Michael T. Hare

Another year gone. Another anniversary here.

January 20th will always hold a special place in my heart as the day I started this crazy, complicated, and fun adventure called writing. I’d written off and on earlier in my childhood and regret the number of stories I neglected to save, but the writing bug never really hit me until my conception of a How To Train Your Dragon/Transformers crossover in the first month of 2020.

I think what really got me was the dialogue—the characters, to be more precise—and I remember deciding I was a writer right there and then because of it. I knew I’d never stop, and I didn’t want to. To this day, writing my characters’ dialogue and watching their personalities bloom is the most extraordinary part of storytelling.

I’d written a few other things before How To Train Your Dragon (The Autobot War), including a novelization (if you can say 28 pages is a novel) of a movie my brothers and I created. I’d also started some odd projects like Atlin’s Blue-Spotted Dalmatian and a thriller called The Legend in Tintle Lane. Here’s the thing: some young writers are scarier storytellers than adults, and I was NOT one of them. Rather, I was one of those overkill writers:

Limping, undead (I think?) men with tennis ball-sized yellow eyes!

I shouldn’t need to say anything more, traveler.

Actually, that’s one of the reasons I love anniversaries; they give us a chance to look back and see how far we’ve come. They’re a chance to stop, reflect, and remember. Phew… and I remember being a nervous wreck upon hearing my How To Train Your Dragon/Transformers crossover read out loud. I think many authors can relate to that scary feeling of sharing their words because what we’re all truly facing is vulnerability. Allowing my family to read my somewhat unconventional story was probably one of the most vulnerable things I’d ever done, and fortunately, I’ve been blessed with a family that receives such things with gentle hands.

My Ma, as always, was my editor and constant encourager for this book. There came a time when I decided my ideas for How To Train Your Dragon (The Autobot War)were dumb and not worthy of the original story, and so I attempted to quit writing it. I still remember typing a bold “DISCONTINUED” on the book’s cover, and that probably would’ve been the end of my writing hobby had my Ma not steered me right. She’s the reason that book saw the finish line, and she’s also the reason I wrote a sequel to it—literally the best announcement I ever made, by the way.

Another thing I love about anniversaries is all the stories that come with them: the year before I wrote my crossover, my family and I (yes, I insisted on this) watched the How to Train Your Dragon Homecoming Christmas special. The original (Gift of the Night Fury) was very good. In fact, it had great potential, and I wish I’d written it as a short story. So, naturally, I expected Homecoming to mirror it in creativity. And hey! Maybe it would even address the tragic ending of The Hidden World and ease some of my sadness!

Did it?

No, it did not.

That isn’t to say it wasn’t a heartwarming film, but it certainly wasn’t the resolution I’d hoped for, and it’s no surprise that a month later, I was already drafting a crossover between HTTYD and Transformers.

Fun fact about this book: I considered many other crossovers before settling on Transformers. The two I can remember are The Lord of the Rings and The Avengers. Can you believe that? A HTTYD story featuring Gandalf? Sure, it sounds pretty crazy, but if Optimus Prime can make it work, Iron Man probably could.

Alas, I could never be disappointed about how things turned out. If someone gave me the opportunity to go back and do it all again, I wouldn’t change a thing—not only for the magic it brought me, but also for the story I get to share with others. The genesis of my writing can inspire those navigating similar situations, when doubt screams louder than ambition and only a choice can silence the noise.

While anniversaries are a great time to look back, they’re also a great time to appreciate the present and look forward. Make this next year worth looking back on. Do something great because you ARE great! Make your next anniversary your best anniversary. This year, I’m determined to finish a book and publish it, whether that be Untitled Dragon Rider Project or another story yet to flourish.

I’m rooting for you, traveler.

Until we next meet.