Wrapping Up 2007

Another year is drawing to a close. Can't say I'm too sorry to see it go. Not that it was altogether a bad year, but I'm ready to start a new year fresh. In honor of that, I'm wiping the slate clean by listing the major events in 2007 to wrap it up in a neat bundle and pack in the warehouse with the other memories.

This was the year I turned 37 (almost typo'd 17 - wouldn't it be great to be that young again?) and celebrated my 3rd wedding anniversary. I celebrated my 13th year of life after my car accident - 14 is coming up in a couple weeks. (Actually, I completely forgot about it on the date, but I'm thinking about it now, so I thought I'd include it.)

This year I wrote two books - AWJ (#4) in the spring and R2L (#5) in the fall. I finished the final polishing Spectacle(#1) and I put my Caldera (#2) in the can - which is to say it's as finished as it's ever going to be without an editor. I began two others (Redemption and JA) which are both waiting to be finished until I can finish editing my other three unfinished books. I thought I had Blink (#3) finished, but it turns out it needed a complete rewrite in the middle - something I finished a couple days ago. I also wrote a couple short stories somewhere in the middle of all that.

This was the year I found the joys of a critique partner, and learned anew the disappointment of a writing community (that shall remain nameless). 2007 was also the year I learned to network with my fellow bloggers. I've made some interesting acquaintance that I would like to someday call friends, but that remains to be seen.

Another thing I did this year was started reading as research, and started keeping track of the books I've read. I read 70 books during 2007 (as far as I know - I still think I may have missed some at the beginning of the year). I discovered several authors that were new to me and that I will be looking for in the future. Those include, but are not limited to, Allison Brennan, Natalie M. Roberts, Jennifer Apodaca, Rick Riordan, Rachel Vincent, Diana Peterfreund, Lynn Viehl (aka S.L. Viehl) and Laura Bradford. I also re-discovered a couple authors I'd forgotten about like Orson Scott Card, Ken Follett and Nevil Shute. This year I finally made the jump and read Dan Brown, too. All in all it was a good reading year. There were only a couple books I absolutely hated (and those shall remain nameless, too).

In the submission arena, I made the jump and submitted both Spectacle and Caldera to publishers (one publisher each), submitted short stories to lit mags, and entered my first two contests. The jury's still out on one of the contests, but the other said I was near the top of the non-winning entries (or something like that... I forget the exact wording). Oh, and I submitted a poem to a lit mag, too, but it was a wash. Darn it all. Still no action on the representation front, but this year was not a big year for submitting to agents. Frankly, I was too busy writing and editing to get much submitting done. This coming year both Blink and R2L will be sitting in the slush piles of any agent who reps their genre (or even close to their genre).

On the homefront, my darling daughter started high school (if one can really call 9th grade in homeschool 'high school') this fall. Last spring, she made it to the state spelling bee. I'm very proud of her and her accomplishments. This year she also decided what she wants to be when she grows up - or at least what she wants to major in. She chose Chemistry. Right now, she's hoping to get into some kind of cosmetics or perfume industry, or she's still thinking about forensic chemistry like the guys on CSI do. She's a teen, what can I say. I don't care as long as she's happy and she's making enough money to take care of me in my dotage. ;o)

Nothing new or exciting going on with my husband. He's still working hard and supporting me in my endeavors (both emotionally and financially), and he's still the best, most wonderful man alive. =oD

This year, a niece got married, a nephew got engaged and began working toward his Masters degree, another niece completed her high-school diploma at home while caring for her toddler son and began taking college correspondence courses. Two other nephews joined 4H and a different nephew is pulling good grades in school. My last two nieces are out there somewhere, one going to college and the other getting ready for college (I think) - I wish them both well even though I haven't seen them in 14.5 years.

All in all 2007 was a good year. Now onward to 2008. Tonight I'm making a sumptuous steak dinner with sauteed mushrooms and rosemary potatoes, plus a turtle cheesecake for dessert. We'll break out the bottle of sparkling white grape juice, and toast the end of another 12 months stretch.

What big plans do you have tonight? What's happened in your year worth celebrating and what are you wrapping up to make way for 2008?