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I’m turning 49 years old today, which is odd because I often feel like I can’t be that old because I’m not that long out of high school. But the calendar says it’s true, so I guess I really am a year away from the half-century mark.

I ran some numbers in my head the other day and realized that today is not only my 49th birthday, but also the point where I’ve spent exactly half my life in the US. (I moved here in late May of 1996, when I was 24 1/2.)

Forty-nine years…don’t they go by in a blink? Except this year, that is. 2020 feels like it’s about six times longer than any other year I can remember in those 49 years.

I already have all the wristwatches I’ll ever need, but this one is kind of calling to me…

In a recent podcast interview, I was asked whether I still write my first drafts longhand. The answer I gave was that the last five or six novels were all written on the computer. (I use Scrivener for putting together my drafts, in case some of you are curious, although I am dabbling with a new app called Ulysses right now, which is a sort of streamlined version of Scrivener that syncs much better between Apple devices.)

I still write longhand all the time—I take pages and pages of notes for the draft in progress, I plot out storylines and chapters, and I put together a bible of sorts for every series that gets more material added to it with every book. Longhand writing is an essential part of my creative process because I think better with a pen in my hand, and I enjoy the act of putting ink to paper. But with two novels per year, I can’t afford to have the indulgence slow me down, and the fact is that it would take me twice as long to write a draft if I did it longhand first because it would have to be transcribed into the computer.

There’s always the option of hiring someone to do the transcription part for me, but that would remove a valuable part from the act, which is the on-the-fly revision I do when I do the transcription myself. What ends up on the PC is a second draft already because I edit the material as I type it up. It makes for better, more streamlined writing in the end. One day, when I don’t have to get out two books a year, I’ll go back to hand-writing my first drafts again. But for now, it’s a choice of a more enjoyable process that yields one novel a year, or a slightly less fun one that gets out two novels a year, and I think most readers would prefer that I stick with Option B for now.

AFTERSHOCKS made the Dragon Awards shortlist in the Military SF category this year. Thanks to whoever voted to get it onto the shortlist! I’ve been nominated before, but I’ve never taken one of those cool trophies home. DragonCon and the awards are virtual this year just like every other con, so I won’t be going to Atlanta in person. But it’s lovely to be making the list, particularly because the Dragon Awards are 100% fan-voted.

On that note, the final vote is open to the public (no DragonCon membership necessary), so anyone can register and cast a ballot. If you have a mind to look at the entries on the shortlist and decide you want to put in a vote for your favorite, here’s the link.