Thirteen months ago, I walked away from Facebook and Instagram. No big announcement, no dramatic farewell, no last post telling everyone I'd be leaving social media to find myself.
I just stopped logging in.
I'd had enough. Enough of the endless scrolling, the pointless notifications, the half-hour disappearing before I'd even finished my morning coffee. Enough of watching other people's lives unfold while putting my own on hold.
I'm a writer. Or at least, that's what I've been telling people for years. But there was a point when I seemed to spend more time telling the world I was writing than actually sitting down and doing it.
Something had to give.
So, thirteen months on, what have I done with all that time?
Quite a bit, as it happens.
I started writing again. Properly.
The biggest difference has been getting my head down and concentrating on the work.
I'd accumulated years' worth of ideas, scribbled notes, half-finished stories and projects that had been sitting around waiting for their turn. Something else was always demanding my attention. A notification, a comment, somebody else's argument or another photograph of someone's dinner.
Without all that noise, I started finding the time to write.
Not just half an hour here and there, but proper stretches of time. Sitting with a story, getting lost in it and actually enjoying the process again.
I'd forgotten how much I missed that.
El Peculiar is coming back.
Anyone who's read my first book, El Peculiar, will know I've been threatening to bring Hector back for some time.
Well, I'm pleased to say the follow-up, El Peculiar: The Devil Went Down to Doah, is nearly finished.
I won't give too much away just yet, but Hector is back, and things get stranger, darker and, hopefully, even more entertaining.
Writing a sequel isn't quite as straightforward as you might think. You've got to revisit characters people already know, keep the spirit of the original and still take the story somewhere unexpected.
I've enjoyed getting back into that world. More importantly, I've had the time and concentration to give it the attention it deserves.
The finishing line is getting closer.
A few short stories along the way.
Something else happened that I hadn't really planned.
I started writing short stories. Quite a few of them.
Sometimes an idea comes along that doesn't need 80,000 words. It might be a conversation, a memory, a strange character or something you've witnessed that sticks in your head.
I've written funny stories, some that are a little darker and a few that I'm particularly pleased with.
I'm now thinking about what to do with them. Perhaps a collection. Perhaps something else.
Either way, they're there because I finally gave myself the time to write them.
The unexpected freedom of switching off.
I thought I'd miss social media more than I did.
I thought I'd be out of the loop, that people would forget about me or that my little corner of the world would disappear if I wasn't constantly reminding everyone I existed.
None of that really happened.
What I discovered was that I wasn't missing nearly as much as I'd imagined.
I stopped comparing my life with carefully selected photographs of other people's lives. I stopped worrying about likes, comments and whether something I'd posted had attracted enough attention to justify the effort.
I read more. I thought more. I noticed things I'd probably been walking past for years.
And I got a bit of peace and quiet.
I'm not suggesting Facebook and Instagram are the work of the devil. They can be useful, entertaining, and a good way to connect with people. They've certainly helped writers promote their books.
But I also think it's easy to get trapped in the business of being visible rather than doing something worthwhile.
At least, that's what happened to me.
What happens now?
My immediate priority is getting El Peculiar: The Devil Went Down to Doah finished and published.
Then there's the collection of short stories to think about, along with the other writing projects I've been quietly working away on.
I've also decided that my website will be the place where people can find my writing, follow what I'm doing and keep up with new releases.
Just my writing, on my own patch of internet.
Thirteen months ago, I wondered what I'd do with all the time I'd been wasting on social media.
It turns out I've been rather busy.
I haven't found the meaning of life, become a millionaire or suddenly developed the patience of a saint.
I've got back to doing something I love.
And that's good enough for me.
Always forward.