New Year Blog! · 6:43pm Dec 29th, 2018

I've been wondering what to write for the end of the year.

First of all, a huge thank you to all my Patrons for your support. Writing and creating is its own reward, but you've helped keep me afloat one more year, and it is an amazing thing to be so blessed by friends and readers that are willing to chip out a little bit to help, be it as a tip for the stories or simply because you feel like it... you guys are just the best, and thank you so much!

With new year's eve just around the corner, if people feel like joining my patrons or toss out some change my way, feel free to join my Patreon or buy me a coffee. Every little bit helps!

Now, let's get to the meat of the blog.

This year, not counting blogs, I've written 448, 365 words in between new stories and chapter updates. And I'm very happy with this! Of course there are more prolific writers, but I can say that it is a personal record and nothing to sniff at.

I started my first almost-daily fic, which has been going on consistently for the most part through the whole year with exceptions made for sickness, family emergencies and such. I also stuck to my minimum-words-per-chapter commitment, which also makes me happy.

Ranger is two-thirds of the way done—as I've mentioned in previous blogs, I've reached a part I had been anticipating and foreshadowing for the longest time, so as I draw close the end of the Sunny1 Mini-Arc, I hope my readers will enjoy the revelations as much as I have fun in writing them!

Another achievement: I discovered I really can write (almost) every day. If you don't write, you probably don't realize how big this is... writing consistently is tough for anyone, and although at times it felt like a drag, I am glad I've persevered, and it gives me hope for future writing as well... including finishing some old fics.

Speaking of which... with the Bronycon Bookstore looming in the horizon, I would like to pose a question for readers:
How would you feel about a Three Sisters (series) book? I'm thinking of finishing off "Like Fudge" in the coming months, and editing the whole thing into a book for BC. Thoughts? Gunsmoke is also another option as well.

RL wise?

I will always miss Anthony Bourdain.

I was unable to pay rent, so I had to move out of my apartment... my good friends RobCakeran53, Admiral Biscuit and Frontz7 all showed up to help. Online-wise GapJaxie and others offered support, with Nyronus taking time (to this date) to help me find places to move into. Good news: I'm not living in a car or anything like that, and I am in the process of solving that issue.

Also, as many of you know, my dad passed away this year on September 13th, at 1pm. I was very lucky to be able to make it there in time to say goodbye, and to be surrounded by friends and family in Mexico, as well as the kind words and support from people online.

I wrote two stories during that time. While in the airport, waiting to go down to Mexico City to see my dad, I already knew what was waiting for me, so I wrote: One Last Flight. It was a bit rushed and typed away on a dying computer in the Chili's at the airport. Based a bit on real conversations, and expectations, I projected quite a bit about myself there... the fact that I was adopted, that I had moved far, that I am a single parent, that things could be better in my personal life... and that I needed to go home to confront this.

Down in Mexico, after talking to my dad, I was able to also write for him an Eulogy. Writing... it's really a gift guys. While there, I was contacted by friends the world over. People in England from my Collage/University days, friends from Japan, the Philipines, Argentina... all over. Even some I hadn't heard from in a while, and some that I didn't expect.

I also learned that family tragedy is something some people will try to take advantage of to worm their way back to you. When I wrote Parting, I got some worried messages about my state of mind... but I wrote it for a very specific reason: Once you've lost someone or something, sometimes, no matter what you personally might want... it's never coming back. For good or bad.

"Everyone's the hero of their own story" was an important line in that story for that very reason. Life has consequences, and we are the architects sometimes of those consequences, and part of life is accepting loss, not denying it, whether it's fair or not, your fault or not... it's something that I've always been convinced of.

The story is left as is for that very reason. You move on, accepting your part, or you stay stuck.

Some people claimed that they understood (in some cases, they claimed only they understood) what I was going through. Other friends who had also lost parents disagreed, and they told me that we all deal with it in different ways. Some choose to stay stuck on regret and absence... but I can't. I've always believed that the value of anyone in our lives is in the positive, some of my readers might recall The Pain of Eternity.

Twilight looked down at her hooves until the Princess' hoof raised her chin up. "Twilight. You... we celebrate their lives through our thoughts and actions. They mold us in ways we can't explain, even centuries from now. Each of them has left a hoofmark in my heart. Pony, dragon, changeling or gryphon, what I remember, what I learned was out of the good they did in my life and theirs."

I think about my dad, when I see something I would have loved to share with him. I think sometimes of his laugh, of the times we went fishing... but all of that is positive. I will always miss him, but I don't regret anything, because I remember the good. I remember the things he taught me and the things we did together. I remember right now, how he looked when he was having one of those belly laughs of his.

I'm good. And I'm happy. And I will remember him with a smile.

So, going forth into 2019... I wonder what the future holds. But well, we'll have Fimfic for as long as we want, and the friendships we have made here online or in person, and the way stories link us all will keep us going.

Happy New Year guys.

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