About a year ago, things were very different in my corner of writing land. I still had a relationship with my publisher, I was finishing up my PhD, an no one had heard of COVID-19. I imagine most of us had a different view of things back then.

Even without COVID, there’s been a veritable mangle set of stuff go on between then and now. It’s not all bad. It’s not all good, either. Mostly, it’s just been change, which is usually a good dollop from both buckets.

However, a few things have clicked int...