LOOKING BACK at 2012

Wow!  Where did 2012 go?

I don't know about you but I did not accomplish everything I'd hoped for this year. Our expectations of a new beginning are always grander than what we actually come away with... or maybe not.

HERE'S what I had in mind for 2012.
Basically, I wanted to be more organized, a bit calmer and more productive. In some ways I accomplished all three, just not necessarily in the way I imagined.

As far as organization goes, the Page A Day to do list thing just didn't work out. I still have specific things I do every day. To add them to every one of their appropriate days by hand would have given me writers cramp. So I tried printing them off in strips and gluing them to the correct days. Talk about BULK! I couldn't get the entire year in the day planner... and I never switched things out.

Trying things is GOOD. If we don't try something to see if it will work, we will never know. Well, now I know that didn't work... so I'm taking a different approach I'll talk about later in the week.

Calmer? Well, that is a relevant term. I felt calmer... until about mid-September when the freelance began to pick up. I started networking with an entirely new genre of people in earnest and found myself in a Texas-sized watering hole of incredibly talented people, and opportunities to go along with it. Then the first of this month, I did it again. This time I discovered the Symphony... the Polish Sinfonia of Krakow Poland actually. I'd heard them perform last year but this year I actually got to make friends with a couple of the members, and one of the conductors. Again, a new door to what I believe will be an incredible journey if I can just stay the course.

Which brings me to Productive. Definitely. Aside from meeting awesome people, I finished Nano in 18 days! Yes, you read that right. Not only did I hit the 50k mark, I actually wrote THE END of the novel. Unchained Hearts was a new bedroom for me to play in and I enjoyed it immensely. In fact, My JANO novel will have a bit of the same theme... 50s heroine and a 50s hero exploring their feelings for one another.

I also published in 4 out of 6 issues of Polymer Cafe magazine, as well as had a request for my first multiple -page article. I am blessed to have the support of my editor, Anne Huizenga. She is AMAZING and gives me creative freedom. I fear she will have spoiled me for ever working with another editor, but I'll give it a shot knowing I have her in my corner and on my reference list.

That about sums up 2012 for me. I spent a lot of time on the road, lots of time playing with my granddaughters and telling my own personal hero how much I love him every day.
For without him, none of what I do would mean anything.

In a couple days, I'll be back to talk about how I'm changing things up a bit for what will hopefully be a more organized, productive, and profitable 2013.

Creative Blessings
Angela