And I liked it.

2022 went out with a whimper. We broke each other’s hearts and it was for the best that it leave. We parted on good terms, no hard feelings, but I will not be stalking it online or DMing it just to see what it’s up to.

No need to do any post-mortem on 2022. I loved a few books (Song of Solomon, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, and Less, to name a few), I loved a few shows (Mysterious Benedict Society, Umbrella Academy, Succession), I loved a dog and had to say goodbye to him much too soon.

But oh, this year. This extraordinary year, just a few days in, is full of promise, jolting me back into work.

It’s glorious and, knock wood, for the first time in years, my routine can be honored, and not just set then abandoned to the whims of *gestures around at everything.*

I have fallen madly in love with 2023, and we’re in that hot-flame, sexy, drunken-love early romance. But this is going to work, me and 2023. I know there will be challenges — our love will be tested. 2023 may want some space mid-year. My eye might wander to 2024, but until the very end, this year is mine and I am this year’s.

The book is going along well. I’m closer to the end than to the beginning and I know what it needs to be, so the work now is getting it there. It’s a different energy, a different workflow. I like it. I’m focusing on character, still, looping back to the plot as needed, and writing a few new scenes here and there. After that, it’s just prettying the ol’ gal up and sending her out in the world

2023 and I are finishing this book.

Wonderfully, 2023 has brought me back here, and I’m happy to have a regular date night with 2023 here at the ol’ blog every week or so.

Next week, a progress report and a sense of direction.