How many of you will be glad to wrap up 2020? Can we have a show of hands?
Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Man, oh man, did anyone have a great year? I suppose a few billionaires were sheltered enough from the storm, or profited heavily from the work-at-home trend, that they probably considered 2020 a pretty good year. But even Jeff Bezos must not have been too thrilled by the news that, while he’s stockpiling cash as if in anticipation of Armageddon, his ex-wife is donating to charities like Mother Teresa on steroids. Did he have any idea he was going to look like more of a greedy jerk than ever heading into 2021?
Then, of course, there’s the Narcissist-in-Chief. Not exactly his best year, and I couldn’t be happier about that. What’s that expression? Oh, yes: “Don’t let the door hit you in…” Ah, never mind.
My Own 2020 Wrap Up
Looking back on 2020 here on the blog, I can see that much of my original plan got derailed by COVID-19 as well as the chaos and uncertainty surrounding the election. I certainly didn’t expect to write so much about the pandemic, and I probably didn’t need to write that much about politics. But these were top-of-mind so often—and the year itself was traumatic to so many of us around the globe—it now seems almost inevitable.
With that, here are the top posts of the year:
1) The Improtance of Poorfreading
Autocorrect really tried to fix the headline on this one, which was intended to be both comic and inviting. One of my Twitter followers even commented that she automatically corrected the “errors” in her head, and didn’t even realize they were there until she clicked on the article and read them again! Pretty funny.
2) Five Ways to Relax During Quarantine
Well, that sure sounds like a 2020 article, doesn’t it? My effort to help readers and fellow writers alike.
3) Six Twitter Tips for Authors
Sadly, this helpful hints article is emblematic of 2020 as a whole: it’s actually a somewhat revised rerun of an old post. There were more than a few Mondays this year where I had nothing in the tank. And I know that was true for millions of us.
Looking to Better Days Ahead
As the Worst Year Ever slowly grinds toward its finale, I know many of us look forward to 2021 as a better year. Of course, it’s an arbitrary figure—we all measure time in our own unique way, and maybe it will be the latter half of 2021 that’s much better—but come on, it can’t be worse than 2020, right?
One of the few good things about 2020 for me was that the lockdown forced me to get motivated on my fifth (!) novel, Hot Scenes. After launching my most successful book to date in 2019, the time-travel novel Whizzers, I knew I needed to make more progress on my next project. I’ve written about it on the blog (here and here), but I anticipate more sneak peeks as we move through the new year.
And since the main character is a Hollywood director, it only seems fitting that I illustrate my next direction with today’s blog picture. It may be time for us to “wrap” 2020, but I’ll be saying “Cut!” more than once as I write more of Hot Scenes in 2021. Here’s hoping we can buy the ticket and take the ride, as they say, when we bid a relieved farewell to the Year of the Plague.
