ton of projects that I have on the go. Let’s go through them:
- Fire, Pain, & Ruin: A Rutherford Manor Novel
- Mental Damnation IV
- The untitled slasher novel
- An anthology novel (you can probably figure this
one out)
- An accompanying score for the anthology
- Continue to develop the Harvesters/Scrappers universe
Oh, and somewhere in all of that, I started a music project and will be exploring that more in 2020. Then I also have the day gig of running my design/web development business. The list is large, which includes four novels and a whole new universe to write stories about. Yet, the exciting thing is the four novels are in various stages of completion, with Fire, Pain & Ruin being the most completed.
Revise, Revise, and Distribute
All these projects need finetuning or revisions rather. That will be the primary focus for next year. Then comes the fun process of marketing. Personally, it is not my favourite part of the writing career or my design business, but it is required.
Since I started perusing writing professionally in 2011, I have written a lot of stories, blogs, and built dense worlds. They’re trickled all over the place if you look hard enough to find them. That is the trouble. They are too hard to find. I don’t think the stories have gotten exposed to a large enough crowd.
I am fully grateful and humbled by all of the loyal readers and fans that follow me work over the years. You all rock and are a huge motivator for me to get that next book out because I know you’re waiting for it at the next expo or the next season. Even today, I am still surprised by who enjoys my stories. That tells me that the net isn’t wide enough, and I haven’t even come close to reaching the full capacity of the audience the stories can reach.
A New Decade
Reflection is healthy. I tend to do it frequently. Call it daydreaming, pondering, or whatever, but it is helpful, so you don’t fall into bad habits. The trick is not to overthink things. It is a weird balance. Regardless, the work crunch with my design business is coming to an end, and my holiday time is starting soon. In the new decade, I’ll be back online and at in-person events with plenty of exciting stories to share with you all.
Enjoy the holidays, be safe, and have a Happy New Year.
Beer Note: Red Racer Imperial India Pale Ale
Wow! I didn’t read the label at the bottom “Extra Strong Ale.” They weren’t kidding. It is bold in flavour. Heavier than I had expected for an IPA, which is a fun change from the typical overly hoppy double IPA beers. A couple of these would go down nicely once you adapt to the strong taste.
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