So I have this awesome editor who made all sorts of wonderful suggestions for tightening up my writing and generally improving my manuscript. I’m learning a great deal about novel-writing (not so much about blogging). Problem is, making these changes is incredibly painful. I’m slowly slogging my way through but I’ve only made it about halfway. Admittedly, holiday shopping and preparations did slow me down even more, but the truth is I can barely make it through a half hour of edits before my mind (and my internet) wanders.

Today, I even found myself coming up with other tasks to avoid editing today. I washed the dishes (hallelujah!). I put away the kids’ old schoolwork. I made cookies. In keeping with my New Year’s resolutions, I spent forty minutes on the elliptical and took a shower. I hauled up the boxes to pack away the Christmas decorations … and decided I’d rather edit. I still don’t know of anything I hate more than taking down Christmas decorations!

Ten minutes to midnight on the last day of 2009. It’s the fourth ending of a decade that I’ve seen. The second with a blue moon hanging in the sky. Is that significant? Prophetic? I’ve always been a little leery of astrological phenomena. If you juxtapose two planets in the sky and tell me about it, I might not actually go hide under my bed, but I will approach the day with caution.

In 2010 I celebrate my fortieth birthday. I always imagined I’d be a wildly successful author by the time I turned forty. I can’t claim that, but I can at least anticipate the publication of my first novel within the next year (or so) and hopefully follow it up with more. I’m learning more about writing every day and the publishing world is even losing some of its mystique. Live and learn.

Five minutes to midnight. (Yes, it took me that long to write that – imagine how long it takes to write a novel!) Aside from publishing and writing, I have a very happy, mostly successful life. I have three wonderful children who are cheerfully surviving my many mistakes as a parent. I’m a total loss as far as a social being, but I have several very good friends and some even better acquaintances. (Typically I would put a smiley there, but I’m trying to get away from emoticons – part of my New Year’s Resolutions.) And my husband is as wonderful as they come. He puts up with all my craziness, which isn’t as easy as it sounds. Not all of my craziness is funny ha-ha. Some of it is just plain irritating craziness. So if you put together my wonderful kids, husband and friends, my life is pretty damn good.

Two minutes to midnight. I’m going to start listing my resolutions now in no particular order. When it hits midnight, I’ll stop and post.

1. Finish editing my novel so Lyrical Press can publish it.
2. Pick another story and go with it. Write 65,000 words before the end of March.
3. Keep up with this blog. I’ve never been a good blogger, but I know some, so I’ll study up on it.
4. Exercise more, eat less and shed those last ten pounds I’ve been wanting to lose.
5. Come up with a fifth resolution at some point this year, because it’s right now midnight. Happy New Year, everyone!

Live hard, dream big and write it all down!