My progress - 2019 into 2020

So, where was I creatively in 2019, and what changed, or is going to change, for 2020?

Wow.

2019. Well, first and foremost I worked on my sci-fi game that's due out this year. THIS year. Now that I've typed it out loud it seems really close and I'm getting all kinds of excited for it. The finished manuscript was submitted in plenty of time and the artist that we've gone for - and I'm being biased, I know it - is absolutely spot on. I'm excited for the edit of the document and seeing what images the artist supplies. I'm incredibly anxious about the final product - of course I am - but I have a team of people around me who know what they're doing and I owe them a lot.

I worked with some great publishers - the last of my Advanced Fighting Fantasy Adventures was published, so that was a close to an amazing chapter in my design career, being able to write and illustrate for Fighting Fantasy, the game that got me into this hobby.

I was given the opportunity to work with Moebius Adventures and Gallant Knight Games, both Brian Fitzpatrick and Alan Bahr are excellent people who were very gracious in giving me a chance to throw some ideas at them. It was a rewarding experience and I look forward to collaborating with them again in the future.

I also made contact with some other publishers and creatives who I can't name right now because they're ongoing projects that haven't been formally announced, but all in all my interactions have been incredibly positive and I've learned a lot about the industry and myself. I'm excited about how these projects will turn out.

I did a lot of personal work - I worked on several adventures that are still in production for personal reasons - mainly to excise the ideas from my brain so that I could concentrate on my commissioned work - but they are coming together and I hope to do something with them this year. I also converted my Advanced Fighting Fantasy adventures to the OSR and laid them out, so that's another project behind me.

In fact, I think I worked on a lot of things to get them done and out the way before the New Year in an attempt to start fresh, so that 2020 would be a focus on looking forwards toward new material instead of thinking about how to adapt or refine projects of the past. That's what I need, I think, and the milestone of the year 2020 is as good a time as any to do that.

And 2020? Well, it's off to a positive start already. I've got a project in the pipeline that I can commit my time to, I've got another adventure being published soon and I have three pitches in the works, just waiting on feedback and green lights. I'll be working on an edit of my big game which is due out in November (tentatively) and then it's all about prepping for the launch.

I don't write much about my personal life on here but everything is going well. I have a healthy and active family who are into the nerd life just as much as I am and they make me very happy, but I must make more of an effort with my extended family; since moving to Northampton I've been very busy and that's caused me to feel a little cut off, so I'm hoping things will change in 2020.

There are a LOT of friends I must spend more time with - you know who you are - and 2019 has been something of a letdown as far as getting together and simply hanging out is concerned. This needs to be remedied. I also need to get out more and mingle with the local gaming community here in Northampton. I'm eager to settle into a regular game again and I can't do that unless I reach out.

So, all in all it's been a productive and incredibly rewarding year. I'm happy with the progress I made in 2019 and I'm looking forward to carrying that momentum over to 2020.

Thanks for reading, and all the best to you.

TL;DR - 2019 was cool. Roll on 2020.