A Quiet Year?

 

Until today, when I scrolled back through my calendar, I had no clue what I’d feature as my Top Ten Highlights of 2023. For the most part, it’s been a quiet year for me. Or so I thought. Looking back, I've come to realize that the cumulative nature of smaller events and experiences can make for a highlight-laden year. Here we go!

 

M*A*S*H production location
Malibu, CA

10. Travel. Outside of any work/writing/author-visit related trips, there was New York City; Los Angeles; San Luis Obispo; Rochester, New York; and Sewanee, Tennessee. 

9. Writing retreats. More travel! For these, Southbridge, Massachusetts and Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri. SO worthwhile. I highly recommend spending long weekends with like-minded people. 

At the huge house!

8. The writing itself. Things started off at a snail’s pace this year. I was slowly developing the plot, characters, and a few opening chapters for a brand new book, which is all well and good. But as I was slogging through, I woke one morning with an out-of-the-blue concept and a bellyful of excitement, excitement that had been missing so far this year. I’d never stopped writing a book  midstream, but this time I did. Now, just a short time later, I’m 88% finished with a first draft. And I’m still excited.

7. Inspiration. Where should I set this new book? How about the hurge house where we stayed during Lake of the Ozarks retreat.

6. Fun opportunities. Yep. It was time to take advantage of a few. I attended an 8-session West County Citizens Police Academy. Then I went ahead and did the 4-week advanced course. Totally different, I got to see Dan Santat just before he won the National Book Award. I went to an event featuring a psychic medium. And I drove a couple hours to attend an event featuring the International Pictures of the Year competition, during which we participated in a mock voting. Reminder: keep doing stuff like that! 

It's heavy!

5. Learning something new. I volunteered to develop a website for a group I belong to. Challenging, simple, but it exists!

4. Award. Competing in a category which includes books for adults, my YA took third place, Best Fiction. from the Missouri Writers Guild.

3. Surprising a classroom. A Texas teacher whose classes I’ve virtually visited a number of times—she reads The Gollywhopper Games with her students every year—moved here, to St. Louis. Instead of seeing one another through webcams, surprise!, I dropped in instead. 

A few of them :)

2. New friends. No need to explain, right?

 1. The icing on the cake. Amid this all, a dear, dear loved one, who experienced a very extended hospital stay, is now home and doing really well. So even if 10 through 2 never happened, I'll take a quiet year like 2023 any time.

Jody Feldman is feeling very grateful writing this. By this time next year, she hopes to feel the same and hopes you will, too.