Tuesday, January 12, 2016

2015 and Beyond

2015 and Beyond
By Steve Mayne
I’ve never been particularly good at introspection. The desire to look at my life, see how it’s going, and what it means, has never come easy to me. Still, I wanted to take a moment to look back at the past year and think about how things went.
I had a couple of big events. I got to take part in the Antioch Writers Workshop and become a part of one of the best…no, the best group of writers and creatives I’ve ever met. I can’t tell you how much I anticipate seeing each and every one of them on a shelf at my local book store. I got to read stories featuring dragons, summer camp, love, not-vampires, regret, envy, youth, family, and so much more. I was excited to show up every day. I got to hear their words and ideas. To see the work each of us had done. I feel privileged to still be in correspondence with them. It’s made me want to go back next year in hopes of meeting them again.
My YouTube channel is starting to gain ground. People are watching and responding to my videos. I get comments and likes. People I’ve never met are sharing my work on Twitter. It may not seem like much, but it’s special to me that people are sharing something I created.
After a year of work I finished the Ballad of Tractor John. I wrote a new entry every day for a full year and was so happy to see it fill out and become a glorious piece of fiction. Not every day was great. Some were short, one or two sentences. On others, I struggled to keep it under a couple of paragraphs. It wasn’t always easy to come up with a new and interesting fact or idea. I was still on the fence with how to end it until it actually came time to write it all down. Still, it is an experience I wouldn’t trade for anything. I even choked up at the end when I put the piece away.
An article I wrote got published in the Antioch Voice. It was concerning all of the art vandalism that had been going on in response to the Confederate Flag being removed from government buildings. It was a fine piece and I’m proud of it and its message. I don’t know that it will effect anyone or change anything. It made me feel good to write it. I’m not typically a non-fiction writer because I find it hard to put reality into words without making it bigger and better. I wrote the Antioch piece from my heart and was thrilled to see it find life in publication. I’m grateful to Denny and Whitney for giving me a chance to be heard.
I created and finished my first ever individualized class for my Writing Master’s Degree. It was How to Write Complex Female Characters. I learned so very much in that class. Even with a few setbacks, which include one of the books I had chosen being useless to the topic, a paper that I wrote failing to take into account the purpose of the class itself, and the realization that the scope of the class, female characters, was far too narrow. I appreciate my advisor in the class, Nancy Moore, who was wonderful, supportive, thoughtful, and thoroughly unwilling to let me skate by on anything.
I spent twenty-four hours in November taking part in the charity gaming marathon, Extra-Life. I raised $390 for the Dayton Children’s hospital. I beat last year by five dollars. While not as much as I would have liked it was still a good amount and I was thrilled with the generosity of my family and friends. I was helped through my day by several wonderful people who showed up and took part in the event. We had so much fun. I got to play many new games and several old favorites. I intended to do this again next year. I look forward to it.
There were disappointments this year. My low points were infrequent compared to the highs so I can’t complain too much. Though you will excuse me if I indulge myself for at least a paragraph.
I didn’t make any conventions, though I did manage to road trip a couple of nearby tournaments with Keebler Powell. I miss going to Gencon every year. I want to go back and spend the whole four to five days immersed in gaming. There are times when I feel alone and times when I could not want for more love and support. I’ve missed a few important dates and events that I had not been able to take part in for one reason or another. I missed out on a couple of parties and celebrations, some of my own that I had to cancel because of people not being able to attend or unexpected house guests.
In the end 2015 was a good year. I will look back on it with fondness and joy. I wish I had a better gift for prose and inspiration as I look forward to 2016. I have a friend, Ron, who is very good at being inspirational and beautiful in his words. Because of that I think I will finish with something he wrote that I feel applies here.


I Suggest that We all be Brave in the Face of Pain, Be Courageous when Faced with Heartache, and Love Wholeheartedly those People who might need it the most in 16’. I Challenge You All to Remain Unselfish and to Act Different from the Status Quo of Today’s Misguided Populous. Even if that takes propagating self-love to find a more beautiful paradise in your stable minds. I say, hey, at least you have arrived my friends, so, go forth and be courageous, we must act brave for goodness sakes. Remember, our lives are but a dream… So, Dream Big! ~Ron Maynard

4 comments:

  1. Excellent post. You will make 2016 even better.

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  2. I already miss your voice in class, Steve. Your clarity and clean words cut through and make sense. It is a privilege to read what you write, and I look forward to finding your books on the shelves. Grab onto 2016! Your gratitude, hard work, compassion, and lemon twisted acidic humor are going to make it a great year. Cheers!

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    1. Thank you Andrea. I miss hearing your ideas and stories as well. I equally am excited to see your work in print or play, whichever you choose to go forward with.

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