Most of the time, I’m flailing about, trying to do multiple projects at once, juggling my kids, things that need doing around the house, and finding a small sliver of time to relax.
Making resolutions exhaust me because they tend to loom as yet more things that Must.Be.Done.
Instead, today, I’m going to take a look back and remind myself that I actually accomplished stuff in 2012 and that if I just keep my head down and cheerfully slog my way to greatness, this list next year will also remind me that, hey, I did stuff!
1. Cross that off the bucket list.
I wrote and had a comic story published, “The Promise,”a dream I’ve had since the first time I picked up a comic. This one was a long time coming, about four days, but so worth it that when I received the pages from my artist, the awesomely talented Cassandra James, I cried.
Page Two of "Promise"
2. GeekMom the blog and book.
A labor of love!
I never expected to be the author of a non-fiction book. I knew I loved blogging, so I was thrilled to be added in as a contributor to the GeekDad blog on Wired.Com. And spinning off GeekMom with my three co-editors, Kathy Ceceri, Natania Barron and Jenny Williams was a labor of love to give a voice to those who I felt strongly needed one.
So, yeah, this year, GeekMom accepted a contract to provide content to Wired.com, joining the GeekDad site!
And a book that we put together at crunch time, Geek Mom: Projects, Tips & Adventures for Moms and Their 21st Century Families, was published in October by Potter Craft of Random House Publishing.
I saw my book on the table at New York Comic Con. There was an article about it in Wired magazine. And my hometown paper did a full spread on the book and the blog just this week. I even signed the book at Turn the Page bookstore, Nora Roberts’ bookstore!
It’s kinda been a huge banner year for GeekMom in every possible way. Nothing but good times ahead!
2. The Phoenix Institute formally becomes a series!
Phoenix Rising, my romantic riff on the X-men-like group, came out in November of 2011. In November of 2012, the book did so well that I qualified for the Published Author Network of the Romance Writers of America. So, yeah, I entered it in their Rita contest, which is the romance equivalent of comic’s Eisner Awards or the Oscars. I have no expectations of finaling but, hey, I feel like I belong in the club.
Better yet, I published two more books in the series, Luminous, and Phoenix Legacy.
Luminous is a stand-alone novella that owes a great deal to the Gotham City Police Department and my love of superhero noir stories. I’m planning on returning to Charlton City, Lieutenant Aloysius James and Noir soon!
Phoenix Legacy owes a great deal to my love of New Jersey and a certain 80s television show called The Equalizer. There’s so much I love about these characters and so much that shouldn’t work in the story. The hero is very damaged, to the point of not being able to sort out morality, the heroine has good reason to hate him, and it’s kinda of a genetic manipulation/clone story.
And yet, everytime I read the end, I cause myself to think “awww….”
So I think it’s a good sign. 🙂
3. Blogging, blogging, blogging!
I sometimes think I get nothing done each day. But here is proof I did do something!
I wrote 81 posts for GeekMom!
I wrote 84 posts for GeekDad!
I started a new job at CriminalElement.com blogging about crimes & superheroes. Five posts so far!
I wrote 4 posts for the Beyond the Veil group blog.
Not to mention the five Samhain Publishing posts to celebrate my book releases!
That’s a cool 179 posts that I wrote in 2012. And I bet there’s a guest post around there to make it a solid 180.
I had no idea it was that much until I added it up just now. Okay, now I totally feel I was productive. I basically wrote a post every other day.
4. Adventures!
I took my three kids to New York Comic Con. As the younger ones have special needs on the autism spectrum, I was stressed about it. But they had a great time. So did I. Score one for the geek mom side.
In August, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a trip to Niagara Falls. Without kids. We had a great time, with huge thanks to the brother and sister-in-law, who watched three of the kids.
7. I managed to write 42,000 words of the next Phoenix Institute novel, finish edits on my steampunk romantic mystery, and tried to decide what happens next.
I have ideas….
My only resolution for next year? I want more time to read books! And meet more cool people I know from online, like meeting Gail Simone for the first time at C2E2 in Chicago, along with Amanda Conner!
