Well, how about that 2020? Quite the annus horribilis, wasn't it? Those of us who are still standing in 2021 will doubtlessly be hoping for a lot less horribilis, and a lot more goodness.

And if that happens, this novelist hopes to accomplish more in the new year than he did in this one. It was pretty darned hard to concentrate on writing. Not that 2020 was a dead loss. I managed to finish the third and final book in my Johnny Graphic Adventures series, which I started in 2006. And I'm very proud of it. But it's time to turn my attention back to one of my mystery series, as well as update the first novel I wrote many years ago.

My King Harald Mysteries series follows the adventures of a crime-sniffing pooch who lives in a small Minnesota tourist town with his human "boss," Andy Skyberg. In three successive tales, Harald manages to land Andy in all manner of merry mayhem. The whodunit I'm planning to write in 2021 embeds the two of them in a Beaver Tail County movie shoot, where the unseemly death of a well-known Hollywood figure sets the mystery in motion.

The first book I ever wrote was an epic fantasy yarn called The Queen of Thrones. (Yeah, I know. It sounds like I'm copycatting the title of a hugely famous fantasy series. But the fact is that I came up with the title several years before that other Martin revealed his.) And I plan on rethinking and repackaging the single 120k-word book as a new trilogy—aging my protagonists and giving the story a more mature POV. I may or may not succeed, but I'm going to give it a shot.

Last but not least, I have in mind tackling something totally new: A neo-noir, sexy ghost thriller. Wish me luck on that one.

Regardless of what happens in the new year, I wish you and yours all the best fortune and much happiness. And whatever you do, keep reading!