2024: A Year in Review

2024 was better than 2023 (at least in a professional sense). I brought in some more money as clients realized the obvious-in-retrospect limitations of “artificial intelligence.” I figured it would happen eventually, but I’m still nervous about the future.

In November, my Japan trip provided many moments of introspection. (Nanzoin Temple, Fukuoka)

Nervous about the future…it’s a weight many of us carry these days. At best, 2025 will be a year of uncertainty for just about everyone. So many once impossible things, so many horrible things, seem not just possible, but probable. We will all be living day by day, even if our circumstances are sunnier than the average person’s.

I won’t linger on gloom. That’s not a good way to end or begin a year. I’m grateful for a lot of things that happened in 2024, such as discovering how writing with pencils boosted my creativity. I wrote five short stories, one of which had been bouncing around my noggin for over a decade. One story even found a home in 2024. I also strengthened my creative writing muscles by reading 19 books.

I also had the opportunity (for the second year in a row) to spend three weeks in Japan. I even got to write about it for my local alt-weekly. How many people on this planet get to do something like that?

Those things were nice. Yep.

As for 2025, my resolution is to continue growing as a person and professional writer. I resolve to take my fiction more seriously. I’m experienced enough to recognize my strengths and apply them consistently. I want to write (and hopefully publish) seven short stories in 2025, which would be a record. Maybe even learn the art of self promotion along the way, create a teeny-tiny fan base, etc. etc. etc.

That said, I’ll keep things short. I’m with family for a few more days, and I’d rather spend my time focusing on them. The past was, and the future unknown. It’s the now that matters most.