2023 is a year of Big Anniversaries—those ending in 0 or 5—marking significant life events for me and Kelley. Here are some of them:

• January
  • 40th anniversary of the television debut of the band I fronted, Janes Plane, late one Monday night in January (I don’t have the exact date—I always forget and, yep, I forgot this year too) on Channel 4’s Whatever You Want
• February
  • 30th anniversary of Ammonite. Yes, the copyright page says 1992, but the book did not hit shelves in the US until the end of January/beginning of February and, in the UK, later in February/beginning of March.
• Early March
  • 30th anniversary of my MS diagnosis, which I got the day after I got off the plane from London where I’d been launching Ammonite.
• June
  • 45th anniversary of Kelley’s high school graduation. Kelley loved her HS, remembers it fondly, and attends reunions when she can.
  • 45th anniversary of my last day suffering the stifling strictures of Catholic Grammar School education—but for me it’s the escape from the experience that’s worth celebrating, not the experience itself.
• June 26th
  • 35th anniversary of meeting Kelley at Clarion and falling indelibly in love.
  • 35th anniversary also, of course, of us both going through the life-altering experience that is Clarion where we met so many people who are part of our lives.
• September 4
  • 30th anniversary of our no-legal-force wedding at our house in Atlanta, GA.
  • 10th anniversary of our extremely-legally-binding wedding overlooking Puget Sound right here in Seattle, WA.
• October 3
  • 0 anniversary of the publication of Menewood.
• November 13
  • 10th anniversary of the publication of Hild…
  • …and, four days later, the 1409th anniversary of Hild’s birth—though that’s cheating because a) it’s not about me and b) it doesn’t end in zero or five But, hey, this is my list so I make the rules.

In other words, it’s going to be a big year. At this point I’ve no idea how and when we’ll be celebrating but you can bet we will.