The end is near…

Last December I did not do a year-in-review about my writing, as I generally do. Mostly I avoided this because the holidays were a rough time for me — first Christmas without my kids, etc. But also, because I did not accomplish a lot in 2015. The past year and a half I have been in survival mode. When my ex and I initially separated, I moved out and established a new (much smaller household) and found work remotely (and a few weeks, on location in Florida). This alone was a huge adjustment, after several years of being the stay-at-home spouse. I also started volunteering a lot more, with my kid’s school, and becoming even more involved in their activities.

I was also busy trying to save the marriage… This took time. And when I did have free moments, I tended to try to be outside as much as possible. I struggled to write, to be honest, the few times I did attempt it.

When the separation period ended, and it was clear we were headed for divorce, I had another huge decision to make. Should I move?

Neither my ex or myself have family in the Edmonton area, or even particularly strong social connections here. Our families live quite a ways away and we’ve always been somewhat isolated in Edmonton. And I really enjoyed the time I spent in Florida, as well as shorter trips I took out to the west coast. There was also a lack of game dev opportunities in Edmonton, post-BioWare.

Luckily, Trent at Beamdog showed up with an opportunity locally. I decided to stick around and get through the whole separation process (actually, legally, dividing assets and moving ahead with the divorce). I assumed this would take a few months, then I would move back into a proper home that better suited the kids. I imagined I would start rebuilding my life. And at some imaginary point in the future I might return to writing, blogging, and the various other activities that had formed the foundation of my “professional life” since leaving BioWare.

This was back in September 2015. Since then my life has been on pause in many ways… but we finally signed the separation agreement this month and I feel the end of this period of my life is approaching. I’m excited to be building a home again, for my kids, and I’m starting to think about writing again, though it will probably have to compete with some of the “survival activities” I’ve embraced (i.e., walking, knitting, etc.)

And I’m enjoying my work with Beamdog. Lots of new challenges, new team mates (and some former colleagues from BioWare days). I also recently had the pleasure of evaluating a game design class, “interviewing” the students and providing feedback alongside a former coworker from BioWare. I’m hopeful that once I’m settled into my new place I’ll be better able to focus, both at work, and on my private projects.

There’s even a chance, perhaps over summer, that this blog might start becoming more active with both writing and game design goodness. But if I’m not around, feel free to use the comments or my contact page to send questions my way.