Wednesday, January 21, 2015

Happy New Year?

Okay, so it took me 3 weeks, but finally I'm here to shout out HAPPY NEW YEAR! 2015 sounds like an official year doesn't it?  I imagine all sorts of wonderful things are supposed to happen...here's hoping, for you and for me!

So far in 2015, I now have a son who can drive. Well on a learner's permit, so only with supervision but that's good because he's only 14! 14 seems really young to have a learners, but that's the age where I live. What about you? When can kids start to drive in your town?

We are loving living in Okotoks. It's a small little town, outside Calgary. (perfect for 14 year olds learning to drive. ;) )   I notice the difference now when I go to Calgary. "Oh, it's so busy in the city." I am a townie. I love it.

I have a new YA coming out in April in case I haven't whacked you with it over the side of the head over and over. It'll be my last YA for a while, which feels a little strange.  I don't have a new contract and I haven't been writing YA lately.  I started a romance series and have to get back to it, but got sidelined by a couple of women's fiction ideas that I'm super excited about writing. I think my writing voice translates better in women's fiction. I want to do the same thing I do in YA, but with more mature characters. So I'm working on that.

In 2015 I also plan on going back to work out in the "real" world. Meaning the world outside my home or a nearby coffee shop! I love writing but I think, with my Sourcebooks contracts being up, it's time to get back out in that big ol world and interact with people. I have worked in sales and marketing for many years, so I'm looking at getting back to that.  I have some obstacles to overcome, having worked from home for almost 4 years and ah hmm, being a little bit older now... but I was pretty good at sales, and am confident I'll find something. I do plan to keep writing, but on a part time basis instead of a full time one. So onward with that!

I'm also working on a couple more MERMAID KINGDOM stories for grades 2-5.  The Capstone series comes out in March this year, and some library versions are already available for the library markets. These books are super cute, and filled with brilliant illustrations (not by me of course). I'll post links to them another day.  This post is supposed to be a catch up, new year post.

So what about you? What have you got planned for 2015? What have you done so far?

Is it going to be the best year yet??