The New Year approaches and it is time for a look back. With all that has happened socially and politically, I can’t say I’m sad to see this year come to a close. But at the same time, so much has happened personally and professionally that I am a little sad to see it come to an end.
So here’s a look back on an amazing year…
January
January saw me enter my first major contest–Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart for unpublished writers. I had entered several smaller contests with Seduction the previous year, and worked my butt off with my Writing Partner Extraordinaire and critique group for several months to get it submission ready. January 11 had us running around like crazy people from iPad to Windows laptop to Mac desktop making sure all the files were compatible and everything was ready to go before we hit “send” at the last minute possible!
February
In February I attended the Love in the Stacks event at the Brea Community Library. The event featured authors Robin Bielman, Jill Sorenson, Charlene Sands, Tessa Dare, Judy Duarte, Debra Mullins, and Maggie Marr talking about the romance genre, the changes they’ve seen in it over the years, and how they go about creating the worlds their books take place in. LITS ended up being my first freelance assignment, as I wrote a post about it for the Romance Insider Club.
March
I have only one word for March–LONDON!
I spent a wonderful eight days in London and the South of England. While essentially a research trip, I did take time to check out the sights, walk the city, visit Windsor Castle (the Queen was in residence!), Stonehenge and Bath. You can read about some of what I did while I was abroad here. I met some wonderfully friendly locals, ate some pub food, got lost in the city, and soaked up the vitality and vivaciousness that is London. I am already planning my return trip for 2018. :) I even came home with a stowaway–my new partner in crime, my Regency Miss.
Sadly, at the end of the month I found out that I did not final in the Golden Heart contest.
April & May
April and May saw me doing some additional research. Having lost my voice for several weeks, I was unable to work at the Day Job (heartbreaking, let me tell you). So I took the time to venture out and visit some local museums and do some additional Regency and Georgian period research. With the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Reigning Men exhibit, the Fashion Institute on Design and Merchandising’s Fan exhibit, the Huntington Library and Gardens exhibit on the caricatures of Cruikshank, Rowlandson, and Hogarth. You can read all about my adventures here and here.
June
June was the annual East Valley Authors Retreat featuring Jess Michaels and Michael Petersen. With talks on writing unskippable love scenes, writing like a full-time writer on part time hours, and marketing and building an online platform, it was a day full of information and planning.
June also saw me flying to New York for a whirlwind trip to see Dearest Seester and the Littles while I applied for a job out there to be closer to them. I was one of over 100 applying and ended up at #8 on the waiting list for the position, and will remain on the list for four years. So I’ve got some time to wait before I hear anything. If I hear anything…
July
July was full of ups and downs. Early in the month, we lost my Babcia. A survivor of the Holocaust, she was a true fighter and lived a long and full life filled with love, joy and hardship that makes anything today pale in comparison. I will miss her dearly for a long, long time.
Later in the month, I attended my first Romance Writers of America annual conference in San Diego, CA. There were so many workshops to attend and things to learn, and I got to meet some of my favorite authors in person at the literacy signing! I waited in the Purgatory that was the Pitch Appointment Waiting Room, and managed to score three pitches with agents, all who requested full manuscript submissions!
August
August gave me some much needed downtime. The Elders were off for the month visiting Dearest Seester and the Littles. That left me three weeks to write (which I didn’t do nearly enough of), and spend some quality time outside enjoying the Southern California summer.
I also cooked… a lot, and finally set aside the time to organize all my research books, magazines, audio recordings and pamphlets. I put them on a spreadsheet in order to catalog what I had. It is a thing of beauty!
September
I finished the first draft of Seduction of the Duke just in time to enter it into OCCRWA’s Book-In-A-Year contest. It was a long time coming, but it felt so good to say I finally finished a manuscript!
I also started hosting Sunday Speed Dates on my blog. A weekly interview feature where I host a guest author to come and talk about their books, writing life and a random set of fun questions.
On a funnier note, I was kicked out of a facebook writers group for daring to know too much about my area of expertise. When the male admin of the group decided to play the misogynist game and accuse me of not being qualified for the invitation to speak at Cal Dreamin’, he demanded to know my qualifications on a topic, while they had never asked the men in the group to do so. So I accepted their challenge and proceeded to list my 16+ years of experience. #DownWithThePatriarchy
Then they kicked me out. Apparently they didn’t like the fact that a woman had more experience than they do. ;)
As it happens, that turned out to be a blessing in disguise since it led me to the discovery of the 10 Minute Novelists Group which is a much friendlier place, and the admin are much more supportive and involved in their members. Seriously, if you’re a writer, go check them out!
October
October was the annual OCCRWA Birthday Bash. Not only was I awarded a certificate for completing Seduction for the Book-In-A-Year, but I also taught my first workshop on Instagram and meme making with canva and WordSwag. I was also pleasantly surprised to find I had placed Second in OCC’s Orange Rose Contest for unpublished writers.
I have such high hopes for this story!
I spent some time in the outdoors playing in the apple orchards and pumpkin patches that sprout up at this time of year. I was even able to park on the hill on the way home from the Day Job one morning in order to catch a rare lightning storm that passed through the area.
November
In November, I once again participated in NaNoWriMo. This time went a lot easier for me since I knew what I was doing and what to expect. Also, I didn’t follow the rules exactly. Instead of working on something new, I used the month to work on revisions for Seduction. I cut, added and moved around over 60,000 words in 30 days. It was no easy feat, and I am still exhausted from the endeavor!
December
By December, burn out was starting to set in and I took most of the month off away from writing. I did, however, participate in a World Record setting podcast, 12 Minute Convos, and my episode will be airing on February 14th. Such a perfect day for Romance, eh?
I finally found the perfect opening for Seduction and have been plotting and planning it out. I am slowly getting back into the post-NaNo groove of adding words on the page in anticipation of the January 11th deadline for the Golden Heart.
Also, with the help of Tameri Etherton, I was able to finally come up with a Christmas story that I am hoping to publish next year! I have no doubt that my Regency Miss will be helping with that!
The best part of Decembernews being able to spring a wonderful surprise on my family by sneaking off to New York for a few days just before Christmas. Since the Elders were there visiting Dearest Seester and family until after the New Year, I kept the secret for months without telling them!
Whew…what a year!
Looking Ahead
So, what lies ahead for 2017?
Submissions, contests and more writing! Stay tuned for next week’s post to find what I have in store for the coming year.
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