In lieu of traditional game reviews, I decided to split up this year's Backlog Awards into two posts. My goal is pretty simple: I want to give myself space to talk about these games in more depth and really dote on each one. Because while my lists get progressively “stronger” each year, 2022 was special.

I haven't shared as many updates as I hoped this year, so let's treat this as the year in review for 2022. We'll cover life stuff, writing updates, and a little bit of what's to come in 2023.

I never got around to reviewing the last four books of Dan Abnett’s series, Gaunt’s Ghosts, so I’m going to recap the final omnibus in one mega-review. Buckle up and grab your straight silver, Guardsman.

As I explored how my fantastical land could fit into a larger world, I pulled out an old notecard on which I’d sketched out a collection of continents. And I started to wonder: Could I find some way to repurpose those old ideas?

Sometimes, feedback leads to big changes. That’s true of everything in life, and creative endeavors are no exception…including my renewed attempts at worldbuilding Varheim.

As a whole, 2022 has felt like a year of big transitions. And as I think about how to move forward, it’s obvious that I need to start by setting some new goals for myself.

Graham is creeping up towards the 18-month mark, which (for all you non-parents) means he’s at the “fun stage.” And the best part of that is seeing him develop interests and ideas and preferences all on his own.

My first year as a parent was...easy? Surprisingly easy, to be honest. Graham is a quiet, curious baby who loves sleeping 12 hours each night and trying any sort of food. But even as an "easy" baby, our lives still revolve around him every day.

I wanted to write a recap of how this year has been. More specifically, I wanted to talk about how amazing fatherhood is, how cool Graham is, how inspiring Kim is, etc. But we'll also have to cover some of the less-than-great things that we dealt with as a family. Buckle up.

We’re about a month beyond the big, bombastic E3 week I look forward to every year…and I’m still not sure how I feel about the fact that E3 2022 was canceled. It’s been such a reliable part of my summer for so long that June just feels weird without it. But hey, I guess we might as well talk about my highlights from the “show.”

Surprise surprise — another year, another worldbuilding project! I hinted about this in my previous post, but at the time, it was still just an idea. But things have started to take shape lately.

Worldbuilding is an essential part of writing, but it can also become an insurmountable obstacle that derails a project...or even a writing career.