Happy New Year

So, it's a new year. What have I done this year?

I already outlined this year's accomplishments in "Giftmas Eve Eve" a few weeks ago, but here it is again:

- I finished my second novel: "Caldera".
- I wrote the first draft of my third novel: "Blink".
- I edited the hell out of my first novel ("Spectacle") getting it down from 137K words to 116K.
- I wrote a few short stories, and
- began submitting shorts to literary journals.
- I also began submitting poetry. (Okay, one poem I wrote years ago, but it's worth publishing.)
- I joined AW, and have learned a great deal about the business of writing while also finding a few like-minds to commiserate with.
- I learned how to write a 'hook',
- and learned better how to write a query letter.
- And finally, I started this blog.

On the non-writing front:
- I finished my first full year of homeschool teaching, and my child is now smarter than I am.
- I helped her prepare for the local spelling bee, and felt the pride of seeing her make it to regionals.
- I participated in my first political campaign, and felt the crush of my candidate's loss.
- I celebrated my 2nd anniversary with the most wonderful, loveable, 'perfect for me' man ever.
- I learned that the pain of losing my father still feels like kick to the guts, but that it hurts less each year.
- "Books by BES" was born on Amazon, and sold over 100 used books online, keeping my book buying addiction happy and adequately funded.

All in all, it's been a good year. May the next hold many more accomplishments.

Happy New Year everyone.