Happy Birthday

Today is the second birthday of my first book, a collection of short stories titled This and That but Mostly the Other. The process of publishing This and That was me jumping into the unknown with both feet, something up to that point I wasn’t necessarily used to doing. It is a history of where I’ve come from as a writer, but more important than that, a sense of what the future would bring.

That future continues to unfold, and as far as author Shane goes, nothing looks the same as it did before I pressed the publish button for the first time. Starting a business, growing that business with a human being more like me than anyone I’ve ever met (yes, that should scare all of you, Wonder Twins power activate!). I suspect that very little will look the same in two years time, and I look forward to it.

Today is also my birthday. Let’s not worry about the number. It’s not important, is it? What’s important is that even though I’m so old and tired, I’m still moving forward, and as hard as it can be sometimes I’m still trying to do better. I have a lot of better to do, at least in my opinion. While I’ve been on this amazing writing journey, much of what’s going on in the background hasn’t been much fun. Jobs and relationships and pandemics. In this space as well, I suspect very little will look the same in two years time, and once again, I very much look forward to it.

As much as I wanted to, I don’t have a new book for you today. The release date of the current work in progress has been pushed to July because, well, 2020 happened. Hopefully I don’t need to explain. If you would like a little insight, check out my blog post from December, Keep Moving Forward. What I do have is a completed manuscript for Chasing the Storm, the third instalment of The Storm series. I won’t use the word final, because as much as I want to move on to other things, I can see that one day I might pick it back up. I’m proud of it, both for the quality of the story and how well it’s coming together. You may not believe it when you see the first page of edits, but I promise it’s true.

The opening scene is old, one cut from Surviving the Storm that went through a perspective change and was in need of some general tidying up. While it’s just entering the first round of edits, I’m happy with it. This is not a feeling I get very often, so one I’m grateful to be able to share. I can’t wait for you to see it!

The last two years have been a whirlwind. I want this year for me to be not so much about redefining myself, as finding a way to be myself that is sustainable. I want to be more responsible with my time and energy. To be more realistic with my goals and workload. The freight train is still rolling, but at a speed that means it will continue to do so for a long, long time.

So, happy birthday to This and That. Happy birthday to me. Here’s to a year filled with amazing opportunities. Now, bring on the cake, and the pie, and then some more cake.

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Photo by Angèle Kamp on Unsplash