2013 Year In Review: A Year of Growth and Opportunity
I hate the phrase, “rebuilding year.” As a Detroit Lions fan by marriage, it seems that every year since the creation of American football has been a rebuilding year for them. Instead of rebuilding, I’m going to say 2013 was a year of growth and opportunity for me.
I shared the role of Communications Coordinator for my location’s branch of the Pride Associate Resource Group. I learned so much about the community and met several new friends. What a great place to live and work. I am ready to do the Communications job solo in 2014, and we are going to have a fantastic time at Pride Fest this June!
I finished a five book series. Five books in four years. Granted, I should have probably spent more time polishing, editing, and making sure it shined before I submitted it. I’m seriously considering breaking the series into smaller chunks before I make another attempt to sell it.
I read 67 books this year. Not the 90 that I read last year, but I’m going to take the first 1/2 hour of each day to read in 2014, and we’ll see how many I read next year.
I purchased new software that will help me be a better writer. I use Write it Now 4 to draft my novels and Microsoft One Note to keep track of everything else. Now, instead of digging through notebooks to find something, or worse yet, letting a story sit in a notebook for years without writing it, I now have one location for all of my story ideas, plot bunnies, half-finished manuscripts, and submissions calls. Along with the purchase of my new computer, 2014 looks to be a very productive year for me.
I finally came out to (some of) my family about writing gay romance. I have a whole new appreciation for how hard it must be to come out to family and friends. If my husband hadn’t been there with me, I probably would have kept my mouth shut.
2013 wasn’t all fun and roses, don’t get me wrong. I submitted my first novel to the only publisher I truly wanted, and it was rejected. I applied for an internship that I didn’t get. I watched several of my favorite coworkers get new jobs and leave the service center. While I’m so happy for them, I miss them, too. I watched my niece grow into a lovely young woman, a high school graduate, a promising college co-ed, and then watched her dreams fizzle as her mother tried to play god. My niece still has a promising future, but the road ahead will be hard, unnecessarily hard.
Even with the ups and downs and the crazy family drama, I enjoyed the hell out of 2013. Tomorrow night, I’ll raise my glass of Moet and toast to 2014: may it be rewarding, prosperous, and full of love for all of us.