2011 has been one of those years in which a whole lot of things happened that I never would have predicted on January 1st. We sold our house. We bought a fixer upper. I got an agent and a book deal. I sold two articles to magazines. I wrote A LOT, probably over 200,000 words all told, maybe more.
None of these are things that I didn’t really want to happen. I did want them all to happen; but maybe I’d had given up slightly, or become more philosophical. Perhaps I am just older and wiser. At any rate, a whole bunch of changes in 2011, not all writing related, made it an interesting year.
INTERESTING I say, because I can’t really say “it’s been a great year”. It hasn’t. I lost people, my health was its usual mediocre self. My husband’s business went fizz (although I think he wanted to). My daughter was up for a lot of roles she didn’t get (including Renesmee!) There was a lot of stress.
Harry Potter ended. Truly ended, after being with me for all of my professional writing career (I read the first book shortly after I wrote Hildegarde). I cried in the car on the way home from the cinema and a street light winked out above me on Knight Street.
One sister started a PhD. Another FINALLY got a tenure track job here in BC. The other returned to China after literally living next door to me. I started renovating the fixer upper. I left a job, and started a new one, both of which I really hate.
I wrote a book, and then most of another one. And another. I have three books I need to finish in 2012. And two I need to sell, with help from Kris Rothstein I hope. I made a lot of new online friends – other bloggers and fellow NaNo writers both.
I need to do a lot of writing. I need to do a lot of reading. There will be a lot of dry-walling and painting too. 2012 is going to be a busy year.
G.S. (Gabrielle) Prendergast 