so, it's a whole new year. a whole new decade, in fact.

 

wow.

 

is it really ten years since Y2K? ten years since Malcolm in the Middle? ten years since The White Stripes? ten years since Relationship of Command? ten years since Enema of the State? ten years since Halflway Between the Gutter and the Stars? ten years since 'oh my god, the Olympics are coming to Sydney!'?

 

jesus christ, it's ten years since Pokemon!

 

I f**king hated Pokemon.

 

I still f**king hate Pokemon.

 

anyway, I think the new year is always a good time to take stock and reflect on where I've been and where my life's going.

 

so where have I been in the past year? well, nowhere. I haven't flown anywhere, been on holiday, gone anywhere interesting, done anything unusual... nothing. I'm still working for the same company (albeit in a more senior position), still list my relationship status as 'single', still hang out with the same group of friends... same everything, really.

 

except everything's different.

 

I feel like a completely different person. more grounded, more mature, more focused, more confident.

 

more happy.

 

I was happy with myself 12 months ago, but now I feel invincible. like every life decision is going to be the right one. basically, I can do no wrong. that attitude can probably be attributed to a lot of things, but I think there's one thing in particular that acted as the catalyst:

 

this.

writing. GA.

 

I can't believe I'm saying this, but it's one year this week since I started posting The Things You Fear The Most!

 

Insane.

 

I don't even know what made me do it, really. Chapter One had been sitting around on my laptop in various (mostly shitty!) forms since at least September 2008, but I'd never really bothered to actually do anything about it. so, one night, I gave it a title (not even a real title - just the title of a song I was listening to at the time), posted it in Sneak Peeks and said 'right, I'm bored, tell me what doesn't work'.

 

turns out that lots of things didn't work!

 

so I went back to the drawing board, changed a whole heap of shit, created a new character, changed a lot of the storyline's fundamentals, tossed in a third-person plotline as an almost-afterthought and created something that's, well... I don't actually know what it is, just yet.

 

but I'm 99% sure that it's pretty awesome hahaha

 

and from the feedback my readers give me, they think it's pretty awesome too!

 

so let me just say, thank you to all my readers. you made 2009 the most unbelieveably awesome year ever.

 

thank you to my editor Sharon, as well. I wouldn't have gotten anywhere if Sharon wasn't there to answer my dumb questions, bounce my dumb ideas off, correct my stupid mistakes and return my emails at a ridiculously fast pace.

 

and thank you to Chase. you're a total spastic (I mean that in the nicest possible way ), but the fun I've had editing your stuff has made my own writing so much better. admittedly, none of it has actually been posted in eFiction yet, but it's still awesome nonetheless.

 

 

anyway, that brings me to the question I'm sure all of my readers have been wondering... where's the new chapter?

 

well, it's... stalled.

 

still in progress.

 

plotted in its entirety, most of it's actually written in its entirety, but there's just a couple of pivotal scenes that I can't find the time or inspiration to finish. truth be told, there's a couple of 'finished' scenes that aren't really up to scratch, either. sit tight though, because the new chapter isn't far away.

 

I have a feeling it's gonna be worth the wait, too.

 

 

oh, and there's one other thing. I was reading the new DNA yesterday (some of us actually read it, you know), and there was this competition thing where you basically write 3,000 words of erotica and you can win $2000. so I'm gonna do it. I've never actually written anything with that sort of focus before, but it's a challenge I'd be really interested in taking up. in fact, I'm so interested that I've plotted it in its entirety and already started writing it. it's only 3,000 words, so with a bit of effort it could actually be finished in the next couple of weeks. or, more likely, I'll get sidetracked and it'll be finished about 5 minutes before the actual deadline.

 

but who cares, I'm doing it.

 

who knows, might win something.

 

the only catch is, my entry cannot be previously published. therefore, I won't be able to post it to GA.

 

damn.

 

HOWEVER...

 

I have an idea.

 

since my readers are so awesome, I was thinking that I could write this story and distribute it via email to a handful of lucky GA readers. it'd be kinda like a reward, for all the people who keep in touch and give me such awesome feedback. they know who they are. so, if you get a random private message from me promising to increase your penis size by 30% in three simple steps, you'll know that you're one of the lucky readers. don't fret if there isn't a PM in your inbox by the time you read this, though. it could be days, it could be weeks, it could be months.

 

I'll blog about it when it's done.

 

 

oh, and Santa brought me a Wii.

 

helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll yeah!

 

I might go play it now, actually.

 

 

take care, dear reader.

xMatt.