As I write this it’s 11:15pm in London.

The last day of 2015.

I’m sitting in my monkey dressing gown, drinking tea, being reflective. This is how I like to welcome the new year nowadays. There was a time when I would spend New Year’s Eve drinking, counting the minutes through the bottom of my pint glass. But not anymore. Times are changing.

Holy shit.

A phrase I’ve been saying a lot this past year.

Let’s see why:

• Proposed to my girlfriend. She said yes. We drank cider from jam jars in a Japanese garden as we fed overly zealous squirrels.
• Spent the year living in and exploring London.
• Started working as a freelance podcast producer.
• Started a new podcast called Luke’s Massive Storytelling Podcast Thing … Made 45 episodes.
• Made an audiobook w/ Thom Robson.
• Published The Missing Body Parts Of Mr Doherty and Conspiracy Of Old.
• Wrote and made Keith, a short film in 7 days. It got me my first Vimeo Staff Pick.
• Helped my friends make a children’s book. Helped Ben Errington publish his first short story. Helped Matt Butcher publish a short horror story.
• Started Hawk & Cleaver — a story studio.
• Got serious with my writing and wrote 2x 80k novels.
• Finished working on Doghouse w/ Emma Reading. It got me my second Vimeo Staff Pick.
• Added a fourth author, Daniel Willcocks, to Hawk & Cleaver.
• Decided to live by themes instead of goals.

2015 was the year I gained confidence in my ability to make “noteworthy” stuff. I remember last year thinking how great it would be to get a Vimeo Staff Pick. A badge of honour I was hoping to pin to my self-esteem one day. And now I’ve got two. One for each breast.