Unplugged

Greetings from the North Pole!! Yes, I decided that this year I would explore the North Pole in search of Santa's Workshop, and cell phone coverage isn't the best!

Seriously, I'm unplugging, pretty much for the rest of the year. Oh, don't worry, I'm still lurking around, reading blogs here, there, and everywhere, and maybe leaving a comment or two or twelve, but just not as frequently as normal.

Today is December 21, Winter Solstice, and the shortest day of the year. Perhaps this pivotal seasonal moment is a good time to unplug, and reflect on the past year.

This year has been one of loss for me. Both Jordy and Tasmyn journeyed across the Rainbow Bridge in the span of less than a year. Tasmyn just didn't listen to me when, after Jordy passed, I told her she had to wait a few years. Stubborn to the very end. As I write this, the emotions of that loss still overwhelm me. Jordy and Tasmyn were my first pets, just me, nobody else to share them with. Jordy was a pound cat, and Tasmyn was from a stray cats litter. They both represented my independence - I had moved away, well only 2 hours, but still, from pretty much everyone I knew, quit my job, and didn't have a job in sight. Luckily, things worked out for the best. Still, when Tasmyn made that final journey, it was as if a piece of my past died with her, the lest vestige of that time in my life when I set out on my own . . . without a clue what I was doing.

This year hasn't been all about loss, because it was about finding things as well.

This year has increased the followers of this blog from a few to 91! Yes, 91!

This year brought about cyber friendships through blogging, and even Facebook. I treasure those friendships, the comments on the blog, the free advertising some people think it's okay to do on this blog (ha), the comments on Facebook, and the emails (regular and Facebook) I've exchanged with some of the bloggers I've met over this past year.

This year was about finding people struggling right alongside me in this crazy writing adventure we've embarked on.

This year was about following more and more blogs and learning as much as I can about writing, while still doing things in my crazy fashion.

This year was about tightening up Margarita Nights so that, after the craziness of the Christmas season, I can brave the shark infested waters of the Query Sea.

This year was about realizing what project is next for the revision stage and, ultimately, the query stage as well.

These past few weeks have been about ideas popping in my mind and me braving the perils of outlining, at least on one or two of those ideas, and seeing what happens. I have brightly colored folders filled with notes about these projects, and sometime next year I hope to sit down and begin typing away at something new.

This year has been about my growth as a writer as I take all that I have learned from my fellow bloggers and make it my own. It's all about that perfect blend of ornaments - past, present, and future - on the Christmas tree. Everything I read on the blogs doesn't always apply to me, but there's always a tidbit or two that does, and I take those tidbits and incorporate (blend) them into my life.

So, as I - somewhat - unplug, I hope whatever holiday people celebrate at this time of year is great, and safe, and provides endless memories, or inspiration, for many writing projects yet to come.

S