The start of a new year is always a somewhat nostalgic time, as I reflect on the year just gone, and what I’d hoped to achieve – but I don’t think there’s a single person on the planet who could have predicted their 2020!
At first, I was disappointed that I didn’t achieve much this year. I found my goals from last year – written on the plane on New Year’s Eve 2019 as I flew back from an inspiring writing/publishing conference in Adelaide (and who knew that would be my last trip in who knows how long?) – and I hadn’t reached many.
I didn’t publish three books in the series I started writing during NaNoWriMo 2019. (In fact it took me a minute to work out what I was referring to, as I’d called it by a name I’d forgotten, oops!)
I didn’t write a thousand words a day, every day.
I didn’t finish my secret project, which is the thing that disappointed me the most, because I’m letting someone down.
I didn’t sleep more, or go to bed and/or get up earlier.
But the beautiful Christmas card from my sweet hubby reminded me that I did achieve quite a bit in 2020 after all.
I wrote and published The Swan Maiden, an original Australian faery tale, the first non-Mists-world novel I’ve written, and the first set wholly in Australia (and also wrote part of another Australian faery tale).
I wrote a novelette, The Snow Queen’s Daughter, which was published in an American box set with a collection of international authors.
During NaNoWriMo in November, I wrote 51,000 words of the companion novel to The Snow Queen’s Daughter, so in 2021 I’ll finish this new one, and expand SQD (I had to cut it quite savagely for the box set), and will publish both of them as a duology. This was my ninth “win” of NaNoWriMo (of nine attempts) – so now I have three partly written projects to expand upon (the rest were Mists books).
And I only remembered this today when I was making a graphic for this post – I also created and published a gorgeous hardcover omnibus edition of the Into the Storm Trilogy, which is really heavy, and really big – even bigger/longer than the Mists Trilogy hardcover! – but really beautiful. (So I kind of did publish three books in 2020 after all, just not the ones I’d anticipated.)
I was part of the Australian Fairy Tale Society conference in June, which was online for the first time. I was interviewed about The Swan Maiden, which was a huge thing for me – I usually say no to being interviewed, especially live. As expected, I was absolutely terrified, and shook the whole time (fortunately you couldn’t see me wringing my hands under the table), but I survived! And I had been nominated for the AFTS Award for my Swan Maiden book, alongside my favourite author Juliet Marillier and gorgeous artist Lorena Carrington, which was an honour. I also joined the AFTS committee, and late in 2020 designed and launched a range of merchandise for them.
Perhaps most importantly, although it terrifies me, I said yes to a series of interviews. Maybe it was the fact that all events this year were cancelled, maybe I was just sick of always saying no out of fear when I knew I should say yes, I don’t know. I didn’t choose a word for the year, but it turned out my action (which seems less passive than a word), was #bebrave… I spoke with British authors Sheena Cundy and Wendy Steele for their Witch Lit YouTube podcast, had a cup of tea or two with Jo Avalon for her Cuppa Chat YouTube series, did an interview with Anne and Renata at Spirit Talk Radio – which was streamed live on facebook, eek! – and another with a WA spiritual store. Then I had a wonderful discussion with my dear friend and co-author Lucy Cavendish for her incredible Witchcast podcast (episode 42), appeared on a zoom panel of indie authors for Read’3rz Re-Vu, and chatted with author Kia Carrington-Russell for her YouTube Book Show. I’m still scared every time, but apparently I’m getting a little better!
I wrote seven newsletters (I usually only send eight a year, so not too bad), and several blog posts.
I started a new (very part-time) job for a kids eco magazine, and interviewed some wonderful authors.
There were two goals I had that I could tick off with no ambiguity. In 2019, disappointed by how little time I spent reading, despite it being a favourite thing to do, I decided to do the Book-A-Week challenge. That year I just scraped in – I managed 52! – but in 2020 I exceeded it, reading 70+ books, which made me happy, and blogging about them. There were so many wonderful reads, including some amazing novels by Indigenous authors. (Although it looks like I made NO dent in my teetering to-be-read pile, because I bought as many new books as I read, ha ha!)
I also worked out every day, despite migraines, heatwaves and tight deadlines – this is one resolution/intention I never fail at. It helps me feel stronger physically and mentally, makes it (a little) easier to cope with deadline pressure and general stress, and it’s empowering to note my progress and celebrate all the little wins – upping my weights, squeezing in a couple of extra reps, getting better at getting through Sweat Intervals or Friday Fight… #strongbodystrongmind. It was a mix of BodyCombat and BodyPump, Jillian Michaels, Chalene Johnson, Shaun T and Autumn Calabrese workouts, plus the odd yoga session here and there, and lots of walking in our beautiful park to visit my swan friends…
And it wasn’t on my list of goals for the year, but I spoke out publicly to defend a friend who was being defamed and lied about. It turned some of the vitriol on me, but I’m glad that I didn’t remain silent. If this year showed us anything, it’s that we have to speak up, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. We can’t turn a blind eye to injustice, or let lies go unchallenged, or think someone else will fix a problem. It’s time to step up. It’s time to take action. It’s time for truth-telling. It’s time to re-examine the history we’ve been taught about our countries. To challenge the accepted ways of doing things and look at what’s been swept under the rug by big business and lobby groups and institutions and vested interests and governments, as well as to challenge the conspiracy theories running wild right now. The things we ignore are the things we condone by default, and the world needs us to pay attention, and to fight for change. To stand up for the disenfranchised and marginalised, and for the planet. To be an ally. To listen. To learn. To value scientists and other experts. To amplify the voices that need to be heard, that have been silenced or disregarded for too long. We have a lot to do in 2021!
So on reflection, I did get more done in 2020 than I’d thought, if a little less than I’d anticipated. And while I didn’t get to travel as hoped, or visit my family in WA, I’m grateful for the restrictions that kept us relatively safe during the pandemic, and to all the people who worked so hard to protect us, from healthcare workers and frontline services to the politicians who made hard decisions and those in retail and other industries who couldn’t work from home (and, of course, the makers of toilet paper. What on earth as that about???). I was happy that the Ballgowns and Books signing happened in early February, because it was awesome, and I met some lovely authors and readers, and that the March Mind Body Spirit Festival began – but it was the weekend the whole world went pear-shaped, and it was shut down early because someone coughed in the Home Show next door, signalling the point where covid took hold, plunging us into a new reality and devastating so many. My heart broke for my friend in Melbourne, locked down alone in her apartment for months, for a friend who can’t get back to his life in England, and for all my friends in the US who have lost loved ones to this awful virus, or contracted it themselves despite being so careful. (And don’t get me started on the other heartbreak tearing America apart at the end of 2020, sigh…) This year has made me so grateful that I live in Australia, and that I love my life at home, with my sweet hubby in our cute little apartment next to the park. I did struggle a bit with the forced isolation when the virus was at its peak here, but it was nothing compared to how much so many people were suffering, and continue to suffer, from this and so many other issues.
May 2021 bring hope and strength and light, and the dismantling of systemic racism, a solution to the devastation of homelessness and the dispossession of people from their lands, an end to the unlawful detention of refugees, the acceptance of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, breakthroughs in medical research, a revolution of kindness, acceptance and understanding for those within the LGBTQIA+ community, advocacy and increased access for those with disabilities, income equity and gender equality in all facets of life, legal protection for the marginalised, and so much more. And the wonderful yet devastatingly sad thing is that all of this would be simple to achieve, if we had the will for it…
What are your hopes for 2021?
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