So long 2020.
A lot of us have been waiting for the new year to arrive. It’s easy to feel like we’ve crossed a threshold. And in some ways we have, 2020 is over and the future looks bright. But we’re not out of the woods yet.
The vaccine is promising, but few have received it yet. The economy will recover, but many people are still out of work. Hospitalizations are plateauing in some places, but more people will succumb to the virus before we see herd immunity.
So what’s a body to do?
Celebrate the good stuff, but not lose our perspective.
To get ready to write my New Year’s Day post, I took a look at my first post for 2020.
Click the link here to read my first post of 2020.
So Long 2020: First post of the year
I wrote about two debut authors, M.L. Huie and Bonnar Spring.
Michael and I were scheduled to do an event together at Malaprop’s Bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina, on May 24, 2020. It was one of many public events canceled by the pandemic.
Reading the post I felt a nostalgia for the woman who wrote it. I was so excited to meet Michael in person and do that event. My new book, his debut. We shared a publisher and equal enthusiasm for 2020.
I had a lot of events scheduled for 2020. The majority were with other authors that I enjoy and admire.
In many ways a canceled book event is tiny in the scheme of things.
In other ways, it tears a piece off the experience of being an author.
Connecting with readers, getting the word out about our books, scrawling our names across the title page. These things make “writing” feel like a career, and losing them hurts not just financially in terms of sales, but psychologically in terms of how we view our professional lives.
Both of those writers have their debut year tucked under their belts. A strange year to launch a novel. As much as I’m sorry to miss out on my events, I feel more empathy for the debut authors who have yet to experience a single live event.
Last post of the year
The last post of 2020 was for the launch of debut author RLM Cooper’s book Legacy 627. It was great to bookend my year by spotlighting three debut authors.
Click the link here to read the last post of 2020.
One highlight of 2020 for me was becoming a blogger for not one but two virtual book tour companies. I’m now a regular blogger for Great Escapes Virtual Book Tours and Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tours. I love working with both. Great Escapes leans toward cozies while PICT leans toward more serious mysteries, such as police procedurals and suspense.
A little something for every reader.
I also toured with both companies for the launch of All We Buried. I’m grateful for the online opportunities to tour, especially with all my public events canceled.
Click the link here to read the posts for both tours.
It does make me wonder what I’ll be writing for the final post of 2021. Another post for an author on a virtual tour? A summation of an event-filled year, post-pandemic? A chronicle of loss or a celebration of things turning around?
We’re all nervous about what the next year will bring. Many of us looked forward to 2020 with high hopes, only to find ourselves in lockdown, or worse, losing loved ones and jobs and homes.
I think we’re all a little tentative about feeling upbeat. With the rug pulled out from under us nine months ago, we’re fearful of imagining an end to the pandemic. Like spurned lovers afraid of a first date, we aren’t sure if we trust that little word—hope.
But as many of you know, I look for silver linings and bright spots at the ends of tunnels. 2020 has been awful, but together we have pulled through.
2021 is upon us, and the only thing we can’t do is freeze time, so let’s step forward into the unknown.
Keep social distancing. Keep wearing your masks. But let the spring come back in your step. Let the light shine in. Shorter days are coming and we will recover. One day at a time.
Hello 2021. We are ready for you.
Together.
Elena Taylor is the author of All We Buried, available now in print, e-book, and audio book format at all your favorite on-line retailers. And don’t forget many independent bookstores can order books for you and have them shipped to your home or for curbside pickup.
For more information on All We Buried, click on the link here to visit the home page.
Happy New Year, Elena!
Happy New Year, Mary! Hope we get to see each other in person in 2021!
Nowhere to go but forward (believe me, if I discover time travel, I’ll be fixing some thing). Here’s to a better year for writing for those of us who struggled through 2020.
Happy New Year, Rebecca! I’m with you, onward! Let’s hope it’s a brighter year.