Time for reflection

Here I am on new year's eve--alone. Well not alone...I have my kids, but they'll be in bed long before the strike of midnight, so I'll be ringing in the new year alone. DH has to work tonight, as he has for the past 3 years, but usually I have somewhere to go. But the flu bug has invaded our house, so I'm assuming that we're not welcome at other people's houses (I don't blame them...it's a nasty bug that I would want to spread to anyone).

So all this alone time has left me with time for reflection, time to contemplate what I've accomplished this year and want to accomplish in 2008:

2007

• Started the year receiving a year's worth of free books from Harlequin after winning the Ultimate Reunion contest. What an ego boost! And let me tell you, my TBR pile is ready to topple!


• Entered Harlequin's Ultimate Secret contest and won an Honourable Mention and a free book. Nothing to sneeze at.


• Submitted my novel Her Client's Wishes to Mills and Boon/Harlequin Romance. It was rejected in November, but I did it! I wrote a book!


• Wrote and submitted a romantic short story to a woman's magazine. I'm still waiting to hear on that one.


• Started a new wip (Taking Care of Business) aimed at the Mills and Boon Modern Heat imprint and specifically the Instant Seduction contest for which the prize is an editor for a year! What could be better? I feel really good about this story. I learned a lot writing my first novel and won't make the same mistakes twice.

2008

• Finish and polish the first chapter and synopsis of my new wip for the Instant Seduction contest (deadline of mid February)


• Finish and submit my wip to M&B. They can't buy it if I don't submit!


• Get published in short fiction. Writing short fiction allows me to feel as though I'm accomplishing something since sometimes the length of a novel can seem beastly and beyond reach.

There. That wasn't so bad. I can do all of those things in a year, can't I? Well with my spare time tonight I guess there's no better time to start than the present.

Have a happy new year everyone, and most importantly...happy writing!

Tis the season

Tis the season to get all warm and squishy about everything that you're grateful for in your life, so here I go...

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing my oldest daughter perform in her Christmas concert. So there's my baby--the little girl who was so shy she pulled her skirt up on stage last year--singing her heart out in the front row doing all the actions like a pro. I was so proud of her. I think we have have an actress on our hands. That thought makes my husband cringe since he's worked in the entertainment industry for way too long and worked with way too many spoiled actresses, but I keep telling him that our daughter would be different because, of course, she's perfect!

And then today as I watched my two girls having so much fun playing in the bath together, laughing and squealing with delight, I realized how truly blessed I am. I really can't ask for more.

OK, warm squishy stuff is over.

Needless to say I haven't gotten much writing done. Tis also the season for procrastination. I'm hoping that once my shopping is done, the baking is complete, and all the get togethers are over, I'll have some time to sit down and write.

Here's hoping its not February before that happens.

Merry Christmas to everyone. Hope you have a joyous holiday!

Moving On

I've started working on a new story, and you know what...it feels good. Fresh characters, fresh story--it's exciting.

Have all of you read about the new Presents contest? It's sounds like a great opportunity to get noticed, so I think I'll aim this WIP in that direction (more of a Modern Heat vs traditional Presents). What the heck. It's time to mix things up.

Are any of you planning on entering?