The WAL

Well, more or less. By my body’s clock, it’s still yesterday. I’m working nights right now, but have a wonderful 31 hour turn around coming up very shortly. Still, by the calendar, I’m now 37. I have elected not to rant about anything on my birthday, but instead just relax and enjoy the time I can squeeze out of it to play with my kids.

Traditionally, I ask myself two questions on my birthday. The first: was this the best year of my life? Up until last year, I’d answered yes every time I’d asked myself the question. But when I turned thirty-six, I looked back at all of the things I’d missed in my kids’ lives and the extra stress I’d managed to put myself under at work (the nature of the industry is that it’s stressful for people with families) and had to answer no. It hadn’t been the best year of my life. My answer this year is also no, but it’s a qualified no. This year was better than last year beyond any doubt. I’ve got three fantastic kids who amaze me more all of the time, a wife I love dearly who only drives me a little nuts (I think the insanity flows more in the other direction), a job that covers the bills and that I like most of the time, and I’m writing significantly again for the first time in about four years and accomplishing a lot more at it than ever before. So it’s been a great year. Not the best ever, but so much closer than last year.

The second question: what can I do to make the next year better?  That’s a much harder question.  The two easy answers are to get even more involved with my kids lives (and I’ve got some ideas for that) and to get more involved in my writing.  The second one is harder than the first and is going to involve deciding just what direction I want my writing to go in.  I’m still in finishing previous work mode but moving into the novel.  The questions are can I stay adequately focused on the novel and can I divide that focus to continue working on my short fiction, too?  That’s what I want.  I think for the next couple of months, my short fiction is going to be mostly focused around editing, though I have two short stories that I want to finish working on, too.  Short is relative - I think they’ll both break 20,000 words and one might hit 30,000.  Both have a long way to go but are currently farther along than Dragon Summer.

Anyway, happy birthday to me.  Here’s to the best year to come.