Monday 2 January 2012

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.

25 comments:

  1. Happy New Year to you too, Paula. And best of luck with your novels in 2012.

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  2. Happy New Year, Paula! It sounds like things are really looking up for you, with your books.

    I've not been posting as much as I should on my own blog, since I've been spending lots of time on Facebook, plus the group blogs I belong to. Can only do so much, even without a day job for a year!

    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

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  3. Toni, very best of luck with 'The Patriot Girl' when it's released, I know how hard you've worked on it.

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  4. Morgan, agree about only being able to do so much. It seems sometimes that you have to spend so much time on promotion, there's no time left for actually writing!

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  5. Resolutions that lead to more writing?... ahhhhh yes! Happy New Year Paula :-)

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  6. Exciting to know you have two books coming out in 2012!! Happy New Year Paula--I hope it is a fantastic year for you!!

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  7. A very Happy New Year to you, Paula! Love that cover and I agree about making new friends online. Wishing you great success for 2012.

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  8. Karen, good to see you here and yes, let's share a writing year together!

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  9. Artful, Happy New Year too and thanks for visiting.

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  10. Jenn, Happy New Year - and thanks for all your support. Hope you'll enjoy my new books when they're released.

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  11. Rosemary, Happy New Year, I've been so pleased to get to know you during 2011 - and wish you lots of success in this coming year too.

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  12. Congrats on all your publishing success. Hope 2012 is great for you.

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  13. I am so excited for you, 2 books in one year! woo hoo!!!!
    It's been a pleasure getting to know you this year and I did love His Leading Lady! Can't wait to read the next one.
    HYN to you, too.

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  14. Susan, thanks - hope you have a great year too.

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  15. Jo, thanks so much, I'm so glad to enjoyed His Leading Lady because that's what it's all about. As long as people enjoy my stories, that's enough for me. Hope you'll enjoy Fragrance of Violets when it comes out in Feb.

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  16. Happy New Year to you too Paula. I hope you meet your writing goals. Don't forget you can post to RomanticFridayWriters every fortnight! I was gratified how many posted over the holiday period. I'm going to submit somewhere once a week, every week.

    Looking forward to a great year of writing!

    I posted my goals on my blog so I don't forget,mwhahahah...

    Denise

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  17. Happy New Year, Paula! I hope all of your dreams come true, as well as a few wonderful surprises that you've yet to dream.

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  18. Hi,

    Welcome back & Happy New Year. BTW: great news about your number three at WCP.

    And, did you get a hug from Mickey whilst across the pond? ;)

    best
    F

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  19. Denise, must remember to check out your Romantic Friday Writers, although I'm not very good at flash fiction these days!
    Good luck with your 2012 goals.

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  20. Word Nerd, thanks for all your support - and the very best to you for 2012 too.

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  21. Francine - good to 'see' you - and Happy New Year! We still miss you at HWH. When does your book come out with WCP?
    Saw Mickey plenty of times, but didn't queue up for a hug - the crowds were horrendous (to put it mildly!)

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