2019 didn’t end for me, it just evolved into its next, more terrible form. That being the case I’m not pretending to be revved up about 2021, because it’s built upon the bones and ashes of two bad years, and I don’t expect things to magically change for the better just because the calendar flipped.
That said, I’m glad I was able to adapt to some things this year. I’m glad I did these monthly posts and the daily drawings. Just three dozen to go and I’ll have created 366 new pieces in a year. Some of them were even good enough to keep.
Anyway, here’s the skinny for December:
The Podcast
WITH ANSWERABLE COURAGE is finished. I’m glad that it’s finished. I’m glad that I took it on. TBH I don’t think it’s my best work, and that means I missed the mark somewhere along the way. The final episode didn’t get a whole lot of listens which means people lost interest, because frankly my version of the story isn’t better than what the Pilgrims actually went through at Plymouth 400 years ago. I completely accept that.
My main takeaway is that the research I did in order to write that book helped me to have a greater appreciation for what was required to build this country. Those people–and I include the Wampanoags in that, both groups benefitted from their treaty and alliance–were already greater than I’ll be in this life in terms of what they accomplished.
Now I’m on to my next story, WELCOME TO TIMBERVILLE. It’s another short one (though the word count is higher than I remembered). A few years ago I started joking about writing a Hallmark Christmas romance and this was the result.
The new episode won’t be up for a few days, I’m admittedly behind schedule because of how Thanksgiving shook out, and so on. I didn’t want to spend the whole break stuffed up in my office while my kids terrorized my wife. This is a hobby, after all.
Find the podcast on your favorite platform and subscribe if you haven’t!
The Writing
I had to write a few thousand words to finish ANSWERABLE COURAGE and man that was harder than I expected. Now I’m on edits for TIMBERVILLE and once those are knocked out, I’m doing edits on the next two stories. Trying to stay ahead of the curve.
The Reading
Last month I read another “best of the year” book, bringing the total up to 9. Hopefully I can round it out to 10 before the end of this month. I’m six books into the Longmire series, my library has them all on audio and I can usually finish one in a shift at work. The individual mysteries aren’t all that great but I love the characters. I’m also rereading the Bartimaeus trilogy by Stroud. Excellent piece of fantasy.
The Artwork
Got a few commissions in the pipe so I’m working on those, along with covers for upcoming adventures. Next year I’m definitely scaling back from “one drawing per day” to “one drawing per week.” That way I make 52 really good pieces instead of 365 mediocre-to-bad ones.
The Rest
Let’s finish this year strong. It hasn’t been all bad, and even if 2021 promises to be bumpy, we deserve to kill this one and leave it well behind us. We’ve got this, folks. Get back to work.
DreadPennies: The Mind of Graham Bradley 