2012 New Year's Resolutions

It's been a month. How have I been doing on my New Year's Resolutions?

Let's see:

On the 'Be bored' front (I'm so busy/stressed I miss the sweet moments in life), I've been struggling. I've been so busy I'm not getting stuff done I want to get done. (As per usual, I guess. Which is where this resolution came from!)

It snowed on the first or second day of this year and I sat in the window and watched the beauty nature had to offer. That counts. I've been slowing down to watch my cats. Since they're not 'new' anymore (I've had them for two wonderful years now), I've been taking them for granted. We have our routines and live our lives and I enjoy them but I've been really enjoying the enjoyment, if that makes sense. (They are so adorable!)

My sister came to town for about 48 hours and had dinner plans and then breakfast plans. I've been at work far more than my usual so getting nothing done on the book front. I planned my morning to work on the novel I'm nearly ready to publish. Her breakfast got canceled. She asked if I wanted to play Monopoly on the iPad. I hesitated for a split second but said yes. I can't remember the last time this girl played a board game with me. (Were we kids?) I sat there for a few moments thinking I ought to be working on my book when this Resolution entered my brain. I swiped my finger across the touchscreen to roll the dice and realized there was nowhere else I'd rather be in the whole world than sitting right there in my pajamas playing Monopoly with my little sister.

Resolution #1 - conquered.

#2 is more like a goal.
Publish Toxic Train, Unpacking the Undertaker, Georgia Meets Virginia, Mr. E in Cabin 187 (Anthology) and the Masked Rider: Origins.

Toxic Train, Georgia and Mr. E are a couple beta readers away from my sending them to the professional editor. They're short stories and will be published in the next few weeks.
I haven't written the Undertaker yet but the ideas are coming.
The Masked Rider is taking its sweet time.
These goals are so attainable, I'm going to have to add to them.

Hmmm, #3 (reading challenges) was going well but I haven't been reading fiction for fun in a couple weeks. I've only completed the one book so far.

#4 (50 dates) is at a standstill. I've not been working on it. My bad. Recommit!

"I want to enjoy 2012 much like I enjoyed 2011 but with more emphasis and less stress."

I said the above quote and realize I haven't really been enjoying 2012. The excitement of a new year has already worn off - which is exactly why I'm revisiting and recapping my Resolutions. I'm not letting myself off the hook - I'm doing these Resolutions and that's it!!

Reading Challenges - Self-Published Reading Challenge

Self-Published Reading Challenge

Hosted by Workaday Reads



Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. Anyone can join, you don't need to be a blogger. If you don't have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
3. Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is self-published by the author.
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the Self-Published Reading Challenge.
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

Levels:

1. Sentence - 5 books
2. Paragraph- 10 books
3. Page - 25 books
4. Chapter - 50 books
5. Short Story - 75 books
6. Novel - 100 books
7. Series - 150 books

I'm going for the Sentence Level. One book I'm going to read for sure is Lost River Chronicles by Heidi Nance. (She's my cousin!)

Reading Challenges - Cruisin' Thru The Cozies

Cruisin' Thru The Cozies

Hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews

Here are the rules...

1. Choose the level you wish to participate:

Level 1 - Snoop - Read at least 6 books
Level 2 - Investigator - Read 7-12 books
Level 3 - Super Sleuth - Read 13 or more books

2. The challenge runs from January 1, 2012 and ends December 31, 2012.

3. You don't have to choose your books in advance. If you do, you can change your list at any time during the year. Books can overlap with other challenges.

4. Books can be in any format - paper, audio, ebooks...it all counts!

5. You don't have to post a review, but I'm sure others would love to know about the books you are reading and may even want to add it to their reading lists.

I'm going for Super Sleuth.

Books & Things Thursday - 'One for the Money'

I was innocently watching TV last week when a commercial came on. It was for a movie and I instantly thought, "Ooh, that looks good. I want to see that."

To my surprise, it was One for the Money! I knew a movie was being made based off Janet Evanovich's One for the Money but had no idea it was out - or that I might like it. (Well, I'd thought I might like it.)

It's so natural to judge things prematurely and just as natural to squash that judgment and give something a try but I assumed it'd look awful and I wouldn't bother going to the theater.

Let's face facts, people. The movie is never as good as the book.

Also, years ago, my Mom said she'd pictured Sandra Bullock in the leading role and I couldn't picture anyone else filling it.

Until now. Just on the commercial, Katherine Heigl looks perfect for the part. I know her from Love Comes Softly - another movie based on a book - and I liked her.

(Before you ask, no. Drippy romances - even if they're westerns - are not my cup of tea. I'm just a sucker for anything Dale Midkiff is in. Except Pet Cemetery. I'm not watching that. Wow - that's also a movie based on a book.)

Dale Midkiff 

Photo from Google Images

Now I'm hoping Mom wants to see One for the Money and we can have movie day!

Wordless Wednesday - Goofy Kitty (Outlaw)

Reading Challenge - A-Z Challenge

A-Z Challenge

Hosted by Babies, Books and Signs

This one is pretty self-explanatory. The idea is to read 26 books, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. I found this challenge at Socrates' Book Reviews and she said, since 'x' is hard to find, that letter just has to be in the title. I'm going to try and find a book that starts with 'x' but if I don't - I'm going to use her out!

Death At Wentwater Court by Carola Dunn (Review)

The back of the book (I cut out the name of the victim):

"No stranger to sprawling country estates, wealthy Daisy Dalrymple is breaking new ground at this particular manor house, having scandalously traded silver spoon for pen and camera to cover a story for Town and Country magazine. But her planned interviews with the inhabitants of Wentwater Court give way to interrogation when suave {*****} meets a dire fate on the tranquil skating pond. Armed with evidence that his fate was anything but accidental, Daisy joins forces with Scotland Yard to examine an esteemed collection of suspects - and see that the unlikely culprit doesn't slip through their fingers just as the unfortunate {*****} slipped through the ice..."

I love the characters in this book.

I had trouble getting into the story - I liked it, love the 1920's language, the British setting and thoroughly enjoyed Daisy. I think my problem was the narration. I didn't get sucked inside the world at Wentwater Court, I was more a voyeur, a shadow squirreled away behind the curtain, rather than right there in the thick of things. Maybe that was Daisy herself. She had no loyalties as she was a stranger in the house, there was nothing to latch onto. She included everyone on the long list of suspects.

Daisy Dalrymple is smart, hard-working and determined - the perfect ingredients for a cozy mystery.

The middle didn't drag though everyone was a suspect until the end, no evidence dismissing even one person in full. I kind of like when we can determine so and so couldn't have done it, because it gives me a sense of urgency. As the reader, I think, 'Oh, boy. I'd better hurry up and figure this out before the author just tells me.' The lack of cutting suspects out still worked here, though, so I didn't really mind it.

The end was unexpected, untraditional and sweet. Even Daisy thinks it "gloriously inevitable in its simplicity" and I agree.

Anyone in search of a solid, British cozy with characters right out of the roaring 20's (from stodgy earls to lovable flappers) grab this book, sink your teeth in and enjoy.

This completes my first novel of the year and starts two Reading Challenges:
A-Z Challenge
Cruisin' Thru the Cozies

*****

My Mom also completed the first novel for her Reading Challenges with Death of a Thousand Cuts and posted a review.

Reading Challenge - 2012 E-Book Challenge & Happy Birthday, Sis!

First of all, Happy Birthday, Sis!!!

Second - I'm joining another Reading Challenge:

2012 E-Book Challenge

Hosted by Workaday Reads

Challenge Guidelines:

1. This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2012 - Dec 31, 2012.
2. Anyone can join, you don't need to be a blogger. If you don't have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
3. Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
4. You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
5. When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
6. You can move up levels, but no moving down.
7. Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2012, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.

Levels:

1. Floppy disk - 5 ebooks
2. CD - 10 ebooks
3. DVD - 25 ebooks
4. Memory stick - 50 ebooks
5. Hard drive - 75 ebooks
6. Server - 100 ebooks
7. Human brain - 150 ebooks

I'm going to try for the CD Level because I've got my Nook and I know how to use it!

Wordless Wednesday - Goofy Kitty (Copper)

Happy New Year!

2011


2011 was great. Simply fantastic. Wonderful. My sister's wedding in May probably tops the list - what an awesome weekend that was!

The Royal Wedding was cool because I got up at like 4AM, made a cup of tea and texted and chatted with my aunt in California and sister in Georgia while learning all sorts of things about the Royal Family in England.

I got published! Married To Murder came out in January and the follow up Ella Westin Mystery, Honeymoon Homicide came out in August. (I've written and edited Toxic Train, the third installment. I just have to send it to my editor and then I'll be publishing that.)

 

I fell in love with Sherlock Holmes all over again thanks to Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss, Steven Moffat and Robert Downey, Jr. Jude Law and Guy Ritchie. I reread the entire collection by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

I wrote and edited the first of a new mystery series, The Georgia H. Mysteries. That'll be coming out soon.

I've traveled.

I attended the Writer's Police Academy in North Carolina. Boy, that was a blast!

My Mom got published, too! Who Murdered The Ghost? came out in August.

I won NaNoWriMo again. (Whoo-hoo!)

I have simply adored my kitties.

I did a Blog Tour.

I won four things in the last three months. The clock in the picture above at a dinner dance in October, a $100 gift cert at Amazon from Emyln Chand's Farsighted Book Blog Tour, a signed copy of Ask Graham via the BBC America Blog and personalized music from Car Johnson.

I've also met a lot of cool people and made wonderful blogger friends.

It has been a great year!

2012

I am so excited to see what 2012 has in store.

My personal goals - and resolutions - are as follows:

1.) Be bored.
I'm always so dang busy that I lose the days and miss those sweet moments in life that come from doing nothing. I want to lament my boredom. I want to wander around the house or neighborhood, looking for something to do. I want to sip tea while staring out my window at the 100 inches of snow we're supposed to get. (We've got maybe a quarter of an inch so far, I'm guessing the 100 inches will come in one humong-o storm.)

2.) Publish Toxic Train, Unpacking the Undertaker, Georgia Meets Virginia, Mr. E in Cabin 187 (Anthology) and the Masked Rider: Origins.

3.) I want to complete all the Reading Challenges I signed up/will be signing up for.

4.) I want to find love in 50 dates. (Seriously, I've been lax in the dating department while everyone around me is getting happily married. Priorities!!)

That's it, really. I want to enjoy 2012 much like I enjoyed 2011 but with more emphasis and less stress.

And what about you guys?

How was your 2011?

What do you want to get out of 2012?

What resolutions and goals have you set for yourselves?

Tell me!!