2014

I can't believe it's already the last day of 2014. This has been a long, weird, happy year for me, marked by some major life moments and a lot of change. It was my debut year! Seeing THE LOST PLANET hit bookshelves--that little book I plugged away at in 2010, determined to finally finish something--has been surreal and exciting. I'm so grateful to everyone who worked with me, helped me out, and cheered me on during that time.

And speaking of major life moments, it was around this time last year that I found out I was having a baby, though it was less like oh surprise we're having a baby! and more like thank heavens something finally worked! That whole experience ate up a lot of my attention this year, and in August we welcomed a sweet little girl into our lives. She is the happiest, giggliest baby I've ever seen, and we are having so much fun with her. The best part is how she makes everything we do matter a little bit more because we're always conscious of the fact that we're shaping her childhood memories. Christmas this year = awesome.

Of course, not everything was peaches and starshine in 2014. We got bumped out of the house we were renting and had to scramble to move across town. My husband stepped back from his career for a bit to make some long-overdue changes. With everything that was going on, I got really frazzled and lost the ability to focus well for a very long time, meaning that everything took me ten times longer than it should have. I read little. I wrote even less. For the first time in my life I was unable to get simple tasks done not because I was procrastinating, but because I actually never got the minutes I needed to empty the dryer or answer an email or put the leftovers into the fridge. It's crazy-making. (And just lolololol that I thought I could join in NaNo this year. L. O. L.)

But just in the past month or so, I've started to get my groove back. I'm learning how to make time for myself again. I've been writing more, skipping around on multiple projects and feeling creative joy instead of stress. Regular reading might actually be a possibility again. I'm heading into 2015 with a healthy, happy family, and high hopes for what I can accomplish this year. I can't wait to watch my daughter grow and change (so fast!). And to start things off with a bang, January 2015 will bring the publication of my sequel, THE STOLEN MOON (aka the book that nearly broke me). I'm proud of this book and excited about the great early reviews it's getting, and I can't wait until it's out in the wild. I'll post news very soon about the launch event.

Wishing you all a happy, safe, and successful 2015!