I'm not so good at coming up with ideas for blog posts, so I tend to kind of crib off others' ideas/themes. (If you want story ideas, though, I'm your gal! That's where my idea brainpower goes.) So, anyway, someone in an authors Facebook group asked what good and bad surprises 2012 brought. I thought listing some of mine here would be cool.
Here goes! (I'll mix personal and professional.)
Bad surprises first! Because, you know, I want the bad news first. ;-)
1. The writer's block that plagued me from April to August and which I still kind of struggle with.
2. The death of Dopey, my cat. She was doing great, and then my wife and I started to notice her energy was way down, that kind of stuff. We took her to the vet, and Dopey was dying of kidney failure. So sudden. Saying goodbye to her was difficult. We buried her in the back yard and made a grave marker (painted it, put her name on it).
3. Continued health problems for Chester, our dog. Chester is one happy, energetic loveable dog, but dang if he doesn't need a zillion pricey meds (and one back surgery) to keep him that way. Just a few days ago, my wife and I found out about yet another issue. All this started when Chester was only five and a half years old. He's seven now.
Good surprises!
1. The astronomical sales of my novella "Love's Spell." Sales easily (more than twice) surpassed sales for my previous #1 seller, "Waiting." This also pleased me because it shows that novellas are just as popular as novels. (My short stories, in general, haven't sold quite as well as my novels/novellas). I was also glad to see my other novella, "The Girl Prince and Her Princess," sell pretty well.
2. Not exactly a surprise since I had a few months from 2011 under my belt to inform me on my viability, but I made it through all of 2012 as an indie author able to support myself just fine on that income. (No depending on anyone, no borrowing, etc. When I say support myself, that's what I mean. Gotta emphasize this because some people say: "Oh, but you have your wife to help, or you have savings, etc." So, by support myself, I mean I didn't need help from anyone and didn't need to dip into my savings. I was even able to add to my savings.)
3. My wife and I were very happy to be reunited with our child (now eighteen years old), and we had our first Christmas as parents.
4. Two of my books, "Waiting" and "Third," won Rainbow Awards. Yeah, winning awards feels good! Better than candy in a stocking!
Here goes! (I'll mix personal and professional.)
Bad surprises first! Because, you know, I want the bad news first. ;-)
1. The writer's block that plagued me from April to August and which I still kind of struggle with.
2. The death of Dopey, my cat. She was doing great, and then my wife and I started to notice her energy was way down, that kind of stuff. We took her to the vet, and Dopey was dying of kidney failure. So sudden. Saying goodbye to her was difficult. We buried her in the back yard and made a grave marker (painted it, put her name on it).
3. Continued health problems for Chester, our dog. Chester is one happy, energetic loveable dog, but dang if he doesn't need a zillion pricey meds (and one back surgery) to keep him that way. Just a few days ago, my wife and I found out about yet another issue. All this started when Chester was only five and a half years old. He's seven now.
Good surprises!
1. The astronomical sales of my novella "Love's Spell." Sales easily (more than twice) surpassed sales for my previous #1 seller, "Waiting." This also pleased me because it shows that novellas are just as popular as novels. (My short stories, in general, haven't sold quite as well as my novels/novellas). I was also glad to see my other novella, "The Girl Prince and Her Princess," sell pretty well.
2. Not exactly a surprise since I had a few months from 2011 under my belt to inform me on my viability, but I made it through all of 2012 as an indie author able to support myself just fine on that income. (No depending on anyone, no borrowing, etc. When I say support myself, that's what I mean. Gotta emphasize this because some people say: "Oh, but you have your wife to help, or you have savings, etc." So, by support myself, I mean I didn't need help from anyone and didn't need to dip into my savings. I was even able to add to my savings.)
3. My wife and I were very happy to be reunited with our child (now eighteen years old), and we had our first Christmas as parents.
4. Two of my books, "Waiting" and "Third," won Rainbow Awards. Yeah, winning awards feels good! Better than candy in a stocking!