Hi friends! Welcome to the last day of 2018. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you know that most of my posts aren’t about my personal life, but today, I felt like indulging myself with a look back.
This has probably been the longest year of my life, simply because of all I’ve done and all of the changes I’ve gone through. I know I’m not the only one who had a tumultuous time.
Mr. Donovan and I mourned the very unexpected death of his father — a wonderful, loving, energetic man who was at the center of his family and his community.
We said goodbye to longtime friends and sold the house we’d lived in for sixteen years to make the move from Kansas City to Los Angeles.
As in 2017, I worked long hours at my day job. Our publishing company began acquiring original fiction, expanded to print editions, and expanded to wider distribution.
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It’s been a difficult year, but also an amazing year, and I have so many things to be grateful for. Here are 18 of them!
1. We found a great apartment in Studio City: one that allowed our three little rescue dogs, just a mile from my office!
2. For the first time in our lives, we spent a lot of time at the beach. I never thought of myself as a beach person…I don’t even know how to swim! But for a Midwesterner like me, it really is something to be able to decide to head to the shore on a whim. Our old Honda is permanently packed with beach chairs, towels, and an umbrella.
3. I wrote Sunrise Cabin, a clean, sweet Hallmark romance about two people who both have personal reasons for wanting to buy the same little mountain cabin that’s gone up for sale. I wrote it mostly between the hours of 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
For a few reasons, I was terrified to release it…but people liked it pretty well!
4. Oh, and I got to be on TV to talk about the book! Although honestly, the hosts did most of the talking about it, which I appreciated.
5. I got to know my new co-workers better. My closest colleague, who does more of the business side of the publishing company, is wonderful to work with, and so is my boss. I also had a fantastic intern. I’m going to miss her! Except not really, because I’ve appointed myself her writing mentor. Outside of the office, I worked with talented writers, editors, and designers.
6. We visited Mr. Donovan’s mother, many of his siblings, and our nieces and nephews on two separate visits: one in Laguna Beach, and one on Coronado Island. It was wonderful to see them all! (There are so many of them and we have so many pictures that I didn’t know which ones to choose.)
7. Some of our best friends in the world — fantasy author J.R. Boles and her husband — came out to California for a visit. And of course, we had to go to Harry Potter world at Universal Studios.
8. My brother and his wife also came out to visit! They are two of our very favorite people in the whole world.
9. Speaking of favorite people…Mr. Donovan’s brother, our sister-in-law, and their daughter came out to visit us, too! This picture is of my niece telling me all about the paranormal romance she’s writing (which sounds suspiciously like my book The Phoenix Codex in a lot of ways…)
10. We visited Kansas City in the fall and saw many of our friends there. Our timing was perfect: the boyfriend of one of my best friends popped the question, and we took part in the surprise engagement party! My friends in Kansas City mean so much to me, and I’ll never let them go.
11. We visited with other friends, too! Some of them came in from out of town. Some of them were dear online friends I met in person for the first time. Okay, I can officially say that visiting with people is one of my favorite things in the world.
12. We saw amazing artwork at the Getty, the LACMA, and the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.
13. We explored great bookstores (including one with a very friendly cat who jumped in my lap), and I read a lot of good books.
14. We got together with Mr. Donovan’s aunts, uncle, and cousins, who live in the Los Angeles area.
15. Mr. Donovan and I spent a little time in Joshua Tree National Park. I’d always wanted to see it!
16. This moment at the RWA (Romance Writers of America) conference in Orlando meant a lot to me. Our still-new publishing company had a small, almost-empty room at the hotel for “office hours,” meaning anyone could stop by at that time and chat with us and ask questions. I didn’t know if anyone would show up or not, but we figured it was a good idea. I got to the room a half hour early and chatted with one of my editors.
Around the time the office hours started, I got up to open the doors so if anyone dropped by, they would know it was fine to come in. There was a line of about one hundred writers, wanting to hear about us. I didn’t know what else to do, so I invited them all into the chair-less room, kicked off my high heels, and stood on a chair to give an impromptu presentation about our publishing company.
17. We met new writers in the area, partly by starting a Studio City Writers meetup.
18. We had a happy, fun Thanksgiving with my sister, her family, and my parents.
Oh, shoot. I ran out of room. I also wanted to say I connected with more wonderful people through this blog! I love reading your writing on WIP Wednesdays and hearing what you have to say in comments, and I really appreciate your just being there.
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In 2019, we want to do a lot more exploring. South California will be our playground on weekends…and I’m going to be on a cruise to the Bahamas (for work!) and in Paris. Follow me on Instagram if you want to see pictures!
What were the highlights of your 2018? Sometimes, when you look back on the good things, you realize it was a better year than you thought! But if 2018 was a terrible year for you, let’s celebrate the fact that it’s over. If there’s something you’re really looking forward to or hoping will happen in 2019, let us know about that in the comments, too! Thanks so much for reading, and Happy New Year!
Some of the highlights of my 2018:
I participated in NaNoWriMo for the first time. I didn’t hit 50,000, but I surpassed my personal goal of 20,000. So, I consider that to be a success, even if that particular story isn’t even close to finished yet.
I had two major events happen in my story. One was the death of a certain character and the other was…*big spoiler*. I knew that these two things had to happen. I had even dropped hints that they would. But it still took me by surprise when the story turned that way sooner than I’d expected. Reading those scenes over again makes me happy, because they feel like they are in the right place. They don’t feel like forced drama (at least it doesn’t feel that way to me 😉 ).
I’ve had a lot of fun sharing snippets of my story over here on the WIP Wednesdays.
A non-writing highlight:
My family got a new golden retriever puppy. His name is Jovie and he’s about seven months old now. He is sooooo cute. He has that kind of face and personality where you just want to pick him up and take him home. 😆
What a great list of 18 life”erfulness” for your 2018! Thank you for sharing. I have never been to Joshua Tree, although it’s not too terribly far, it’s on my list. And Sunrise Cabin is a delightful book!!! Also, congratulations on Jovie, puppies are the best!!
I must admit, 2018 started off horribly, but it ended up being one of my best years, maybe ever. Not only did I meet and make so many new friends, but I sold a novel, and my 2nd picture book, and signed a acquisitions letter for my 3rd picture book. However, I think the most important thing I had happen in 2018 was a better acceptance and understanding of how hard I work and the importance of self-care.
Wishing you a great 2019!!
Hi Savannah! Thanks for the kind words! I’m so glad 2018 turned out so well. It’s a good reminder that you can’t always judge something by how it starts out. 🙂 And those are some amazing accomplishments! Congratulations, and I’m so glad hard work is paying off. Have a wonderful 2019!
Thank you so very much!
Happy New Year, Bryn and everyone! In 2018, I had unexpected moves of home residence and my virtual home(s) online. I’m keeping a running list of where to find me on my AO3 profile page, as Archive of Our Own is the long-term home of my published fan fiction.
And I finished The Amatus and the Altus! Despite my health challenges and other roadblocks, I stuck with it and published the final two chapters of the Trevelyan brothers’ adventure in December. Can the future Bann of Ostwick live happily ever after with a dwarf commoner at his side? Can the Inquisitor live happily ever after with a mage whose ties to the Magisterium turn out to be not as dead as they thought? (Hint: My short fics sometimes end in angst, but my long fics tend not to.)
I started playing with the characters more than two years ago (07-29-2016). Posted 35 chapters over the last 20 months, 04-23-2017 to 12-22-2018. Words published: 153,630. Words in manuscript: 155,679. Words cut from manuscript: 49,085.
Thank you to everyone who left wonderful comments on my WIP Wednesday posts here! Best wishes for a happy 2019!
I am so impressed with your productivity! It was such a great project (and HUGE) and you must feel so proud to have finished it and made it so good. Have a wonderful 2019! Thanks for being here and being you. 🙂
There are several things I’ve been thankful for this year.
1. I got almost twice as far on my novel as I thought I would. While I may be switching from third person to first at the moment, I didn’t think I’d finish my first round of revisions. I had those finished in the summer. This new direction is extending the process, but it will so be worth it.
2. I got to see Thirty Seconds to Mars in concert. I spent several hours out in the Oklahoma sun so I could get a good spot in the pit for the show. There was only one person between me and the stage. The show was amazing, and to think I almost missed out because I would have to go alone…
3. I’m learning to take care of myself. The majority of my time is spent taking care of everybody else around me. I’ve always been that way. I come last. Recently I’ve learned that in order to be there for others I have to take care of me. That has meant making some major changes to some of the relationships in my lives, but I’m a lot happier for it.
Those are the main ones that come to mind for me. I’ve got big plans and dreams for the year to come. I’m making changes and moving forward. 2019 is going to be awesome!
Happy New Year, Erin! Those are GREAT things. I love it! Wishing you the best of luck on the novel and the best of life in general in 2019!
Hi Bryn! Sounds like you had an awesome year.
Mine wasn’t bad, though I’m not sure what it was . . . I did NaPoWriMo and self-published a book of poetry at the end of the year. That took strangely longer than I’d expected, but I supposed that’s par for the course.
Took my daughter LARPing a couple times. She loved that. (I did too.)
Not 100% sure, but it looks like we’ll be moving to Austin in 2019, so I’ve been seeing a lot of the things that are happening as lasts. Last Christmas here, last winter in this house, etc. Been realizing that I’ve been totally in my comfort zone in my work, and when we move, it’ll be time for me to step out of that, which I don’t relish, but I know it’ll be good.
2019 will be a year of major changes.
May it be a stellar year for you.
How did I not know about the book?! Congratulations! I’m buying it. You’re a great poet, always have been. Holy smokes…moving to Austin would be a huge change for sure. If it happens, I can easily imagine how difficult it will be…and it will probably be really exciting, too. Everyone loves Austin! No matter what happens, I hope it’s a wonderful year.
Yes, Austin is great, part of why I know it’ll be a good move.
Thank you for the positive words about my poetry. I always felt like kind of an outsider back in college, not being a writing major. But really I suppose that’s mostly just how I felt all the time, haha! In any case, any encouragement from people who know what they’re talking about means a lot to me. You are awesome.
Wow! It sounds like you’ve done some great things this year. Congrats on the book. That’s awesome.
Happy New Year, Bryn! Sounds (and looks) like you had an amazing 2018…and Paris/Bahamas for 2019??? Awesome!!
This was a generally terrific year for me and my family, despite things like my mother-in-law’s sudden passing and all the legal, estate-related crap that’s opened up. I did finish my novel, which has now turned into two novels…my children have all done really well academically…my younger daughter had no incidences at all last year of her Absence Epilepsy…we attended the Medieval Festival and got our photo in the newspaper…had a terrific family trip to Melbourne…my dad’s heath is stable, for what it is…I did something this year I never dreamed I’d have the courage to do (we’ll leave it at that – it’s R+ rated! 🙂 )…and, in general, I’ve just felt very connected and in love with my husband, my family, my home…my life. The pessimist in me (ahem…Capricorn…) is whispering, “Watch out…2018 was great…the bubble’s gotta burst eventually…” But I just try to tell it, “Shut up…there’s plenty of goodness to go around, and the Universe isn’t keeping score. This will be a magnificent year, too.” So here’s me raising my glass to everyone here for a great 2019, no matter the challenges. 🙂
I am not well-travelled AT ALL, so going to the Bahamas and to Paris in one year is making me feel VERY fancy, even if the cruise is a work trip! My condolences on your MIL’s loss…that’s so hard. It’s so fantastic that you’ve finished your two novels that used to be one novel…and that you had so many good things happening with your family. The bubble doesn’t have to burst! Maybe it’ll get even BETTER. 🙂 *clinks your glass*