2011 has been an interesting year — a year of being in the middle of things. I didn’t start any new books (other than a sequel that continued an existing story), I didn’t sell any new books (not really surprising, having just sold three last year), and I had no new books come out. I did write and revise that sequel, as well as rewriting a couple of books I’d drafted in rough earlier and polishing them to get them submission-ready. I’ve done most of my preparations for The Way We Fall‘s launch, even though it isn’t out until next month. And it was an amazing year for traveling to new places and meeting new people, from Kindling Words back in January and the manatee-blessed Florida retreat in February, to the Japan trip that almost didn’t happen in April and our ten days in France this October.

Oh, and my previously common-law-husband and I got officially married, which I suppose warrants a mention. 😉

How well did I do with my goals for the year?

-Write and polish the sequel to THE WAY WE FALL. Done!
-Write second drafts for and polish the two books waiting in rough draft (BEAST and the Japan book). Also done!
-I wouldn’t mind getting a new book started in rough draft but this may be asking too much. Yeah… I’ve written the first new chapters of a new book, but I somehow suspect that’s not getting finished by the end of today.
-Attend at least one writing conference. I did go to Kindling Words, which I suppose sort of counts.
-Do at least one event for GHOST in paperback. I did my big online giveaway. Ended up being too busy to organize something in person.
-Start attending kung fu class at least *twice* a week when possible. When possible, I did.
-Keep the backyard and garden a little more tidy than they were last year (which is to say, not a complete disaster). Err… This got abandoned in order to make the writing goals happen.
-Start blogging more regularly again! At least in the last few months, I think I have.

My goals for 2012:

-Write and polish the third book in the trilogy.
-Stay reasonably focused despite the excitement and anxiety of seeing my second book finally out!
-Finish the rough draft of the current new project, and preferably a second draft as well.
-Read more. I’ve been so busy writing this year my reading has fallen off — I’d like to finish at least one book a week.
-Exercise more in between kung fu classes.
-A personal goal I’ll mention next New Year’s Eve if it happens. 🙂

Hope you all have had more good times than bad this year, and that 2012 brings you many great things!