The End O' Year Blog
As 2009 comes to a close, I guess it's time to look back and review. During last night's #kidlitchat on Twitter, we were discussing goals for 2010, so that's all on my mind too.
Yes Virginia, I have been a blog slacker this year, and that is number one on my list of resolutions.
1. Stop being such a blog slacker. You know what I want to know? I want to know how people like Maureen Johnson can Twitter all day and keep up a blog and write bestselling books. Oh, AND winning the Most Interesting Twitter Person to Follow on Twitter in the Mashable Open Web Awards this year. Congrats!! Maureen! Are you out there? What is your sekrit? Do you not need to eat or sleep or perform unmentionable bodily functions? Now, I believe Maureen does not yet have teenage children, so that probably eliminates the need for her to spend a goodly portion of her life in a car chauffeuring them places. Or arguing with them. Or cooking for them. Or taking them to the mall to buy them clothes that they already have but NEED more of of they will be social outcasts. But still. I can't help wondering if when she wrote the scripts for the Harry Potter video games they snuck her one of Hermione's Time Turners. Me want one. Me NEED one.
2. Stop making myself crazy by comparing myself to other people. Yep. To do anything else is crazy making. My life is my own and has its own challenges and limitations and opportunities. It's up to me to make the best of it.
We talked about this one on #kidlitchat last night and it's a biggie
3. Focus on the things that are within my control A lot of what happens after we write out books is out of our hands. Recite the Serenity Prayer and work your butt off where you can make a difference. Such as:
4. Keep trying to learn and refine my craft. Keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone. That's definitely something I'm working on now with the new project. It's all about the journey, and each book has taught me something new along the way.
5. Do a better job at keep track of the books I've read Inspired by my middle/high school friend Peter Conway, who has lists of what he's read going back decades I decided I was going to start keep track of my reading. I ended up with 32 books on my list which didn't include any of the books I read for research and left out a huge swath of books I read during the summer and fall when I forgot to put them on the list. Must come up with a better system. Or a better brain.
6. Karma counts. As publishers cut back, unless yours is the big book they've chosen to promote that season you're pretty much on your own publicity wise. And so are all the other authors out there. Lisa Schroeder did this wonderful post about Supporting authors when your heart is bigger than your wallet. So shout out for your friends and celebrate. Help network each other. We are each other's community.
And as such, I just want to give a loud and very public SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I was in the Barnes and Noble at the Stamford Town Center the other day (Connecticut's LARGEST Barnes and Noble, FYI) and lookee what I saw:
Lots and lots of copies of EIGHTH GRADE SUPER ZERO by our very own olugbemisola! FACE OUT!! B & N are obviously really behind this book in a big way :-)) As they should be. I've read it and blurbed it and it is fab. But don't believe me. PW gave it a starred review and called it "a masterful debut".
Looking back on my own achievements this year: I finished revisions on my third book, LIFE, AFTER, which comes out in July 2010, and earlier this month I turned in my fourth book, WANT TO GO PRIVATE? scheduled for sometime in 2011, something that was impossible to conceive of a few years ago when I was struggling with second book blues.
I've learned more about how I write and that my process will change somewhat with each book and that's okay- I just have to be patient with myself while I find my bearings and not try to rush it. I've become much better about writing a faster, sh*ttier first draft so I can see the bare bones of the book and get to the part I really enjoy, which is revising.
I'm blessed with the love of my children (even though I embarrass them) and the_webmeister
who cooks with me and uses words like "deglaze" in the right context which I find incredibly sexy - who needs Taylor Lautner's abs? - AND he's Jewish and knows how to use power tools, OMG! *swoons in a dead faint*
So my friends, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and blessings and happy reading and writing from my house to yours!
Yes Virginia, I have been a blog slacker this year, and that is number one on my list of resolutions.
1. Stop being such a blog slacker. You know what I want to know? I want to know how people like Maureen Johnson can Twitter all day and keep up a blog and write bestselling books. Oh, AND winning the Most Interesting Twitter Person to Follow on Twitter in the Mashable Open Web Awards this year. Congrats!! Maureen! Are you out there? What is your sekrit? Do you not need to eat or sleep or perform unmentionable bodily functions? Now, I believe Maureen does not yet have teenage children, so that probably eliminates the need for her to spend a goodly portion of her life in a car chauffeuring them places. Or arguing with them. Or cooking for them. Or taking them to the mall to buy them clothes that they already have but NEED more of of they will be social outcasts. But still. I can't help wondering if when she wrote the scripts for the Harry Potter video games they snuck her one of Hermione's Time Turners. Me want one. Me NEED one.
2. Stop making myself crazy by comparing myself to other people. Yep. To do anything else is crazy making. My life is my own and has its own challenges and limitations and opportunities. It's up to me to make the best of it.
We talked about this one on #kidlitchat last night and it's a biggie
3. Focus on the things that are within my control A lot of what happens after we write out books is out of our hands. Recite the Serenity Prayer and work your butt off where you can make a difference. Such as:
4. Keep trying to learn and refine my craft. Keep pushing myself out of my comfort zone. That's definitely something I'm working on now with the new project. It's all about the journey, and each book has taught me something new along the way.
5. Do a better job at keep track of the books I've read Inspired by my middle/high school friend Peter Conway, who has lists of what he's read going back decades I decided I was going to start keep track of my reading. I ended up with 32 books on my list which didn't include any of the books I read for research and left out a huge swath of books I read during the summer and fall when I forgot to put them on the list. Must come up with a better system. Or a better brain.
6. Karma counts. As publishers cut back, unless yours is the big book they've chosen to promote that season you're pretty much on your own publicity wise. And so are all the other authors out there. Lisa Schroeder did this wonderful post about Supporting authors when your heart is bigger than your wallet. So shout out for your friends and celebrate. Help network each other. We are each other's community.
And as such, I just want to give a loud and very public SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
I was in the Barnes and Noble at the Stamford Town Center the other day (Connecticut's LARGEST Barnes and Noble, FYI) and lookee what I saw:
Lots and lots of copies of EIGHTH GRADE SUPER ZERO by our very own olugbemisola! FACE OUT!! B & N are obviously really behind this book in a big way :-)) As they should be. I've read it and blurbed it and it is fab. But don't believe me. PW gave it a starred review and called it "a masterful debut".
Looking back on my own achievements this year: I finished revisions on my third book, LIFE, AFTER, which comes out in July 2010, and earlier this month I turned in my fourth book, WANT TO GO PRIVATE? scheduled for sometime in 2011, something that was impossible to conceive of a few years ago when I was struggling with second book blues.
I've learned more about how I write and that my process will change somewhat with each book and that's okay- I just have to be patient with myself while I find my bearings and not try to rush it. I've become much better about writing a faster, sh*ttier first draft so I can see the bare bones of the book and get to the part I really enjoy, which is revising.
I'm blessed with the love of my children (even though I embarrass them) and the_webmeister
who cooks with me and uses words like "deglaze" in the right context which I find incredibly sexy - who needs Taylor Lautner's abs? - AND he's Jewish and knows how to use power tools, OMG! *swoons in a dead faint*
So my friends, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and blessings and happy reading and writing from my house to yours!