Reflections on 2017
It’s been a strange year, 2017. Indeed, I daresay it’s been humbling. Much has happened and been accomplished this year, but it’s also been a year for much reflection, growth, and change. Most of that change has happened behind the scenes, as it were, but it has shown itself in little ways throughout. Perhaps it’s fitting, as 2017, and to the month specifically (December, that is), marks ten years of professional work for me. Indeed, that seems to be the theme of this entire year for me, though I didn’t plan it that way: to take a step back, reflect on things, and make changes where necessary. Read more… ›
Happy Holidays 2017
I just wanted to take a moment to wish any and all Happy Holidays this year. Whether you celebrate Christmas (as I do), Hanukkah (already in progress), Kwanzaa (forthcoming), another holiday I’m yet unaware of or none at all, I hope this time of the year finds you well, and that the days and weeks approaching the New Year are a happy one for you and yours.
With All Best Wishes,
J. M. DeSantis
As We Wind Down to the End
2017 is almost at an end (I know, it sort of snuck up on me too!), and there are a few things I have to finish up before the start of the New Year. Not least of these are a number of commissions for this end-2017/beginning-2018 commission season. I’m booked through the end of this year (though I might be able to fit in just one more person between Christmas and New Years if you act fast enough), but January is still open—which is the last opportunity to get a commission from me at my current prices before the price raise in February. But that’s not all… Read more… ›
My First NaNoWriMo Experience
Everything is an experience; I truly believe that. I don’t know that we always learn something, not consciously anyway, but experience alone is something to be valued. It helps inform decisions, makes us more confident, and adds a natural thrill and interest to life. It’s one of the things I love best about living. I love experiencing things, and in this way I take the good with the bad.
As I previously announced, I took part in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) for the first time last month. And though I didn’t complete the challenge (to write 50,000 words by 30 November), I got a lot out of the experience, in some ways more valuable than a first draft of a novel—though indeed I would have liked that too. Read more… ›