It’s that time of year again, friends—time to look back on the year past and make plans (and be ready to break them as necessary) for the year to come.

2021 was not the year I think any of us were hoping for. The pandemic is still happening. People are still dying while others fight about the validity of vaccination. Certain parts of the world have opened their doors wide while others have been forced to lock down more tightly than ever. Travel is an option, but still questionable.

We are, all of us, trying desperately to find that tricky balance between necessary caution and doing the things that make our lives worth living. And while I don’t think any of us have mastered it yet (I certainly haven’t), I like to think we’re making progress.

Looking Back: 2021

My 2021 began with hope. That first trip my friends and I took to the beach in January after months of self-imposed quarantine tasted like hope and honey on the tips of our tongues. Fully vaccinated, my boyfriend and I booked a trip to Disney World to see Galaxy’s Edge for the first time. And for the first time in forever, we began to plan ahead again.

But 2021 quickly turned into a tougher year than expected. Instead of a year-long post-pandemic party, it was a lesson in patience, disappointment, and most of all, acceptance. My family lost someone important this year. Many other families did, too.

Yet, as always, it wasn’t all doom and gloom. One thing I finally decided to accept was that, although I was in a good job surrounded by good people, I was a cat pretending to be a bird—and I was tired of pretending. So I quit my day job and am back to freelancing for the moment, doing my best to set up a future for myself that better fits who I am and what I want to do with my life.

Writing in 2021

I had some pretty lofty goals for 2021. And while I didn’t hit all of my creative targets, I accomplished a lot more than I ever expected to.

• I finished work on chiaroscuro, and am looking forward to releasing it on January 13, 2022
• I haven’t been able to wrap up The Dragon’s Last Flight yet, but we made some great progress this year, thanks in part to our decision to add a new artist to the team
• I did not complete a full novel draft, but I am about a quarter of a way through the second draft of a project I’m optimistically hoping to release next year
• Two of my poems appeared in Vol 15, Issue 4 of Meat for Tea

On the nonfiction side of things, I am grateful to still be writing for HealthyPlace. I also created a video course for the women’s health platform WomenCycles on the topic of self-harm. While it wasn’t perfect, I still hope it will be helpful to those who watch it—creating it certainly taught me a lot.

I am also proud to say that I was able to keep up with my posting schedule for my own blog. Some of the posts you all seemed to enjoy the most included: 

• 10 Indie Games That Will Make You Cry
• NaNoRenO 2021 Spotlight
• Why Do Writers Write About Death?
• Writing About Dragons: Balancing Convention and Creativity
• Fantasy Books Without War: Recommended Reads

My audience continues to grow, so to all of you newcomers, welcome! And to everyone who’s been here before, welcome back. It’s good to see you again. 🙂

Reading in 2021

I don’t know exactly how many books I actually read. I took a step back from Goodreads and all other forms of tracking to just focus on a single, simple goal and otherwise enjoy reading whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted, at my own pace.

My reading goal for 2021 was to read six fantasy novels by six authors from other countries—spread out across as many continents as possible. I hit that target (I purposely made it a short list, since I didn’t have any books on my TBR pile that fit the bill) and enjoyed the following novels:

1. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (China)
2. The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton (Australia)
3. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (Russia)
4. Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexico)
5. Savage Her Reply by Dierdre Sullivan (Ireland)
6. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Nigeria)

It was an eye-opening goal, one I hope to repeat many variations of in the future. Other highlights from my reading this year included:

• Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
• Harlequin Valentine by Neil Gaiman (graphic novel version)
• The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
• The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
• Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty
• The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green
• Robot Visions by Isaac Asimov
• The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
• Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

Gaming in 2021

I didn’t track my gaming at all, aside from posting on Instagram, so I don’t know exactly how many games I finished, either. I don’t think it was all that many, to be honest. But the numbers don’t matter if the quality is exceptional, and this year, I was lucky enough to come across one of those gaming experiences that will change me forever. I know, because it already has.

Thanks to the Legendary Edition of the Mass Effect trilogy, I now know what it is to fight Reapers, romance turians, and generally kick ass as Commander Shepard. It taught me a lot about game writing and design, and especially developing NPC relationships. It also taught me a little bit about myself, and who I’d like to be.

I also got to revisit Ghost of Tsushima, one of the most elegant and seamless games I’ve ever experienced, thanks to the (absolutely fantastic) Iki Island Expansion.

Some other games that I especially enjoyed this year included:

• The Medium developed by Bloober Team
• The Artful Escape developed by Beethoven & Dinosaur
• A Plague Tale: Innocence developed by Asobo Studio
• Vampyr developed by Dontnod Entertainment

It’s been an intense year for me—not as much adventuring as I would have liked, but a lot more inspiration and creation than I thought I was capable of. Productivity is always a struggle between work, life, and migraines, but I’m proud of everything I was able to achieve this year and am looking forward to seeing what I can get done in 2022.

Looking Ahead: 2022

I’m not blindly optimistic. It’s possible that I will have to get another “proper job” this year to support myself while I continue to pursue my dream of writing books and video games full-time. But until I do—and even if I do—I plan to make the most of this year.

Writing in 2022

As I already mentioned, chiaroscuro will be out next week. I’m hoping to release at least one other project this year. The draft I’m currently working on is one possibility. I’m also working on securing a contract to make another interactive fiction game, this time with some help—wish me luck! And of course, I’ll continue to post regularly here on the blog and monthly via my newsletter.

Reading in 2022

First, I am going to try my hand at a reading journal, since my memory just ain’t what it used to be. Second, I’m attempting a slightly more complex reading challenge this year:

• Read the next four books in the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon, plus
• At least 12 books from my current TBR shelf (no 2022 purchases allowed!), including four books from series I started but haven’t finished/caught up on yet

Gaming in 2022

I am going to try a similar journaling experiment with my games—something I wish I had started before playing ME, but oh well. I’m not setting a specific gaming goal at this time other than to make as much progress through my backlog as I comfortably can—and having finished two of those games just yesterday makes me feel like I’m off to a decent start.

Some other changes taking place soon:

• I am opening up comments on the blog. I avoided it in the past because I worried I wouldn’t have the time to respond to everyone properly, but (a) people don’t comment on blogs as often as they used to and (b) I’m getting better all the time at time management. So, because I would like to get to know you all and not just be constantly shouting into the void, comments are ON as of this post.
• I am (probably) starting a Patreon. I still have to work out the details, but I know Patreon is the preferred donation method of many a modern patron of the arts, and also it’s hella convenient. What exactly I will share there, and whether or not I will keep my Ko-Fi open as well, remains to be seen.
• I am (hopefully) going to start a small, possibly interactive side project later this year. This one’s iffy, given all the plates I’m already spinning, but I’d like to do some sort of ongoing or episodic thing—this may even be a Patreon exclusive. I’ll share more about this if and when it becomes a more concrete plan.

And that’s all, folks. At least for the moment. You know how plans never really work out the way we expect—but we make them anyway, because it’s better to make things happen than to sit and wait for things to happen to us.

I hope you get to make good things happen this year. (I hope I do, too.) 

What are your hopes, dreams, and plans for the year to come? Let me know in the comments!

Kim Berkley is a fantasy author and narrative designer who, when she isn’t reading, writing, or playing games, enjoys thinking about doing all of the above. She is the creator of The Harbinger’s Head, chiaroscuro, and The Dragon’s Last Flight.