A Look Back, A Look Ahead
A glance back at my progress from my start in May, 2023 and a peek forward at what's planned for the coming year.
The Year That Was, 2023
Happy New Year to each and every one of you, dear readers. 2023 was an eventful year for all of us, I’m sure, and in more ways than just the realms of Substack. Many of us, myself included, found ourselves facing a great deal of difficulty over the last year and while New Year’s often features a bit of hopeful optimism, I’d by lying if I didn’t say that aspect certainly seems to be quite a bit more cautions now that we’ve entered 2024. I can’t blame people for feeling that way, either, but not all has been bad. For that reason I’d like to embrace the spirit of remembrance for a while, and look back on both the trials and tribulations of the prior year, beginning with the latter.
2023 may have been a solid year for me on Substack, especially in the later third, but it was a thoroughly tumultuous year outside of that. Financial problems, largely caused by excessive veterinary bills, took a major toll on my wife and I early in the year. While technically not in 2023, the year started off on an extremely dour note because only a couple weeks prior to it starting we were forced to make the heart wrenching decision to put my beloved Nikki, our Siamese tortoiseshell cat, to sleep. Even writing that is enough to leave a heavy lump in my throat, a much expected reaction considering how extremely loving she was to myself in particular. Nikki unfortunately ended up being the first of five pets to die on us within the upcoming year, hence the excessive vet bills I mentioned above.
The first of them to go in 2023 proper was Dill, one of our two guinea pigs. He was a shy and skittish one that we adopted as part of a bonded pair - we named his partner Basil - for an older guinea pig of ours, CJ, who died in 2021. We had him for three years, and we were surprised he lived as long since he showed signs of cancer early on. For as skittish as he was, he was a tough little dude, and a very sweet partner to Basil.
Second to go was another hard hit for us - Hazel, a sweet and surprisingly friendly white rabbit with black and tan spotting striped down her back that was originally a rescue my youngest sister took in. She’d grown ill with G.I. stasis right around the time I started my Substack, but as luck had it we were able to nurse her back to health. Unfortunately, a severe viral infection would take her from us a scant few weeks after her recovery.
Basil then left us after her, claimed by failing health due to her old age, and either just before or just after this - literally within the span of a week before or prior, though I can’t recall which one exactly went first - one of our very young parakeets, Micky, passed away from a brain tumor we posthumously learned he’d developed.
Death was a frequent visitor to our household this summer, as can be seen. Unfortunately, that old ferryman of the River Styx wasn’t satisfied with only claiming our pets. He also claimed the older of my two cousins, Anthony, who’d spent many years struggling with his issues of addiction. Sadly, his passing came suddenly and surprisingly, and was made all the more tragic not just for the son he left behind, but because he’d actively been in the process of getting clean. Just a few days beforehand, he’d been accepted into a specialized treatment program, and was actively making efforts to do his best to kick his old habit for good.
But not all was grim last year. As stated, May of 2023 is when I finally got my start here and first fired up this little collection of stories and essays I’ve been developing. In that time I’ve reconnected with some old friends overseas, chief among them being
who also convinced me to branch out and join the Guilded community of A Drink with Crazy, an avid supporter of independent media who works closely with among others. I also earned a promotion within my day job and began running the store that I sit in now as I write this. While the slower days can get dull at times, I can’t deny how much of an asset this change in location has been for my writing.This change has also helped to lead to a degree of financial stability returning to my home life, and this is on top of the general situational improvements that’ve occurred at my wife’s two part-time jobs as well. All in all, we’ve found ourselves improving our habits - from spending to eating to time spent together - and having more time to be present for the pets we have remaining, of which there are still quite a few. We even tried to adopt a couple more, and though that didn’t work out so well in the case of Giselle, the cat we were going to take in from my wife’s shelter job, that did end up being a win for my Mom, who’s been wanting and needing a pet for that bit of extra companionship for some time now.
But by far the biggest victories for me have been the ones I’ve had here. In the last eight months I jumped from 0 subscribers or readers to 78 as of yesterday, and with many of those subscribers being fairly active readers based on my metrics. I’ve also been humbled by the fact that within less than a year I’ve found myself able to say that two people considered my work worth paying their hard earned money for. While the money itself is nice, it’s little more than a bonus compared to the expression of confidence in my writing ability that those gestures represent.
Over the last year I managed to write two novellas - The Demon from Beyond the Stars which started this Substack, and In the Giants Shadow which is arguably my best received piece of writing to date. I’ve also written numerous novelettes and short stories, a handful of flash fiction, and participated in three community based writing events - two entries for Substack’s very own urban legend, The Suff; two entries for The Blackwater Files by
; and one entry for the Penter Painter’s Holiday Haunts event by . And let’s not forget my ongoing fantasy mystery serial, The Castle on the Hill.Far more wonderful than any of this, though, are the incredible people I’ve met since beginning my time here. Supportive folks like
, , , the above mentioned Chronicler, , , and a great many more talented writers besides. Honestly, I could make the list absolutely massive, but I think that might risk letting my reminiscing overstay its welcome. So let me just finish this section by saying one last thing before we move on to my plans for 2024:Thank you, all of you, for the support you’ve shown me over the last eight months. Paid subscriber or not, commenter or not, I appreciate each and every individual who has taken the time to read - and hopefully enjoy - my work. I’m humbled, particularly by the fact that so many thoroughly talented individuals consider my work to be worth their precious time.
The Year to Come, 2024
I’ll keep this brief, seeing as I already hit you all with a wall of text above. Plans for 2024 are as follows:
Publishing:
For the first time, I’ll be attempting to break into the world of physical publication with In the Giant’s Shadow. Editing is nearly completed, and with just three chapters left to edit that process should be finished by the week’s end. At that point I’ll be passing the manuscript out to a few people I trust for beta reading, then make a final pass at editing as needed before I begin the formatting process. The goal is to have the book ready to release by Autumn of this year, if not sooner, so wish me luck!
Upcoming or Continuing Serials:
The Castle on the Hill will continue to be updated with new chapters every month. Based on my current plans, I expect this story to reach its conclusion either by December of this year, or in early 2025.
As of yesterday I’ve begun the first draft of The Jarl’s Son, the sequel to In the Giant’s Shadow. While it’s still in its early stages, this story’s already shaping up to be something of a dark fantasy thriller, and will feature Gaiur the Valdunite’s return to the proverbial stage.
New Projects:
Alongside The Brothers Krynn, two new weekly community events have been started in the vein of
’s Macabre Monday, which I will still contribute to regularly. These are…Warrior Wednesday: A celebration of all things fantasy, with a slight focus towards epic fantasy and high fantasy faire. This will be a day for us to share not only our own work, but revel in each other’s writing and enjoy some analysis and recommendations for quality media within the genre.
Sword and Saturday: Where Warrior Wednesday celebrates the greater whole of fantasy with a bit more focus on epic and high fantasy, Sword and Saturday celebrates the oft grittier cousin of these, the pulps! Often featuring low fantasy, middle fantasy, and my personal favorite, dark fantasy, Sword and Saturday is the perfect place to share your shorter stories, novellas, or recommend those darker and sometimes cheesier classics. Adventure and derring-do abound here!
You can expect to see me frequently participating in these weekly events, particularly when it comes with a writing challenge such as the one The Brother’s Krynn put forth in their inaugural Sword and Saturday post.
And that’s about it for my current 2024 plans! If all goes as I hope, this promises to be a busy and fulfilling year, and I look forward to not only sharing my work with all of you, but seeing how the creative ideas of my compatriots blossom and grow.
Cheers to a great year for us all!
~The Man Behind the Screen
I’m am so sorry for your loss. We lost a close family member a few months ago and 2023 has also been a “when it rains, it pours” year.
It’s really a testament to your character that there’s enough love in your home to feel pain when friends leave. I heard once that grief is love with nowhere to go.
Good luck in 2024!
I lift you in prayer, Man Behind the Screen. This is Courage - in the face of Heartache, you chose to live, share and inspire. I am so blessed to know you.
Never Surrender!