Looking Back on 2021

Posted on December 31, 2021    Posted by John Scalzi      7 Comments

2021: Not a great year! Its major claim to fame is that it wasn’t as bad as 2020, which I expect and bluntly fucking hope will go down as a real bottom-scraper in the annals of the 21st century, but let’s all agree that “not quite as bad as 2020” is not a huge recommendation for a year. I mentioned last year around this time how 2020 looked good for me on paper but was miserable in reality; I can say that 2021 looked less impressive on paper than 2020 — I didn’t publish fiction of any sort this year, for one thing — but was I think a much better year overall for me, both as a human and as a creator.

Let’s recap some of the personal highlights:

1. Wrote The Kaiju Preservation Society and saw it get positive reviews in all the publishing trades (including Library Journal, that review is official as of tomorrow) and otherwise do pretty darn well in its 2021 run up to publication in March;

2. Wrote the third installment of the Dispatcher series, which will debut in audio in the second half of 2022;

3. Got the Dispatcher series optioned for TV;

4. Saw “Automated Customer Service” premiere as part of Love Death & Robots, Vol. 2, and win an Emmy;

5. Bought a silly guitar;

6. And also a whole damn church;

7. Was Guest of Honor at Dragon Con — again! Although in person this time;

8. Was nominated for a Hugo for the Interdependency series;

9. Made a little bit of music;

10. Got a dog.

Plus there were some other things that happened in 2021 that I can’t talk about (yet) but which were definitely positive developments; maybe I’ll get to tell you about some of them soon. There were some of the usual disappointments and annoyances as well, because life is never 100% perfect. On balance, however, a definite step up from the year before.

I will celebrate the upswing and hope it augurs well for 2022 and beyond. I do think “2022 and beyond” are going to take a lot of work, to be clear. But I’m in a better place now to face it all than I was twelve months ago. So, come on in, 2022. I’ve been expecting you.

— JS