Winter Blues and Books! By Robin Janney

Here it is Saturday night and I have no idea what to write.  I tried starting this post on Wednesday but became sidetracked and have since transferred it to another place for later.  Or never.

"Be Yourself." It's something I struggle with in the area of blogging.  Not always knowing what to write, because I don't want to cross the line and revert back into the venting mode I used to use when blogging.  I'm conscious of the fact that I have readers that I know in person and it's a constant thought in the back of my head.  I have never completely lost the negative trait of wondering what so-and-so will think.  Because of this, I often don't always say or write what I'm really thinking.  And that's not always a bad thing.

I'm still very down because of recent events, and there's the possibility that my thyroid medicine still isn't a high enough dosage.  It is very hard for me to write anything when depression is bad.  Even poetry.  I've always written best when the tide has turned and I'm climbing my way back out.  I know some of it is due to life events, and some of it is due to our lovely winter weather.  We have another snow and ice storm due to start sometime tomorrow - oh joy!  I can hardly contain myself.

Of all the goals I set back at the beginning of January, the one I am sticking to the most, oddly enough, is posting more on Twitter.  How weird is that?  I've been picking up new followers though, and connected with another aspiring author.  I gave her what advice I had, and we became friends on Facebook.  One thing Lisa did was start herself a blog, how exciting is that?  It should be fun to watch her grow as a blogger and writer!

I haven't forgotten my other goals, and still have faith that I'll see them to fruition.

Two things are happening in the world of books that really kinda have me pumped.  One, if you haven't heard yet, where have you been? Harper Lee is releasing a sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird.  Because of pre-orders, Go Set A Watchman is already on the best sellers list; it's not due out until the middle of July!  It will be a long wait for some people.

The second isn't quite as impressive I guess, but Frank Peretti showing his face on his Facebook page made my day.  He was sharing about his latest endeavor with a group of three other authors.  A new series, each novella written by a different author and in a different character's voice.  If you're interested, you can find the first book here on Amazon.  Frank's book will be out in March.

I've always been a fan of Frank Peretti.  His writing resonates with me.  The book that won my heart for life though was The Visitation.  I reread it every so often, just to see which character I identify with at the current point in my life.  It changed how I thought about God, church, and so-called spiritual gifts.  It gave me piece about my journey in life.  And yes, it's fiction.

I'm in between books at the moment, but will soon be picking one up to read.  Maybe Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, or Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.  I haven't decided yet.  What books have you read so far this year?  What are you looking forward to reading?

Happy New Year and Happy Anniversary! by Robin Janney

Back in the early days when I was naively using a
whole sheet of stationary!

As I was going through the little pieces of paper I had placed in my Happiness Jar over the last year (or rather, the first half of last year) I came across a piece of paper documenting how partnering up with Carol to create Broads of a Feather made me happy.  And I realized with a shock, this blog would soon hit its one year anniversary!  Which was yesterday!

Why this was a "shock" since Carol mentioned it in last weeks' post, I don't know; perhaps seeing the date in my own handwriting, obviously exuberant, just made it more real.  Or perhaps I'm just a bonehead who doesn't pay that close of attention to the calendar accept for doctors appointments.  But obviously, the venture delighted me enough that I put it in the jar!

Ok, it's not a jar, but a plastic cheeseball container.  Whatever works, right?

But I'll be writing more about my Happiness Jar on my own blog as soon as I'm done with this post.

It doesn't feel like it's been a whole year already, but on the other hand, some days it feels like Carol and I have always known each other and have always been writing together.

Since Carol went over our highlights for the past year in her blog post, it would be rather redundant of me to do the same.  Instead, it is a new year with new challenges and new goals so I'll touch on them instead.

I know many eschew the entire notion of New Years resolutions and goals.  But not Carol and me!

Both of us would like to continue a healthier lifestyle into 2015.  Me so I can better control my diabetes, continue to lose weight, and maybe get off my meds someday; Carol with the goal of running in a 5K run this spring.  Since I'm still facing surgery at the end of this month, I think I'll leave the running up to her for right now.  I just hope I can manage my diet well enough afterwards that I don't balloon back up and hopefully continue to lose weight.  At one point last year, I was so happy with the number the scale gave me that I wrote it down and put it in the Happy Jar.  Needless to say, I was not happy with the numbers I gained since then.  But the numbers are coming back down again, so I'll focus on that instead!

Another goal we ladies share is finishing our works in progress, as Carol mentioned last week.  I have the middle of my third book written and need to work on the beginning and the end.  It is difficult right now, with a husband off of work because of his torn tendon (shoulder) but I was working on notes and the simple outline I use.  I say simple because it is far from being a proper outline.  I still have some decisions I need to make, on character involvement and interactions.  They don't always want to play well together!  From her updates on Facebook, Carol's Overcoming Sarah has been progressing right along.  Probably not as fast as she'd like, but every paragraph written is progress!

I am probably feeling too ambitious this year.  I've already failed at getting this post up on time.  But that doesn't put too much of a damper on my enthusiasm for my goals this year.  I will get better at social media and blogging.  I will get a blogging schedule written down, for both blogs.  I will finish my third book this year.

Can you tell I'm trying to keep myself positive?  This year is already off to a rough start.  Not only because of impending surgery and unknown treatment for hubby's shoulder, but his uncle on the one side is in the hospital battling for his life.  This is the last uncle for that branch of the family and he's already had a heart attack.  Not a great way to be starting out the new year!  One way or the other, I will work around the challenges in my life and if I don't come through them on top, it won't be because I didn't try.  I've even boldly started a GoFundMe campaign to help us out while my husband and I heal from our injuries.

There are times to be timid, and there are times to be bold.  I have a lot of bold ideas for this new year, but I won't tell you what they all are.  Mostly out of fear that I'll fail to achieve them!! Okay, okay...I give.  Maybe if I tell you, it'll help me keep focused on them and maybe I'll get them done.  Two of my bold ideas for this new year are 1. to start a newsletter of some kind and 2. finish a shorter book for submission to a publishing house.  A girl's gotta dream big, right?  I know what manuscript I want to work on, but I want to get my third book done first.  I don't know what I would want for a newsletter yet in terms of how often.

So there you have it, a few of our goals and resolutions for the new year.  What about you dear readers? Did you make any resolutions or goals this year?  What challenges are you facing already?