2012 in Review

I was beginning to think that 2012 would never end.  It hasn’t been the best of years.  But, then again, the last several years haven’t been all that great.  But, I can say, I am still on the proper side of the dirt.  Whether some people like it or not, I survived to see another turn of the calendar.

I didn’t make many goals except for one; get Society of Night and Lies ready for the great agent search this March.  I have up to chapter eight edited, but there’s still another twenty to go before this manuscript has hit the last edits I’ll be doing on my own.  After this one, I need willing vict… err volunteers to beta read for a full copy/line/whatever edit to find not just the gross grammar errors but inconsistencies and plot holes that need a lot of filling.

So far, I’ve found a few on my own and even a few things which did make a lot of sense once I sat back and looked over what I had and asked a few questions.  That meant I needed to rewrite an entire chapter.  Probably one or two, but a few adjustments should save me a bunch of rewriting all together.

I knew when I started it that Black Friday 2 wouldn’t be complete before the end of the year with my focus being mostly on SoNL.  At least that one is coming along well and the characters I’m focusing on through Karina are developing very nicely.  This one, Karina will be stepping up more to help her people.

Considering how things have been as far as work and writing, it has been a quiet year with a few high points.  Visiting K.T. Hanna at her home was among them.  NaNoWriMo was another and I had fun even though I couldn’t make it to the Kick-off and the final write-in/TGIO.  Two and a half stories to pass the 50K mark with only a day to spare.  That was cutting it close.  But, I cut it even more fine a few times in previous years.

On the subject of health, both Dave and I finally got the proper doctor care we need to get our health back onto the proper track.  Dave needed it the most and the medication he’s on, plus regular visits to the doc are doing wonders.  He’s lost some weight while I’ve maintained.  Thankfully, the primary concerns I had weren’t anything big to worry about, but I do have to be on medication and keep track of my blood sugar.

My year ended on a sad note, however.  December 2012 marked the loss of an old high school friend.  He was a part of our group even though he rarely sat with us at lunch or in the mornings before school.  His brother used to be my boyfriend and later, fiance, but even that relationship ended.  We were still friends afterward, but, by then, I was moving on into a dark spiral my mom was more than happy to see me shed a little while later.

With 2013 looming closer by the minute, I look back at this past year and shake my head.  Things could have been better.  They definitely could have been worse.  Now, looking ahead, I’m setting myself some new goals.

First goal: lose some weight.  I finally have a work out I like and have fun with.  It’s something I can do with my son and doesn’t require me going to a gym or killing myself trying to run laps.  We finally got the game Just Dance 4 and the dance workout option it definitely puts you through your paces and is high energy.  For now, 10 minutes at a time and we’ll slowly build up to a half hour or more.  Even mom is getting in on this and Dave will follow eventually.  Just the normal dancing really makes you sweat with the high energy steps they want you to do.

Second goal: start setting back some money to buy a house one day.  May not be this year or even next year, but we’ll get that nest egg building so we can get us something nice and with a lot of space and a yard for Colin, his friends, and any pets we may have.

Third goal: start submitting SoNL, take part in Pitch Madness, and work on making a killer query letter.  Try to finish Black Friday 2 and begin rewriting SoNL 2.  Before I can submit SoNL anywhere, I need the actual book name.  Society of Night and Lies is the trilogy name.  Beta Readers, please step forward and help me think of something, please!

Fourth goal: Return to my old blogging schedule where I post something each day.  Three days for random topics, and four days each focusing on a different novel I’m working on.  Sundays will still have excerpts and Mondays or Wednesdays will be my #Writemotivation posts.  If it gets spammy, tell me and I’ll tone things down a notch.  The last thing I want to do is become one of those people who get blocked (or zipped) on Twitter because of too many posts of nothing but the same thing like a broken record or babbling about who knows what just because it pertains to the book or the topic of the day.

Let’s start this new year with a smile and bright hopes for an even better future.

Oh!  For those that have wondered about my Twitter handle… it doesn’t mean I think I’m an okay author.  It means Oklahoma Author.  My usual net handle, Sabbath Silverclaw, is kept for certain forums only.  Now you know.  ;)