2011 in Review--Nothing But Good Times Ahead

I find it fitting that this is my 112th blog post of the year, since we are leaving 2011 behind and going into 2012. As with everything else; it is all connected.

I know that 2011 was a tough year for many people--it wasn't a breeze for me either. But as I look back on it, I mostly see the positive. I am, when it comes down to it, a fortunate woman, blessed with friends, and home, and cats...and with you, my readers. Thank you for sharing 2011 with me. I hope you'll do the same in 2012.

So what did I accomplish in 2011?

On the writing front, I wrote another book for Llewellyn (#6, the Everyday Witch Book of Rituals, which will out around October of 2012), along with many articles for my ongoing column in the Witches & Pagans Magazine and a bunch of Llewellyn annuals and almanacs. I finished one novel, the foodie romance Reinventing Ruby, and worked on a number of novels that never saw it to the light of day for one reason or another. (For those of you who don't write, the path is never as smooth as it looks like from the outside, believe me.) I finally listened to the requests of my readers who said, "We don't want to wait any longer for your fiction," and epubbed my first novel, Witch Ever Way You Can (with much help from my long-suffering friend and web-mistress, Robin Wright).

I spent the year getting to know my agent, the fabulous Elaine Spencer of The Knight Agency, and together, we expect great things in 2012.

I finally got to meet Elaine in person at RWA NYC in June, one of four writing-related trips I took during the year. (For someone who doesn't travel much, that's A LOT.) RWA was amazing, as was my trip to Salem in April for the New England Chapter RWA conference, where I got to meet one of my favorite authors, Lani Diane Rich. Both journeys also allowed me to meet up with a bunch of Betties, a group of women who first connected on Lani's blog and formed friendships whose depth has to be seen to be believed. (*Waves to the Betties*)My final trip was to nearby Albany with writer pal Nancy Holzner, where we had a lot of fun despite a less-than-successful event.

Of course, the first trip of the year was both the best and the worst: my journey to California in February, to bid my final farewells to my beloved Germambie (my maternal grandmother), but also to be together with both my sisters and my parents. That bittersweet time was followed by my visit to Pantheacon in San Jose, where I was much healed and comforted by the presence not only of my step-daughter Jenn (who lives there now), but also time spent with my adored Llewellyn editor Elysia Gallo, and many of my fans. As I said; the blessings far outweight the trials.

On the homefront, I spent much of the year doing a much-needed clearing and cleansing of my house; throwing away the old and unnecessary, clearing away clutter, and letting go of things that no longer worked for me. I can now see the floor of my barn, my entrance door is painted red, and the upstairs closets no longer hold boxes of things I moved in with ten years ago and never used. It feels good.

The five cats are all doing well, including Samhain, who is, in theory, dying of chronic renal failure, but who (thankfully!) hasn't seemed to realize it yet. I hope to have at least another year before she does. Two would be good. Three, even better.

I can't even begin to count the blessings of my life: a loving family, great friends, the best writing partner on the planet (yes, Lisa DiDio, I'm looking at you) as well as many wonderful writing pals, an agent, five cats, one very old but still-standing house, and a job I love most days. Don't get me wrong--there are plenty of things about my life that aren't perfect (you don't even want to know how long it has been since I had a relationship, or all the fun physical crap I get to deal with), but compared to people who don't have jobs, or a roof over their heads, or food on the table...frankly, I feel pretty lucky.

And then there is you. The folks who come here and read my ramblings. Who take the time to leave a comment, or go out and buy my books, or just show up. I thank you for this, and hope that, in the year to come, we can continue our travels together.

Wishing you a happy New Year, and (as my favorite author, Jennifer Crusie likes to say) "Nothing but good times ahead."

See you in 2012!

A New Year: Goals and Focus

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions, as such. People rarely seem to stick to them, and then they feel bad. Phooey.

Goals, on the other hand, I can get behind.

I like lists, for one thing, and you can write down goals in lists. But I also find that if I start the year with a concrete set of goals, it helps to keep me focused as I forge ahead. And let's face it, with everything we have on our plates, it is nice to have a reminder of what the heck it was we'd set out to do in the first place.

I sat down this week and reviewed my goals for last year to see how well I'd done. Not terrible, actually...about 7.5 out of 10, I'd say. (Yes, the list could have been written better, hence the .5)

I tend to divide my goals into two categories: personal, and writing. On the personal side I did much better with rediscovering how to relax and have fun (thanks, Blue Moon Circle!)and pushing outside my comfort zone. Didn't find the man of my dreams, but I'm not sure that belonged on the list anyway. Oh well. Let him find me.

On the writing side, I actually accomplished 4.5 out of 5--finished Pentacles and Pentimentos,the novel I'd started during NANOWRIMO (and another after it), finished the edits for P&P and sent it out to agents, spent more time and energy promoting the nonfiction books (since I had two coming out in one year), and managed my online time better with more blogging and less "social" time. Oh, and I got an agent. WOOT.

Yep, that was the big one.

The only thing I didn't accomplish was to get a book contract for the fiction. So that goes on the top of this year's list. And I have every expectation that I'll be able to put a check-mark beside that goal before too long.

I'm coming up with a new list of goals for this year, both personal and writing. But the biggest goal remains the same: to be my best self, both as a human being and as a writer. Working on that one...check.

What are your goals for the year, and what are you doing to achieve them?

1/1/11 Nothing But Good Times Ahead

Happy New Year, all.

Today is 1/1/11 which probably means something important if you speak binary. But since I don't, I'm just going to translate it into Deb-ary, in which it says:

Nothing but good times ahead.*

I hope 2011 brings nothing but good times to you all. And I'll be back with a real blog tomorrow on my goals for the year. At least, that's the goal.

Thanks for sharing my journey through the last year, and I look forward to walking this one with you. Because seriously, nothing but good times ahead.


*Note: I stole this bit from Jennifer Crusie's blog. But if it is good enough for my favorite author, it is good enough for me. Besides, I really liked it.