It All Goes So Fast (Holly Schindler)

The older I get, the truer it is: time goes by so fast. In an instant, so much of life changes. You walk out of the door of your high school for the last time. And two and a half heartbeats later, it's time for the 30th reunion. 

2025 was a tough one for many of us. Me included, in many ways. I lost my dog Gus this year. This is the first Christmas in 22 years that I won't have a dog. I was thinking about that as I wrapped presents.

But in my mind, I could see Gus pulling last year's gift out of a Walmart sack (he didn't like to unwrap; he liked to pull from the sacks). And I could see him running to the front door where his bed was, and I could hear him squeaking away at his new toy like a madman.

The world around our writing changes just as fast. The things we write are relevant today and tomorrow not so much. A few years ago, when I re-released my first novel, I put a date at the top of the first chapter: 2010. Because enough had changed--tech, etc.--that I thought it needed context. 

Time goes by so fast. So much changes. 

The best we can do is celebrate the now by putting it in story as truthfully as we can. So that when we blink and it's been another 30 years, we can say, Yes, that was exactly right. That's exactly how it was. 

What's a better time capsule than that? 

~

Holly Schindler is the author of the re-released YA novel A Blue So Dark