2024 takes its final bow

Ever hear of the recency effect? It’s the tendency to make annual evaluations based on recent behavior—”Oh, Cliff has been so helpful this past week, I should give him Exceeds Expectations” rather than the year as a hole. I get it: this has been a good month and a good holiday season so I feel like saying “Hey, this was a great year!”

And certainly it wasn’t a bad year. TYG’s and my policy of having regular dates and doing fun stuff continues to make us a happier couple. Wisp has adjusted to life indoors and both dogs still have a great quality of life. TYG’s in good health, I’m in good health, and we’re currently financially secure. So yay.

However it’s been a lot more effort to care for Plushie since his glaucoma diagnosis back in March. Drops in the morning, early afternoon and evening. Plus more drugs for Trixie for various conditions. We’ve ruled out traveling anywhere together for more than a few hours because TYG doesn’t trust anyone else to administer everything properly (I can’t say she’s wrong). However if that keeps Plushie around and happy for another year or two years, yay again. But it does take more time and energy to get stuff done (on top of dog exercises and other treatments we were already doing).

Now as to writing … I didn’t come even remotely close to my goals for the year. Time for short stories dried up; I’m so close to finishing Oh the Places You’ll Go and yet it didn’t get done. Didn’t complete a second draft of either The Impossible Takes a Little Longer or Let No Man Put Asunder. Didn’t sell anything besides the two stories in The Ceaseless Way.

I meant to finish and publish both Southern Discomfort and Savage Adventures; the former is done but not published, the second still needs work.

I’m not beating myself up over this. Some of my plans were over ambitious. Some of it was starting the Jekyll and Hyde book and having to devote time to that. Some of it was putting in more work than anticipated on The Local Reporter. Which brings in money but isn’t as satisfying as finishing a novel or publishing a short story.

Still, I did finish Southern Discomfort and I think it’s good, as are the two stories in Ceaseless Way. And my reporting. I shall take pride in all of that. And squeezing my work into four days a week with blogging and stuff on the Friday has worked well.

Back tomorrow with plans for 2025.

Cover image by GetCovers based on design by Arden Brooks.