Obligatory New Year Post

Happy New Year! Raise your hand if you can believe it's 2007 already. What happened to 2006?

I have high hopes for '07. I was talking to a friend about this at our NYE gathering: I think I'm developing a superstition that my decades all resemble one another. "---3" years (1993, 2003) are all about change and struggle. Harmony comes in "---4". "---5" brings change, but good change. "---6" brings big change and a little bit of angst, which I did experience. "---7"? Well, '97 was a good year. Busy. Productive. I also ran 3 miles a day and weighed 123 pounds and wore a size 3-4.

I could live with that, although I would settle for walking three miles a day and weighing 133 pounds. (Hell, right now I'd settle for... but we won't talk about that.)

Really. Goals ("resolutions" might be a better word -- more customary):

(1) Now that the contract is nearly buttoned up, work with my editor to get "The Girl Least Likely" into publishable shape.

(2) Finish up "7S" -- actually, this first draft should be done by the end of January.

(3) Get a first draft done of "AW" by the end of the year -- now THAT would be something.

(4) Sew some baby quilts for some future babies I know about.

(5) Blah blah be a better person get in shape eat healthier stop tossing bottles of rum off the counter (it was an accident!)...

Hope 2007 brings prosperity and happiness for all of my loyal readers. All five of you.

Mwah!

k.

"Writerly things," she said.

The only thing I've been writing lately is the dog show. Which is fine, because I really like the dog show. Which is good, because it's only a week away and I have to work every day to be ready for it. And that part of the equation is a little tiring.

So what have I been doing while not writing?

Thinking hard about some new projects. I should say "new", because one of them ("7S") is 45,000 words strong right now. The other ("AW") is just roughly outlined. And the next one ("FB1") is only the vaguest jumble of characters and circumstances.

Having books lined up for future writing gives me the most wonderful, peaceful feeling. It's kind of like coming home from running errands on a rainy day and having a really excellent book that you're excited to read, just waiting for you. Only different. But seriously, there's something about it -- it's the opposite of a lonely feeling, but it's about writing. And the best part is that the ideas shuffle themselves around, and maybe at some point I'll come up with a strong idea that bumps one from the "Longform - Front Burner" folder to the "Longform - Back Burner" folder, which I think just happened last week with a new idea (the vague jumbly one). I feel like I can go somewhere with it. So I think I'm bumping my old number four ("TR") to the back burner, which is cool, because it's a little looser storyline, and it can simmer back there for a couple of years.

Also:

1. Updating my website. Finally a design that doesn't make the husb run out of the room gagging. For the first time ever.

2. Going out to dinner with friends and coming up with awesome new book ideas such as "Details B. Chapman" and "Dave's Bird-Dad Hike". Also threatening waiters with bodily harm if they touch my wine, and trying in my way to control the husb's behavior, and failing. And reminiscing with said friends about things that happened 8 years ago and realizing that we share all of the exact same memories. Which is a little creepy. Also, talking about Bonobos.

3. Working on the dog show (SURPRISE!).

I didn't go shopping yesterday, Black Friday, but it refreshes some old toy store employee memories. I had such a good time working there during the holidays! What a wonderful group of people that was. What ancient history.