Month: December 2022

2022 In Review

John Winkelman

Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here to lay 2022 to rest. It was a decent year, as years go. Certainly it was better than 2020 and 2021. Here is a brief rundown of how the year went.

Life

This past November Zyra and I celebrated five years together, of which more than half has been during the COVID pandemic (which is still ongoing, by the way). This has been a big change for both of us but we are settling into the routine of it, which gives us the stability to start planning for the longer term. And we are both still very, very happy.

Last week included two important anniversaries – three years since we brought Poe into our house, and two since the arrival of her cousin/niece Pepper. They are nonstop sources of comfort, entertainment and joy, and now that we have them, I can’t imagine our household without our two little ginger maniacs.

But 2022 was also a rough year for the people in my life. During the past year I said a final farewell to Zort, Steve, Jessica, Neil, Bob, Sam, Ryan, De, and my cousin Teresa. Some of these folks were dear friends, others I had not seen or spoken to in decades. But even when pass the people we have relegated to the past, they are still part of our lives, and over time the loss of those small parts adds up. 2022 was not as terrible in this regard as was 2021, only because I lost no immediate family members, but I have resigned myself to being in the part of my life when my contemporaries begin to die of the things I once believed only took old people.

Martial Arts

The biggest news of the year was that, after 36 months of virtual classes, practicing at Wilcox Park, and crowding into the studio at From the Heart Yoga, Master Lee’s School of Tai Chi Praying Mantis Kung Fu and Tai Chi Jeung is back at the West Michigan YWCA in downtown Grand Rapids. Almost all of our students have returned (At least, the ones who did not move away), and we are making up for two and a half years of being unable to practice to the extent that we did pre-pandemic. We are back into our routine again, and me and the other instructors are figuring out what the next few years will look like.

Reading

2022 was a stellar year for reading. I made it through just over 120 books and literary journals, and over 250 pieces of short prose. I have not read at this pace in a very long time. Probably not since my first couple of years working at the bookstore. The combination of lockdown, a steady and predictable project, and a re-assertion of my daily morning routine made this possible. I don’t expect to keep up this pace in 2023, as I need some of that time for writing.

Writing

I didn’t accomplish much writing this year until NaNoWriMo in November, when I completed about 75% of a story which has been bouncing around in my head since November of 2021. As of this week i am still plugging away at the last few chapters, in the slight hope that I will have the first draft done by the time I head to ConFusion 2023.

Work

My job didn’t change much over the past year. For most of that time I was on a project which started in April of 2021, so it was steady and mostly predictable, and I picked up some significant new skills. And a brief, week-long project at the end of December gave me an overview of a new platform in which I will be working for almost all of 2023, so again, more predictable work. I got some very nice bonuses and a good raise which means I can now afford to do the work on my house and property which has been nagging at me for about the past decade.

Looking Forward

Immediate appearances aside, we are still in the middle of a pandemic, so outside of any black swan events I don’t see 2023 being radically different from 2022. Which means next year will probably be wild.

 

Merry Christmas, and All That

John Winkelman

New books for the week of December 18, 2022

I am typing this on my new Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook, which I purchased to replace my aging ASUS Chromebook, which was good while it was good, but now is old enough that Google stopped pushing updates, and every month it was noticeably slower. Like with any new technology upgrade, it is fun and exciting for the moment, but at the end of the day it is a Chromebook, and I will use it mostly for writing, either creative work or blog posts like this one.

I picked up a couple of new books, VeloCities: Stories, and Dark Factory, both by Kathe Koja, who will be the Creative Guest of Honor at ConFusion 2023 in a few weeks.

In reading news, with Crime and Punishment completed I next finished the remaining volumes from my now-cancelled subscriptions to Poetry Magazine and The Paris Review. Now I am meandering my way through my backlog of issues of Pulphouse and Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet.

Not much to report on the writing front. My brain is mush from end-of-year burnout and also from a case of The Crud, which hit me a little over a week ago. I just bought a new fountain pen from Dryden Designs, with a fine nib. So far, I like it. We will see how the writing goes throughout the next few days.

The Last Week of Autumn

John Winkelman

Pepper giving Poe a bath.

The last week of Autumn has brought with it a case of the creeping crud, which fortunately is not COVID, but is also not much fun. I don’t feel overly terrible; just exhaustion, some sinus issues, and a scratchy throat. So of the many viruses colonizing the population right now, I have one of them.

No new books arrived this week, so here is a photo of some domestic tranquility.

After three weeks of intense concentration, I have finished Crime and Punishment, which I really should have read about 30 years ago. Better late than never, I suppose.

And in writing news, there is nothing to report. My brain is sprained.

Bottom of the Top #50

John Winkelman

Welcome to the last “Bottom of the Top” post. It was a fun run, but nostalgia mining can quickly become pathological, and I felt it was best to stop before that point was reached.

Here in the middle of December in each of these years I would have been anticipating or dreading the upcoming holidays, sometimes both in equal measure.

1977: Dan Hill, “Sometimes When We Touch”

Approaching Christmas at the end of the second marking period of third grade in Parma. Living in an apartment and probably anticipating spending some of the holidays with Dad, playing with the electric train set which would keep our attention for another couple of years, and looking forward to a new Micronaut or two. This song would have hit me right in the feels even back then, at eight years old. And possibly singing along with it when in a car going to a family event, which were usually fun as I was too young at the time to notice all of the toxicity.

1982: Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, “Shame on the Moon”

I do not believe I have heard this one before. It’s much more, er, quiet, than most of Seger’s more well-known songs, but good for all that.

1987: Men Without Hats, “Pop Goes the World”

I may have heard this one before. It’s fun and the video is most excellent, and is quite a different sound than “Safety Dance”, which is refreshing.

1992: Jon Secada, “Just Another Day”

I must have heard this song at least once a week throughout 1992 and 1993. Or maybe songs which sounded a lot like it. In any event this was what most of the second half of my college experience sounded like.

1997: Shawn Colvin, “Sunny Came Home”

Yeah, I heard this one a lot while I was working at the bookstore. Both in-store, and on the radio driving to and from work, practice, visiting the family, etc. It’s really good and wow, can Colvin sing!

The Year is Winding Down

John Winkelman

New books for the week of December 4, 2022

As we reach the midpoint of December I feel, for the 22nd year in a row, a profound sense of relief that I no longer work in retail. When the owners of a store yowl, from their expensive house in an expensive neighborhood, that the workers making barely more than minimum wage need to work both smarter AND harder, I begin to understand why the plans for home-made guillotines are proliferating across the internet.

Anyway.

Two new journal arrived at the house this week. On the left is the latest issue of The Boston Review. On the right is the latest issue of The Paris Review. Both are the last issues I will see of these publications, as I have let both subscriptions lapse. Despite my earlier misgivings I am sticking to my guns, and from now on will only purchase books intentionally, rather than subscribing to a dozen periodicals and catalogs and letting the arrivals sit unread for years at a time.

It’s also cheaper that way, which is always a concern.

In reading news, I am well over halfway through Crime and Punishment, and still expect to complete it before Christmas.

In writing news, other than journaling, I haven’t written anything since the end of November. Too many things going on all at once.

I think I am about due for another Great Simplification, the first since January of 2013. Ten years is probably slightly too long to go between Simplifications, but for the past several years I have been both happy and content, and haven’t felt the need to change things significantly. I am still happy and content, but entropy is making itself felt in several areas of my life, and in order to focus on those areas I need to let some other things in my life recede into the background.

So it goes, as always.

IWSG, December 2022: Holiday Writing

John Winkelman

Poe hiding from loud noises.

[EDIT – didn’t actually write the post before its scheduled publication time. That has been corrected.]

The past several weeks have been busy, thanks to NaNoWriMo, work, family obligations, and planning house upgrades. Thus a short IWSG post for the month.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group question for December 2022 is: It’s holiday time! Are the holidays a time to catch up or fall behind on writer goals?

In past years I would have said holidays are when I fall behind, even though I have vacation time, but this year I think I might put that down time to good use. This is mostly because I have an actual plan and an actual draft to work on, with an actual end goal in sight. This is seldom the case at the end of the year. That, more than anything else, tends to drive whether or not I actually sit down and do the work.

 

Insecure Writer's Support Group BadgeThe Insecure Writer’s Support Group
is a community dedicated to encouraging
and supporting insecure writers
in all phases of their careers.

Bottom of the Top #49

John Winkelman

The second-to-last of these posts. Nostalgia mining quickly becomes tedious, and though I have heard a great many song for the first time, and rediscovered many more that I haven’t heard in decades, it’s time to put this project to bed.

1977: Odyssey, “Native New Yorker”

This is some groovy disco. I don’t know if I have ever heard it before, but it does scratch that 1970s itch nicely.

1982: Fleetwood Mac, “Love In Store”

This song appearing in this post right now is another one of those unfortunate coincidences. Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac died six days ago, on November 30.

1987: Bruce Springsteen, “Brilliant Disguise”

This is a repeat from earlier in the year, so please enjoy this live version from 2005.

1992: TLC, “Baby-Baby-Baby”

This is a repeat from last week, so please enjoy the full album version.

1997: H-Town, “They Like It Slow”

This is a repeat from earlier in the year, so please enjoy this live version from Soul Train.

December and All That

John Winkelman

New reading material for the week of November 27, 2022.

Well, NaNoWriMo is over, so my daily routine, such as it is, is back to normal. A little more reading, a little more journaling, a little more sleep. December is here, and with it the usual holiday angst, though there is considerably less this year than in the previous couple.

(just kidding about the sleep)

Two new bundles of bound pages arrived at the house in the past week. On the left is the latest issue of Poetry, which is almost certainly the last one for my subscription. And on the right is the eighth edition of the Long List Anthology of works which were considered for the Hugo award in the previous year, but didn’t win. These anthologies are excellent, full of superb and varied stories.

In reading news, I am well into Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and loving it! It’s a much easier read than The Brothers Karamazov, but then the list of books which fit that criteria is vast.

In writing news, things have slowed down just a little as I figure out how to connect what I wrote for NaNoWriMo with what I wrote before NaNoWriMo 2021. I have a sense for what I want to do, but knowing that no matter what I write to complete the pre-first draft will almost certainly be completely changed in the next edit, I have difficulty taking the step of putting my ass in the chair and typing those words.

Happy December, everyone!

NaNoWriMo 2022 Wrap-up

John Winkelman

Poe in Repose

Well, NaNoWriMo 2022 is over, and I can chalk up another win for myself. I hit 50,000 words in my WIP Cacophonous on November 23, and managed to get in a couple thousand more before the end of the month. I had hoped to hit 60k but family and holiday stuff, as well as a strong attack of burnout from the year, sapped all of my creative energy. But still – 50,000 words in a little over three weeks. I’ll accept that.

This year I employed the same strategy as last year – one document for every day of the month, word count in the title, and let the chapter breaks fall where they may. As with last year, this had two benefits. First, it removed the sense that the next chapter couldn’t start until the previous one was finished. I didn’t have to finish scene X by the end of the day. I could pick it up the next morning. This is really more of a psychological than a practical trick. but it does keep the focus where it should be for NaNoWriMo – productivity and word count. The editing happens later. This is Draft 0. After it is all cobbled together, it is draft 1. Then the editing can begin. And second, I could start each day fresh, unencumbered by what I had worked on in the previous sessions.

The big change this year, from the past three, was the community involvement. Of course 2020 and 2021 had no in-person events, and 2019 I think I skipped out on everything so I could be with my partner as she had recently moved in and things around the house were still a little chaotic.

I didn’t realize how much I had missed the community aspect of NaNoWriMo until I walked in the room for the kickoff party back at the end of October and saw all of those familiar faces, some of whom I had not seen in five years. Then there was a book launch party for the first publications by Lakeshore Literary, the new publishing endeavor which grew out of the ashes of Caffeinated Press. And then two weeks ago we had DoKN, or the Day of Knockout Noveling, where I wrote about 5,000 words in one afternoon, ate a lot of really good food, and encountered many more of the people who I had not seen in years.

So, like so much else in 2022, my sense is that the world is making up for the two years when we couldn’t do anything, by having everything happen in a very short amount of time.

As of this writing I am about 60% of the way through Cacophonous. More if I take the short story I wrote in October 2021 and turn it into the last couple of chapters. I will certainly use a lot of it, but the book is significantly different from the short story so I will only bring over the bones of the first work.

Will I participate in NaNoWriMo again? Absolutely! There are no bad sides to such an event.