Out with the Old, In with the New

So here we are, January 2nd, two days into the New Year. January, of course, is named after the Roman god Janus, the god of beginnings and transitions. He's usually pictured with two faces, one looking to the past, the other looking to the future.

Although the old year has gone, I don't like to think of it as 'out with the old'. Each year that passes adds more experiences to our lives. Sometimes, if it's been a 'bad' year, we may wish to forget it, but it's still worth remembering the lessons we may have learned, even from the bad times.

In fact, 2011 was a pretty good year for me. My novel 'His Leading Lady' was published in June, and I had two more novels accepted by Whiskey Creek Press, which will be published in 2012. I re-started this blog early in 2011, initially as one of the ways of promoting my writing, and also tried to become more active on Facebook and several yahoo groups.

Far more rewarding than any promotion, however, has been the opportunity to make so many new friends. Sometimes I've interviewed them on our group blog 'Heroines with Hearts'; sometimes I've been invited to be a guest on their blogs; some I've 'met' through the yahoo groups; others via Facebook or Twitter.  While some remain as 'acquaintances', others have become 'real' friends, and I'd like to say a big thank you to them all.

What of 2012? None of us has any idea of what will happen in the future, either in the world, or in our own lives. We may have some things already 'scheduled' for us - for example, my novel 'Fragrance of Violets' is due for release at the beginning of February, and hopefully 'Her Only Option' will be released later in the year (although I don't yet have a release date for that), but obviously other things will happen during the year that are impossible to predict.

I don't usually make any 'New Year Resolutions' - mainly because I tend to break them well before January has ended!  But I do have a few goals. One of them is to be more organised with this blog, which I've let slide recently.

So my plan (at the moment anyway!) is to try to post something at least 3 times a week. I'll sign up for Six Sentence Sunday each week, and post six sentences from my newly released or about-to-be-released novels.

I'm also challenging myself to join in the weekly blogs with the Facebook blogging groups, GBE2 (on Tuesdays) and The Writers Post (on Fridays).  Of course, I might slip in some other posts on the other days - so watch this space!

Meanwhile, Happy New Year to everyone, and I wish you everything you wish for yourselves in 2012.