Two years...
It's really that time again already. A time to make Starcraft SCV puns of the title and wax lyrical about the history and future of everything that is my world of writing. First and foremost though, it's a time for me to celebrate the way I do, sat at my desk in the low-lit wonder of my evil abode complete with festively decorated floating brain casement.
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| That's how we roll. |
So on a more serious note, I've been thinking about this post all day and, honestly, since January where I decided against doing a new years post. It's that time when everyone reminisces on the year gone by, so I say with the full intent of making it sound rather hipster so I can throw in more fun doodles.
But yes, this is the day when I took that first full step into publishing. Now here's the part where I argue with the multitude of characters and hats inside my head, since to be fair I did start having a look at writing daily for a purpose in January, and the whole concept was brought to light in December when I was really in a low spot in life.
From there, the pieces all fell into place like the sort of thing people look back on and call fate and destiny because it's more romantic that way and all in all was just a sequence of events that wouldn't have felt the same any other way. Now, would they have happened at all? Most likely yes, but the combination of causes and effects is one reason to not hold so strongly to regrets and the past -- for better or worse, everything that we are shapes everything that we become.
For me, that meant picking up a new way of life that had been a part of my life since childhood... wait, writing, the erotic disposition was something very adolescent and beyond. There's no dark past here, only dark humour. I'm still not very good at talking like this, huh.
So perhaps I could write something in the New Years, but March 1st was the day it really became a real, official name in Author highlights thing, and when I first appeared on the scene. I still have my 2013 calendar laying around with the first few books and sales marked on it. I still remember back then when a new sale would prompt loading the celebratory M. Bison clip.
Two years later and the more things change, the more they stay the same. Most importantly; I'm still here, and still ecstatic over the show of support and success that's come with it. I make a point of this in the Author Note of every book but really none of it would be possible without such a wealth of awesome readers out there who take an interest in what I do. I know not everyone finds success or happiness in their writing, but I really do in thanks to the people it reaches. There's not a day I'm not thankful for every one of you changing the life I have to what it is now. It's for sharing in that love and passion that I'm still here.
Thank you.
So on the coat-tails of being heartwarming, I should talk some about what's happened during this past year and what's happening going forward. It's been an interesting year full of ups and downs, of constant experiments and iterations. One reason for the tangent on time is exactly because of those experiments and diversions, and whether any were great ideas or wholly efficient.
At the end of the day, has it been good? Has it been for the best? Could it have been better? Answers to reflections are very transient things that can't be held down for weight on their own. What's done is done and all you can do in life is take the hits and keep moving forward. That's how I'm still here, and that's how I'm going to keep moving forward. It may not be perfect, it may not keep everyone running alongside, but it's how I've walked this path and where I go with it is on my own shoulders.
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| The very first cover. |
So the important thing to take from any reflective answer is painting a picture of just how I'm going to be moving forward with the lessons learned. To start with, I'll admit I still have a lot of ends to tie up. So before really starting anything new, I'm going to be tying those up. This includes Huntsman, Lusty Maid, Shoes of Glass, Hide, and to some extents my big flagship in Daemonique. When I start something, it will be seen through to the end.
Daemonique is where it all really started and serves as a sort of core for my fantasy world that's constantly expanding and changing. I have flash cards and books going on two years old full of notes and lofty musings about how big it could be, and I've never lost any of that scope and scale for intensity.
The fine details change a lot -- even my recent Huntsman volume was near wholly different from the original concepts I had for that installment -- but the end goals, the backing lore, language and visions remain. Being able to create those is really what makes this special.
Going forward from here is going to be stronger, bigger and better. I'm past the crushing weights of doubts and fears, the dragging and gnawing that I touched on in the previous year's post. I still may not be very good with social media like twitter, but that's a beast of its own nature that clashes ideas of what I imagine people expect to see and what I would post being entirely different and potentially alienating things. I still don't know if I should really care to be drawing those lines in the sand at all.
Everything works itself out at its own pace, though, and the moral of all this is that two years in is still really just the start of this journey for me. Where I take it from here is something for us all to really sit back and see, but if it's anything like what I have in mind, it's going to be great.
Best of all, two years from now, I'll still be here, building, expanding, binding and perfecting it all. Here's to you, who makes it possible, and here's to moving forward with everything learned. Thank you for making a great first two years, and ensuring there can be many more to come.
