Maybe this blog got started at the start of the Difficult Times (do not blame me for any of it, I have no more power than anyone else, OK?) but a common theme in DSW end-of-year posts tends to be, well, dodgy year, dodgy circumstances, let’s do our best to make it better…
So the world is possibly even more of a clusterfuck than before, but you can get your hot takes on all of it elsewhere. This was the year for DSW.
It’s involved expanding and broadening out the range of books for sale. I’ve had a go at both the Night Market and the Big Market. I’ve seen people be kind and brave.
I took a stall at the local Pride event and saw the large numbers, even in a small town, of kind, brave, tolerant, defiantly joyous people. 
Eroticon reoccurred and was fabulous.
It was also noteworthy that the idea of ‘sex bogging’ seemed to be a bit less prominent, as compared to the glory days between 2012 and 2015. This is not necessarily a bad thing as bandwagons roll on, and people with something to say will carry on finding ways to say it; less good to see another erotica publishing house go down.
There is still hope, there is still joy, even in the worst of times. If you can do something useful and helpful, do it. Shouting and howling at other people on social media who have no more power than you does not actually make any of it any better, but kindness and joy DO make things better, even on a small scale. The architecture of fascism is crumbling because, particularly in the UK, the nutters have just become so nutty that they can no longer convince or appeal to the people who used to think that conservatism, as they understood it, would at least look after them and their ideals. Most people are basically OK and well-intentioned, which is why the power of the maniacs is going to crubmle away: they outrage the majority’s belief in essential fairness.
Hang in there. There’s still a lot of love. Even in the blogging world.