So, What Kind of Year has it Been?

My 2023 New Year’s Resolution was to write at least one blog a week, and I failed at that miserably with just 30 out of the hoped-for-52.

Looking back, 2023 wasn’t a bad year. There were certainly highlights and, thankfully, a few low points. So, I guess you could call it a good one.

Turning 65 proved an interesting milestone since it retains such cultural significance, and I found myself giving a lot of thought to the number of what has come before and what lay ahead. The notion of legacy continues to weigh on me, and I am wondering how I will eventually be remembered as a writer, teacher, or friend.

But I haven’t slowed down. In fact, it seems I have grown busier.

I am now in my seventh year teaching at St. Vincent Pallotti and celebrating a decade of teaching overall. What’s gratifying is that I stay in touch with some of the first students via social media and email, which is lovely. The biggest news this year certainly has to be adding my adjunct work at Maryland Institute College of Art, teaching the weekly Making Graphic Novels course. It went very well, and I have already been in touch with my spring semester students, readying them for the first class on January 17.

There was certainly travel. In addition to our regular visits with Bob & Laurie Rozakis, we started the year with a weekend in New York with friends, seeing Death of a Salesman on Broadway. In the spring, we tried our first adult tour, going to Ireland, and while we enjoyed it, we realized we prefer to set our own agendas. That said, I did love chaperoning students on our school’s trip to Germany (with stops in France and Switzerland).

We continued to see numerous plays and musicals at the local Olney Theater, but we also caught Bruce Springsteen in Washington, which was wonderful, of course. We even caught the Mets at Nationals Stadium and Camden Yards.

I continue to serve on our HOA (and thankfully, the recent John Oliver piece on HOAs doesn’t apply to my own) and, in May, was elected president. That has, of course, meant numerous meetings within the community and with the county.

I have continued to write, with articles produced for Back Issue and RetroFan, along with my Superman and Batman introductions for Urban Comics’ French collections. The major piece of writing was the third and final volume of the Above the Ground trilogy, which I am co-writing with Matthew Medney. Book two has been delayed and will be out from Medney’s new Gungnir Entertainment (more on that in 2024). I have spent this week working on pieces for various publishers, including one I haven’t worked for in over a decade, and I look forward to discussing it when I can.

A few books containing stories I wrote came out, starting with my own anthology, Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2022, followed over the summer with the well-reviewed Jewish Futures collection, and then in the fall with the much-delayed The Four ???? of the Apocalypse. One I wrote for a Crazy 8 Press anthology wound up making its debut on CraftLit’s Twelve Days of Christmas podcast (Day Seven), and in listening to it again, I am very happy with how it turned out.

According to all my various doctors, I am in very good health, and my students continue to be amazed when they learn my age (I don’t make a secret about it, nor do I boast). So, I should be around for a while to continue to enjoy whatever life tosses my way next. Are there new goals for 2024? Well, more blogging (which feels aspirational), and with no book currently contracted, I am hoping to spend the summer on something original for myself.

#Tags: Above the Ground, Back Issue!, Bob Rozakis, Bruce Springsteen, CraftLit, Crazy 8 Press, Death of a Salesman, Four Horsemen, Germany, Gungnir Entertainment, Ireland, Jewish Futures, Laurie Rozakis, Making Graphic Novels, Matthew Medney, MICA, New York Mets, Olney Theater, RetroFan, St. Vincent Pallotti High School, Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2022