Looking Back On The Year of Change

As 2016 draws to a close, I can't help but think back to where I was a year ago at this time.

During the final month of 2015, I was preparing to embark upon the biggest modification in my life: leaving the country I had called home for the first 40+ years of my existence to begin anew. That alone would be a daunting task to most, but then another big step would occur one week after my arrival in my new homeland.  On January 6th, I would be standing in front of a Justice of the Peace with family and friends surrounding me and a loving woman beside me, as we both uttered those two magical words, "I do."

With my wife, and our little Pomeranian, I enjoyed the first few months of life as a Canadian living in the U.S. Three months later, I would obtain my Permanent Resident status, and I could begin the search to find gainful employment. The search was arduous, but I was eventually hired at the same organization where my wife works, just in a different department.  The job is part-time, allowing me the ability to still write whenever my muse strikes me. However, anyone who knows me knows like Bob Fraser in Due South, "He comes, he goes; never a word of warning."

That being said, I did release two books in 2016: my fourth poetry collection, and after a two-year hiatus, the fourth title in my detective fiction series. I've also started work on two new projects, and found the muse to work on a project I've been tinkering with on and off for three years.

So, what's on tap here in the year ahead? My six-month probation at my job ends during the week after I return from the holiday break, and at the end of the same week, my wife and I will be celebrating our one-year anniversary, along with our Pomeranian, and the elderly Yorkshire terrier we adopted during this past summer. Writing-wise, I'm hoping to finish and release the three aforementioned works-in-progress. As for release dates, those depend on when I finish, edit, and format these titles.  But, as always, stay tuned.

So, as I am about to pour myself another festive drink, I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a Happy and Healthy 2017, from my family to yours.