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This time last year, I concluded with, "Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of you from my family and I! Next stop 2020!" Boy, that was a conundrum, and none of us even realized it. None of us realized what this year had in store for all of humanity, but here we are alive… Survivors and quite frankly a bit more jaded as people from what we endured in that past twelve months. With all of that said, I have to admit here in this open forum that this year has not been a total dumpster fire. So, to take a page out of The World of Myth Bits podcast, I would like to talk about the bit of good that has taken place for us in The JayZoMon/Dark Myth Company in 2020. January 2020 For the company, the year opened with excitement! We were not only working on three books to be ready for the following month but was knee-deep into putting the final touches on JayZoMon's Pop Culture Expo! February 2020 February was a time that I will remember for as long as I stay above ground! We published three paperback books just in time for the expo. We published the 2019's Open Contract Challenge winner, Melissa Ridley Elmes' book, Arthurian Things: A Collection of Poems! A special pocketbook exclusive for JayZoMon's Pop Culture Expo version of Stephanie Bardy's Eternally Bound! And a book of poetry by Randolph R. Lofgren called, What Will Be, Will Be. JayZoMon's Pop Culture Expo was a dream come true! Many people do not know this, but last year, I traveled from business to business, looking for PCE vendors. They laughed at me and told me that I could never make the expo happen in our area! Well, it did happen, and better yet, I had some fantastic people that traveled a great distance to enjoy the accomplishment with me! March 2020 While March was what many consider the downfall of 2020, as the Corona Virus was made public and lock-downs begin. For us, it was the month that kicked off our 2nd Annual Open Contract Challenge (another thing that I was told that could not happen, but did). Also, as a form to ease the stress for those affected by Covid-19, I released my serial called, The End and it ran thirty-four days straight for free to anyone who wanted to read it. April 2020 With April being Autism Awareness Month, we promoted donating to a local or national charity aimed at Autism. We donated everything from our S.S.T. (Sensory Sensitive Tickets) from PCE and a bit extra that month. May 2020 This month was a bit tough for all of us as we approached the ill effects of quarantine, but that month we announced that we were working on obtaining new contracts with former authors we had previously published with. The original idea was for an ebook release, but later on, it would transform into an entirely new brand called Dark Myth Classics. June 2020 With the year halfway finished, we shifted to focus on the JayZoModcast Podcast Network and released a brand new podcast with our own, Stephanie J. Bardy, in what was intended to be a no-holds-barred show about whatever tickled her fancy called Lupa's Bits. July 2020 While I admit that this was more of a personal event, it did help in business affairs. In July, my entire family and I took a long-overdue vacation to the state of Arkansas. It had been twenty years since I had last been there, and I had a blast seeing my dad and my best friend, Alan Russo. Also, while I was there, I was able to finalize the agreement to purchase Zombie Works Publications and merge it into our publishing brand. August 2020 A couple of things happened that month. With the purchase of Zombie Works Publications in the bag, we publicly announced that we would produce our first anthology under that brand titled Full Moon & Howlin: A Werewolf Anthology. We put out an open submission for that book opened to anyone. Also, August was the first time that new hosts Jenna and Joe Sparks took over The World of Myth Bits Podcast! Speaking of podcasts, I decided that I would return with season four of My Public Life As An American Nerd at the end of the month. September 2020 This month was dedicated to JayZoMon's Pop Culture Expo 2021, and throughout the month, I would announce a great list of celebrities that would attend next year's show! September would also be the first time since Seeing R.E.D. That we had a podcast reach episode one hundred in the way of The World of Myth Bits as the new hosts Jenna and Joe interviewed Stephanie J. Bardy. And finally, the end of November was the launch of the bimonthly newsletter because we had so much happening that we could not remember what was added here in the commentary. October 2020 Here we learn that Walter G. Esselman was the grand prize winner of the 2020 Open Contract Challenge with his novel SuperHorror Max! Plus, last year's Second Place winner, Jeff R. Young, published his ebook Diary of a Madman! November 2020 This month was focused on the JayZoMon's Pop Culture Expo, as we worked night and day producing an outline, rules, and strategies that complied with San Bernardino County guidelines. Also, we announce that the company hired a new Director of Operations for the Open Contract Challenge by the name of Kyle D. Dobbs, who would start his duties in March 2021. Then we released second-place winner of the 2020 Open Contract Challenge, Gabriella Balcom, with her novelette Worth Waiting For and the publication of our anthology, Full Moon & Howlin! December 2020 This month we closed out the year with the public release of Stephanie J. Bardy's new novel The Chosen in both paperback and ebook format! WOW! We really accomplished a lot of stuff this year, despite all the craziness that 2020 had to offer. I only pray that the following year will see us return back to our everyday lives and that not only for me but also for all of you to have the best possible year to date! All right, gang, that is it for me this time around. I want to sincerely wish all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I feel honestly blessed to have you all as a member of our little creative family! With respect to you all!
David K. Montoya
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