New Year's Revelations

First, because I just remembered it, if you're in the Santa Cruz, CA area, come out to a panel/signing I'm doing at the Capitola Book Cafe tomorrow at 6:30! I'll have swag and maybe even a Original Sin galley to give away. =)

So, New Year’s Resolutions. I don't do them. It just gives me one more way I can disappoint myself when I don't keep them. Because, invariably, I don't. I'm not much for rules or discipline. I pretty much do what I want. So it seems a little silly to set some arbitrary rule for myself in the form of a resolution. Instead, I have occasional New Year's Revelations.

Two years ago, I'd just started writing. I'd spent all of November writing and made the rookie mistake of querying a novel that wasn't polished before Christmas. I fell over when I got what I asked for: two manuscript requests. Of course, the instant the requests came in, I knew my mss was nowhere near ready and revised like a crazy person all through Christmas. The thing is, when I'm writing, the characters sort of possess me (literally, when it comes to Luc) so, sadly, I tend to neglect everything else, including my family. Consequently, this was my 2009 New Years Revelation:

Writing is like heroin. When you’re doing it you’re flying and when you’re not it’s all you can think about, but no good can ever come of it and in the end it will ruin your life.

  

Then, my awesome crit partner, Andrea Cremer, proved my revelation wrong by getting an agent in the spring and selling Nightshade to Penguin in August. On top of that smack in the face to my revelation, in July I queried Personal Demons, which I wrote in Feb and March, and a whole bunch of agents wanted it. It was like lightning striking a winning 50 million dollar lottery ticket--twice. Then, lightning struck again when PD sold at auction just before Christmas last year. That shot my New Year’s Revelation all to hell. So, last year, my new New Year’s Revelation was more along the lines of:

Sometimes crazy sh*t happens.

This has been a wild year. Personal Demons was published, and someone other than my mother actually bought it. A lot of you have told me through email or reviews how much you liked it. Original Sin is written and ready to go. I’ve made a ton of new friends in readers, bloggers and other authors. And my family is happy and healthy. In other words, I’ve been blessed, and it’s in a large part because of all of you. Something else I’ve discovered this year is that, it might take a little longer, but I can write a book (Hellbent) without neglecting my friends (you) and my family. Yesterday was my birthday, and I’ve realized each one comes faster than the last. So this year, my New Year’s Revelation is:

At the end of the day, if I can’t remember the beginning of the day, I forgot to live that day.

No resolution, but more of an insight.

How about you? What did 2010 teach you?