January 

My coworker asked me if this coronavirus thing would ever make it to the US. I said no way. I was really flaring wrong. Spent all my free time working on my first book.

February

Put the finishing touches on my first novel, Slab Steele and the Venusian Exchange, a goofy sci-fi story that seemed like as good of a place as any to begin this whole author thing. Also, continued to insist the big Rona would never make it to the good ole US of A.

March

Ate a giant slice of humble pie re: my above denials. Suddenly found myself at home with a lot of spare time on my hands. Published Slab Steele and the Venusian Exchange. Drank gin and tonics. Worried about life. Spent several days a week in the office just to keep things afloat. Potty trained a three year old.

April

Adjusted to time at home. Began working remotely. Continued to drink gin and tonics. Started producing an audiobook of Slab Steele, partly to satisfy a dream, partly to share my story with my best friend, Gabe. He’s an awesome human being. I speak to him three or four times a week by phone, but he doesn’t read too good (his words, not mine). Heard whispers of funding trouble at work. Sold a few books.

May

Got the audiobook underway. My mother moved three and half hours away to live with her… boyfriend. This was really weird for me at 33 years old. Conveniently, she moved just a few minutes away from my best pal. No, she wasn’t dating my best friend. Started working on the sequel to Slab Steele.

June

Released the audiobook. Sold a few copies. Had lots of awesome conversations with Gabe as he listened to the thing. We laughed at my stupid jokes. Totally worth every penny I spent to have it made, the number of copies sold be damned. Had a hard time focusing on writing, so took a break from Slab Steele 2 and wrote The Mercurian Endeavor.

July

Neglected my sequel. Started a newsletter. Adjusted to working from home. Worried about my family, what school would look like, etc. Snuck up to my cabin in the Upper Peninsula for a long weekend. Drank beer. Fished the Two-Hearted River. Caught brook trout. Took a dip in Lake Superior when it was 60 degrees out. Froze my deffer. 

August

Snuck up to my hometown to fish the AuSable River. Found a hundred year old glass bottle in the silt with Gabe. Caught some fish. Took a week off work to make some headway on my sequel. My wife’s grandfather (one of my most favorite people in the world) died at 87. Couldn’t go to the funeral due to COVID restrictions. Stayed home with the kids. Didn’t get any work done on my sequel.

September

Worked from home while helping my six year old with virtual school. My wife (a teacher) had in-person school. Go figure. Worked on my sequel. Night fished the Boyne River for chinook salmon. Caught two. Had a blast with my best pals.

October

Poured a horrendous amount of words into Slab Steele 2. Skipped Halloween. Quit drinking beer.

November

Typed about 50k words over the month to almost finish the damn book. Commissioned cover art. Spent time with family. Started drinking beer again.

December

Finished my second ever book, Slab Steele and the Outer Rim Job. Edited, proofed, and polished the thing as much as I could. Grew my newsletter to over 1200 subscribers. Did my Solstice Claus duties. Took two weeks off work. Watched all eight Harry Potter Movies with my son (this was number 1 memory from this year, btw).