As readers of this blog know, each year around this time I do an an “audit” of what I achieved this year pegged against what I hoped to achieve this time last year.

Before I go into that though – this year has been another year of staying at home, hunkering down, focusing on staying safe and keeping productive.

I have to say, Jennifer and I have really enjoyed not traveling. Prior to the pandemic, we averaged three to four trips a year overseas. Since late January 2019 we haven’t stepped onto a plane – and it’s been glorious. I don’t miss traveling one jot – I do though miss seeing our friends in various countries around the world. That I miss.

For me, this year has been spent writing and reading and watching telly. Oh, and exercising.

In separate blogs I’m going to post what I watched, and my ratings for each show or movie (on telly) – and what books I read. Just to say though that this year I discovered the work of two truly great authors – Ursula K Le Guin, and Haruki Murakami. Yes, I know, they’ve been around yonks – in fact Ursula Le Guin is dead – but I’ve been bowled over by their writing.

So, here we go… the audit of what I set out to achieve, and what I actually achieved:

• Complete Facing Fear – The Movie.(This will depend on Covid related restrictions, and I don’t know if it will be possible.)
  No, I didn’t complete the film because of COVID, but I have started editing and I hope to have the film finished by midway through next year, for release in September.

• Set up KISS OR KILL as a limited TV series.
  No, it isn’t yet set up but I wrote the screenplay for the first episode and detailed treatments for the remaining seven episodes. Several major tv production companies are considering it at the moment. Separate to that though, I have been approached by two producers to do a US remake of the film, and those discussions are now in progress.

• Set up The Way, My Way as a limited TV series.
  No, this hasn’t happened either. I decided to keep it as a feature film and wrote several drafts of the screenplay which my Australian distributor and US based sales agent feel is good enough to send out to cast. We’ll be shooting this movie in Spain in April/May 2023.

• Write the screenplay for an alien-based comedy.
  Yes, I did that. I did about ten drafts of the screenplay. It’s called Small Town Alien and it’s on the runway too!

• Write another novel.
  Yes, I did that too and it’s called The Golden Bridge. It’s 70K words and it will be published next year. It’s about a man who leaves home on the day of his wife’s funeral and heads off into the desert. He’s a structural engineer and he comes to believe that he can be reunited with his wife if he builds a golden bridge of light.

So – that’s what I said I’d do a year ago, and that’s my scorecard for the year.

Apart from that I wrote the screenplay and treatment for the TV adaptation of my YA trilogy Palace of Fires, and that’s currently being considered by one of the major streamers OS.

On a personal level, I rediscovered my love of classical music. I used to listen to classical music avidly when I was younger, and have now returned to it. Seiji Ozawa’s rendition of Swan Lake with the Boston Symphony Orchestra is transcendent. As is Rachmaninoff’s 2nd Piano Concerto by Van Cliburn.

I also discovered Formula One motor racing, thanks to the Netflix series Drive to Survive and have become an obsessive fan. I’ve watched every practice session, every qualifying session and every race this year. I’m jumping out of my skin with excitement about tonight’s final race between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. It should be a cracker. I really hope Hamilton wins, and becomes eight times world champ.

What do I hope to achieve in 2022?

• Complete Facing Fear – The Movie.
• Secure the financing for The Way, My Way.
• Set up Kiss or Kill as a feature film remake in the US.
• Set up Palace of Fires as a limited TV series in the US.
• Write another novel – a thriller this time.

2022 will also be Jennifer and my 40th wedding anniversary.
That’ll be spesh.