New Year. New Realities.

It may be too late to wish you a happy new year, but I want to share a few thoughts as we enter the second month of 2025 already!

First, let me share the main reason you haven’t heard from me for a few weeks. This message is coming to you from Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, where I celebrated the Lunar New Year last week during the Tet Festival. Like all my adventures, I’ve learned much during these past few weeks.

Some of my learnings will work their way into upcoming stories. Others will serve to partially satisfy my ongoing thirst for knowledge and hunger for new experiences. Yet others remind me of my limitations.

One of those limitations appears to be managing the impact of jetlag as my body ages. This is my first visit to Asia since 2020. I was here as COVID was taking hold in China, then one country after another. We always seemed to be just a step or two ahead of the latest public outbreak as we zipped through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and Singapore in about a month. We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and learned much. I looked forward to a return to this part of the world.

However, weeks into my most recent trip, I’m still fighting fatigue, irregular sleep patterns, and low energy. I’ve fought back and continue to walk, exercise and stretch as much as possible. It helps, and I’m still hoping to see more improvement. Regardless, I’ve decided to cut a few weeks from this trip and return to Canada earlier.

Why? My writing has also suffered. I’ve managed a few thousand words for #9. But I’ve found it impossible to keep my regular discipline of daily writing for three hours each morning, followed by stretching for an hour, and one-to-two hours of walking in the afternoon to think about the next day’s writing. So, my productivity has lagged. I still believe it’s a great story that I’m anxious to create, so I’ll pick up the pace soon.

Over the past weekend, I also found my attention riveted to the unfolding trade war between Canada and its closest friend and neighbour. It became clear that only the ‘neighbour’ part holds true, as the president just elected by the American people launched an attack on the economy and sovereignty of our country that is unprecedented. It’s the most hostile action since the two countries waged physical war more than two hundred years ago. The thirty-day pause only guarantees that we will be subjected to this nonsense repeatedly while this president remains in power.

Like most other Canadians, I’m anxious to play my part in defending our economy by buying only Canadian-made products whenever possible. That mission will start the moment I return to the country. You may have already started your efforts to buy locally and boost any economy other than the USA’s. And you might also wonder how the trade war relates to my books.

First, Indigo retails most of my books in Canada. Any independent bookstore can also order and sell my titles.

Indigo is a Canadian company with locations across the country and books supplied to its stores are typically printed in Canada by local printers under contract to the books’ distributor, Ingram Spark, an American company. I can’t claim to be entirely Canadian-economy-focused, but Ingram’s piece of the total price is small once they pay the Canadian printer and me.

If you order my titles from Amazon, books sold in Canada are printed in Canada, on demand, and shipped to you using Canadian delivery methods. Again, Amazon’s share of the total price is modest once they pay the printer, shipper, and me.

If you order books from my website (https://garydmcguganbooks.com), all books are printed in Canada by a Toronto-based printer. Typically, I don’t promote purchases from my website this time of the year. Usually, those who order are also looking for my personal signature, and that’s tough for me to provide when I’m typically out of the country!

As I already mentioned, I’m cutting short my Asia trip this year and returning to Canada. So, I’ll be able to play my part. If you place any orders for my books on the website, please understand that none will ship until Monday, February 24. By then, I’ll be back in Canada and ready to sign and ship all books ordered. (Just a reminder that I charge $29.95 for each copy from the website to defray shipping expenses to you.)

It’s a new year. There are new challenges that will take new ideas to confront and resolve. I look forward to doing my part … and writing more in the coming weeks!