2020 felt a lot like that Billy Joel song, We Didn’t Start the Fire https://youtu.be/eFTLKWw542g.
We could recite a litany of things that hit the fan. Or we could just watch JibJab do it for us: https://youtu.be/nNaGzi_LpDw.
2021 has got to be better, right? {crickets}
Okay, serious, 2021 is starting on notes of hope. Going with that, here are some things I’m hoping for in 2021.
I’m not going to start I hope for an end to COVID because it’s probably going to be a lot like the flu – always with us with flare ups here and there, and we’ll need yearly vaccines. Yes, I want it gone, but I don’t think we’ll see that in 2021.
- Going back to the office for work: I know, am I for real? YES. I’ve gained way too much weigh sitting at home. According to my pedometer, I’m averaging about 4 miles a day less in steps. Walking doesn’t seem that big a deal, but my scale will disagree.
- Sending the kid back to school: Having her around for a year was a super silver lining, but remote learning stinks. It’s not even close. The kids who did remote learning are going to be well behind those who went in person. Plus she needs to see her friends. (We need her to see her friends.) Zoom calls and waving across the yard are not substitutes.
- Sports – part 1: I miss taking my daughter to the games: college soccer games, minor league baseball, women’s college basketball. Who knew when we went to see the Maryland women’s basketball team play in January 2020, that would be it for over a year?
- Sports – part 2: I miss playing. I referred soccer for 25 years, and played baseball/softball since I was 5. I miss being outside, being with friends and just playing. Hey, I don’t have that may seasons left in me.
- Meeting friends for… whatever: I’m not an introvert, but I’m not overly social either. That said, I miss sitting down with friends for coffee, or lunch. There is a reason why cafés and restaurants are so prolific. People like going to be with other people.
- Meeting new friends: A corollary to last one is meeting people I’ve become friends with on line in person. Cons are a thing because many of us like to talk in person and not always just on chat.
One thing that came out of 2020: My husband and I have spent a year pretty much locked in the same house together. We not only survived, I think it brought us closer. Sure, there were patches of – damn I just want some quiet – but those were rare. As we near retirement, it’s a good sign that when we’re with each other all day, we won’t wonder why we’ve been together all these years.
Couple quick notes:
I wrote a thing for the Winter Wonderland Giveaway – Better For You – it was free if you signed up for my newsletter. It’s still free but only for another two weeks. It’s available as part of the M/M Romance New Year’s Freebies giveaway on Bookfunnel. There are twenty other authors with free stories if you sign up for their newsletter. You can get your copy here:
https://books.bookfunnel.com/mmnewyears/g78zwknnp3
Last, moving into 2021, writing wise, I plan to release a fourth Harrison Campus book – Better To Believe. That book is finished and with the editor. I’m planning for an April release for it. Stay tuned for more on that.
Next, I’m planning at least one new book in a new series. I am only committing to one, since I expect work will return to semi-normal soon, I’ll end up back in the office, and I can’t say how much time I’ll have. I’ll have a better feel in a few months I suppose.
Until next month, stay safe and healthy.
~Andy
Andy Gallo:
Andy prefers mountains over the beach, coffee over tea, and regardless if you shake it or stir it, he isn’t drinking a martini. He remembers his “good old days” as filled with mullets, disco music, too-short shorts, and too-high socks. Thanks to good shredders and a lack of social media, there is no proof he ever descended into any of those evils.
Andy does not write about personal experiences and no living or deceased ex-boyfriends appear on the pages of his stories. He might subconsciously infuse his characters with some of their less noble qualities, but that is entirely coincidental even if their names are the same.
Married and living his own happy every after, Andy helps others find their happy endings in the pages of his stories. He and his husband of more than twenty years spend their days raising their daughter and rubbing elbows with other parents. Embracing his status as the gay dad, Andy sometimes has to remind others that one does want a hint of color even when chasing after their child.
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Harrison Campus:
Website: www.andygallo.com
Email: andy@andygallo.com
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