A Look At 2014

A lot of bad things happened this year. And I'm not talking about to me personally though there were definitely some not fun things. I mean in general. Some awful stuff happened. It's easy to feel down about it. So I think I'll just talk about some good things that happened this year even if they seem insignificant.

- Hubby got a job that he really loves. I mean really loves. And this is a wonderful thing for him and for me. It means I get to stay home and write.

- I published three short stories. There were times where I feel like this wasn't much of an accomplishment because they're just short stories. But I wrote them. I worked hard on all of them. And they are out there for the world to read. And I enjoy writing short stories. They are fun for me.

- I went to the RWA Conference in San Antonio. And I loved it. There was something wonderful about getting together with a large group of women who write the same thing you do. And by same I mean romance. Most of the time when people found out I wrote gay romance I was the only one they had come across that does so. Still. There was really something special about this for me.

- I have found that knitting works wonders when I'm having a rough day and I've worked to add more of it into my life.

- This isn't necessarily a happy thing but I really wanted to say something here. Like many I was devastated by the loss of Robin Williams. I've never mourned a celebrity before and I didn't know what to do about this. Our local drive-in theater had four nights of tributes to him. We went on the last night. Other nights they had shown some of his more serious stuff but that final night was all about the comedy. And at the end of it I realized how perfect it really was. I feel that's how he would want to be remembered. For making people laugh. For making people happy. What better way to pay my respects?

- B.J. Novak came to Book People twice. And he is just the sweetest. In March he came to promote his adult book. This is when I stood in line to meet him and get his autograph. I started off really well with talking to him but he thanked me and seemed so sincere about it that I got all flustered and forgot how to word. Then he came back in October to promote his children's book. So he read it to us. And he was hilarious. Didn't stand in line for that one but still got an autographed book.

- LeVar Burton came to Book People. He also read his children's book to us. He made me tear up more than once. Some because of his book and some because of how much he does for reading and Reading Rainbow. Got to stand in line and meet him too.

- R.L. Stine came to Book People and that was pretty awesome because he was a big part of my childhood. And I got to tell him that too!

- I did not get to meet Cary Elwes but I did get to hear him speak. There was a The Princess Bride quote-a-long (which was entertaining) and then he answered some questions. And there were also autographed books involved.

- The rodeo back in March. The rodeo is always good. I will never not love the rodeo. Also, I just found out that The Beach Boys are going to be at the rodeo this coming March and I am super excited.

- Thanks to Cat Hellisen I have discovered that I actually can write every day. As long as I set a low minimum. There are days where I can still write lots, but on those days when I don't want to write anything I can still manage 100 words. Either of rewrite or on something new. This has been a December only thing so far and I hope I can take this with me through the new year.

- October 11th was National Coming Out Day. I was going to write a blog post about it but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. However, I did take to twitter and tumblr to come out as asexual.

- Seth MacFarlane came out with a Christmas CD. I am super picky about my Christmas music but I love everything on this album. This is also when hubby finally realized I would leave him for Seth. Heh.

- I discovered Lindsey Stirling this year even though I should have discovered her ages ago. And I fell in love.

- I read some good books. I've blogged about them but I'll just list some of my favorites here.
Poisoned Apples: Poems for You, My Pretty by Christine Heppermann
Of Metal and Wishes by Sarah Fine
The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm by LeVar Burton
The Book with No Pictures by B.J. Novak
Dangerous Boys by Abigail Haas
The Young Elites by Marie Lu
Bliss by Lisa Henry and Heidi Belleau
The Magicians Trilogy by Lev Grossman
A Charm of Magpies Series by K.J. Charles
Half a King by Joe Abercrombie
One Man Guy by Michael Barakiva
Stolen Songbird by Danielle L. Jensen
Brute by Kim Fielding
Tease by Amanda Maciel

- Stephen King. Did you really think I wouldn't mention that I got to meet Stephen King? Talk about the highlight of the year. Stephen King. Yeah.


2014 was supposed to be better than 2013 and it was, but it still wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. I didn't expect to feel better immediately but I had hoped to be past certain things by the end of the year and I'm just not there yet. I have learned some things though and I know how I want to handle my writing in 2015. I know how I want to handle my life in 2015. I have goals. I have things I want to accomplish. But I also have the knowledge that sometimes life just gets in the way and unless something has a strict deadline, it's not the end of the world if I don't finish everything I want. I'm still writing and that's what really matters.

A large part of 2014 was about healing and I'm sad that this has to roll over to 2015. However, this isn't about making 2015 a better year. This is about taking control of my life in a way I didn't do this year because the first part of the year was still fairly rough.

I learned a lot this year. And I am thankful for that. Now it's time to take what I've learned and put it to good use. (But OMG don't hold me to that!)