The year 2021 is not a year on which I will look back with undiluted pleasure, as Queen Elizabeth II famously said. There was a rather serious operation, a deadly Texas ice storm, an unexpected death, and the never-ending pandemic that often forced me to question what year I was living through.
Almost everyone I know has similar feelings about 2021, although the details may vary. Perhaps that's why a member of my scrum team said she hoped we might use our final meeting of the year to celebrate the good things we'd accomplished. And there were good things!
So, my list of the best of 2021. . . I
Discovered I can write on a schedule and am extremely motivated by ticking off a box on a to-do list.
Moved from being a total Pantser into Plantser territory. I established a series of notebooks to capture my thoughts about ALL the novels in a planned eight book series, called Wheel of the Year. More about the notebooks in a future post.
Finished the first draft of Something Wiccan This Way comes, the first book in my series.
Started final edit on Reeds of Time, a time travel romance set in ancient Egypt and modern-day Luxor.
Wrote about 50% of the first draft of the second book, Season of the Witch.
Secured cover artwork for The Wheel of the Year series.
Started the paperwork for creating my own publishing company, The Eloquent Peasant.
Secured the domain name for and started working on the Eloquent Peasant website
Moved my website, reimagined it, and started a new blog.
Attended multiple on-line writing workshops and read several books to improve my craft.
Learned (in an elementary way) to read Tarot while working with my Tarot mentor for The Wheel of the Year series.
Met my reading goal of 52 books this year.
Read LOTS of articles on Wicca to supplement my existing knowledge.
Learned more than I ever thought I'd need to know about billionaires and how they think.
Started using 1 Stop for Writers to develop character profiles.
Expanded my character bible to include photos of how they look plus photos of homes, clothes, jewelry, cars, and private jets. It weighs in at 220 pages and has saved my bacon more than once.
Learned from my grandson that a great many dinosaurs live behind the trees in the park around my townhome. I never realized my walk with the dogs put me in such peril.