2014 - The Year in Review

2014?  Well, we've just about put that sucker to bed. 

January:  I started the year out in a funk, wondering whether I was going to keep writing.  Shortly thereafter, I got over myself and got back to work.  I began the total rewrite Wrongful Termination.  (The book I'm actually supposed to be editing while I wait for Edits: Round Two on Dying Embers.)  I got the rejection letter I'd been waiting on for 16 months, which kinda put me in another funk but then I got mad and lit a fire under my own ass.

February:  I actually listed my resolutions for 2014 - Take my writing more seriously. Reduce the irritation in my life. Accept myself for who I am.  (I think I did pretty well on all three.  Yay.)  I spent a lot of time watching the Olympics.  And baking.  Meanwhile, I finished the rewrite and sent loads of queries out.  Also, I began writing Djinn 3.

March:  First off, I got our taxes done.  Yay me.  Baked some stuff.  Sat down and figured out what I do on an average day.  OMG, and this was the month I not only rearranged the office, but got the world's most tragic haircut.  (If you go back, you'll see where I'm trying to be positive about it, but it was so bad.)  March was also the month when Hubs and I finally took a vacation and I met the family members I hadn't met in the 10 years we'd been married.  Also, and most importantly, I met my friend, JB Lynn, for the first time in real life.  Too cool.  Hubs began the re-plumbing project.

April:  Wow, April was a busy month on the homefront.  We got the electric up to code.  We contracted some dude to come spray for bugs, but he never showed.  We each got eyeglasses!  (Scary world now that we can both see. LOL)  The squirrels found a new way to live in our eaves, and the silly git had a litter of pups up there.  Tragic Hairdo Part 2 occurred and made March's gaff look like a supermodel's hair.  Also, Hubs started re-insulating the house. 

May: Hubs finished the insulation project.  The planting I did the previous fall finally started showing its glory.  Then Hubs did the plumbing project.  (That was a bear, but it's done and it's done right.)  I found my antique typewriter.  And we celebrated our 10th Anniversary.  I got really rolling on Djinn 3 and met my goal of 44K words in 30 days (cuz it was my 44th birthday that month).  We also started the vapor barrier project under the house. 

June:  We had to put off the vapor barrier project because it was raining like a bad devil, but Hubs got it done.  I finally finished the first draft of Djinn3, and started working on editing a suspense manuscript Bloodflow.  June was a pretty lazy month, though.

July:  This month saw a brown recluse invasion which had me scrambling to de-clutter.  We also dug out the remainder of the foundation so we could seal it and then fill it back in again.  Hubs also starting sanding the orange off the house.  Yay!  I killed a copperhead snake I found while I was weeding the wildflower bed, which led to me removing the rock border of said bed and pearocking the damn thing.  Hide in there, you slippery bastards. Additionally, I discovered - with the help of a friend - the joys of using vinegar and dish washing liquid as a weed killer.

August:  I spent a lot of time on work in August - editing things and researching things and tweezing things so I could submit things.  This was the month I really took the business of writing by the short hairs.  This was the month we lost ShortStop the fawn.  I completed the peagravel project and the driveway drainage project.  August was also the month where I broke my butt. 

September: Another month where I started out totally angsting over something stupid.  (Hey, it's a writer thing.)  But I fixed it up quick.  Yay!  I got the tweezing done that needed doing and submitted WIOH to a publisher. (Still waiting...)  I motored right along on the Bloodflow rewrite and got it done. And my mums started to bloom.  I finally got sick of tragic haircuts I had to pay for and cut my own hair.  I'm not winning any awards, but at least I kinda look like me again.

October:  Max's teeth really began giving him fits - not in the usual way, more like full blown.  I talked about a new book I wanted to write for NaNo, and then decided to work on finishing a book I never finished instead.  This was also the month where I realized I needed to stop beating my head against the rock of traditional publishing.  I finished the edit notes to myself for Wrongful Termination (the notes I'm now procrastinating about inputting) and I did edit notes on a dystopian I never finished.  And Hubs and I whacked walnuts into the woods with some old used golf clubs I bought. 

November: I did it.  I finally contacted an editor and a cover artist, and took the first steps to controlling my own writerly destiny.  To that end, I cleaned up my other blog and began posting over there again.  I also participated in NaNo and managed to rewrite that old novel all the way to the place I stopped last time - where I am still stuck.  But I won NaNo, and that counts for something, right?

December: It being December, we started out the month by chowing down on leftover turkey and decorating the house for Christmas.  I got my edits back from the editor, and took the majority of this month to get the manuscript whipped into shape.  I cleared the trails in the woods because it finally got cold enough to make the snakes and ticks go dormant.  This month, we also had Max's remaining teeth pulled and we're still dealing with the eating issues of toothless cat.  And we got Hubs a car for Christmas. 

For those of you who're still with me on this post, thanks.  For those of you who've stayed with me all year, THANKS!  I really appreciate you all.  And for the ones who'll come to visit me in 2015, I look forward to meeting you all.

2014 was pretty awesome, but here's to an even better 2015 - for us all.

:HUGS: