2010! Bring it on!

I love New Years. OK, I love most holidays, but this one deals with reflecting on the past and looking forward to a (possible) new beginning, of making new promises and setting new goals and with renewed hope of meeting them. It's an exciting time for an unpublished writer looking forward to much success in 2010. I thought of sharing my goals and aspirations specifically but instead wanted to share the words of some best selling authors (an eclectic bunch to be sure), that have really resonated with me as I think about the coming year and what I want to accomplish. Enjoy!

"My advice is not to wait to be struck by an idea. If you're a writer, you sit down and damn well decide to have an idea. That's the way to get an idea." Andy Rooney

"Don't quit. It's very easy to quit during the first 10 years. Nobody cares whether you write or not, and it's very hard to write when nobody cares one way or the other. You can't get fired if you don't write, and most of the time you don't get rewarded if you do. But don't quit."  Andre Dubus

"You have to follow your own voice. You have to be yourself when you write. In effect, you have to announce, "This is me, this is what I stand for, this is what you get when you read me. I'm doing the best I can - buy me or not - but this is who I am as a writer."" David Morrell

"A genuine creation should have character as well as be one; should have central heating, so to say, as well as exterior lighting." James Hilton

"Write. Rewrite. When not writing or rewriting, read. I know of no shortcuts." Larry King

"A best-selling book usually follows a simple rule, 'It's a wonderful story, wonderfully told'; not, 'It's a wonderfully told story.'" Nicholas Sparks

"You have to have the three D's: drive, discipline and desire. If you're missing one of those three, you can have all the talent in the world, but it's going to be really hard to get anything done." Nora Roberts

"I don't believe one reads to escape reality. A person reads to confirm a reality he knows is there, but which he has not experienced." Lawrence Durrell

"In truth, I never consider the audience for whom I'm writing. I just write what I want to write." J. K. Rowling

"I know what women want - and that's to be flung across a man's saddle, or into the long grass by a loving husband." Barbara Cartland

Happy New Year and here's wishing everyone much health, happiness and success in 2010! Bring it on!

The Worst Gift EVER

I've gotten some interesting ones over the years and this year overall I did pretty well I have to say. My husband even bought me a brand new, totally ergonomic (with a zillion adjustments) desk chair! How cool was that? Hopefully, I can put it to good use in 2010! Someone else decided to give me a box of Godiva chocolates. How could they? Now, on the surface, it sounds sweet and thoughful, not to mention delicious. Right? It is - BUT this box has 105 chocolates and is 2 pounds, 11 ounces of sugar!! It took me awhile, but I finally figured out this box has over 7,000 calories! What were they thinking? It's not like I really obsess about my weight or what I eat, but 7,000! Here's my dilemma - should I eat them as fast as I can to just get rid of them or should I spread it out, savoring them slowly and try and minimize the impact to the hips? Of course, I didn't consider throwing them out or giving them away :). What's the worst gift you've ever received?

I've been bad, very bad...

... I haven't blogged for 20 days! Will it get me on the naughty list? I sure hope so (LOL)! The holidays have been particularly hectic this year. I have international visitors, I had to put my cat down (how hard was that?) and we had a last minute trip out of town this week. It has all added together to ensure I've been incredibly unproductive this month, and I had such plans!

So, who makes New Years resolutions? I typically don't, but this year I can't help thinking about what I want to accomplish with my writing in 2010 (well plus losing the five pounds I've probably gained). I'm committing to write every day, even if it's the chapter heading at the top of a blank page (or a post on my blog ;) ) and I vow this year I WILL BE PUBLISHED! Yeah, I figured I would keep it really simple.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to everyone and best wishes for a happy, healthy and successful 2010!

I want to be a "I'll buy any book with her name on it" author...

Someone asked me the other day if I wanted to make it to the NY Times bestseller list some day. Ah, duh! Of course, that would be great, awesome, amazing and out of this world. A lofty goal to aspire to, but hey, I believe you need to have stretch goals and why not aim for what you want, no matter how 'out there' it may be? But it got me thinking - being on some list is a validation of your accomplishment for sure but I think about it more in terms of the readership I would have and I tried to think about how that could be translated to a tangible goal (cause that's the way I am). I want to build a readership who will buy my books just because they're mine, because they have my name on it, because they know what they'll get with one of my stories. What goals do others have in relation to where you want to go and what you want to accomplish with YOUR books?

Note to self - Murphy's Law!

Well, my entry in the Golden Heart 2010 is in and I am so done with it! Well, that's not exactly true. I find it hard to let go of a story once I've completed it and I like to think about what happens after that last scene. Anyway, I left it to the last minute to send it. I tried telling myself (and I told hubby) I was going to take the maximum possible time I could to ensure it was perfect. Was it perfect? NO! Of course not. It never would be because I have two BIG weaknesses - I tend to procrastinate and I'm a perfectionist. Put them together and it's a pretty big challenge because I'm never done! Plus, I usually plan for contingencies, but this time I figured, what could go wrong? Try a urinary tract infection for my daughter, a throat infection for me, a school trip for my son we had to get ready for, a busted coffee maker, holiday decorations the kids DEMANDED we do over the weekend, a hard drive that crashed, and a broken Wii remote (the biggest disaster of all!). It meant down to the wire stress, late nights and lots of hair pulling - but you know what? I love, love, love that! I love feeling the pressure of a pending deadline and am fascinated by the 'do what it takes' stuff I produce then. Yeah, I know, it's been said before. I'm sick that way.

So, it's in the mail. I'll still be a little nervous till the tracking number tells me it was delivered, but I plan to just push it to the back of my mind and forget all about it. Now, I have numerous characters in my head demanding that they be next. How to choose??