It's a Stop-The-Pity Party.

This is definitely not my cake, or my design, or my photo.
All came from Pink Cake Box, but this one reminded me of Dr. Seuss, which I <3>

My lovely blog turns one year old today!!!

My dear agent-sister, Linda Benson, is holding a contest for her blog's first birthday, which I think is an awesome idea.

But I'm not going to do that, not for this anniversary.

In my six-month-anniversary post, I chatted about all the things I've accomplished since leaving NY. And at the risk of sounding like I'm bragging, I'm going to do that again.

I encourage you to do the same. Especially if you've been hard on yourself lately, like I have.

I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I add items on my to-do list just to make myself feel more productive - e.g. 3) eat lunch, 11) load the dishwasher, and 21) take a shower. (This totally works by the way. Seeing things, even small things, get crossed off your to-do list is a very satisfying feeling.)

But I also have to admit that I'm totally Type A. (Or rather Type C - which is Type A, who works really hard to convince peeps that she's Type B.) It's an advanced case - I have a voice in my head that talks a lot like Hermione Granger. It's always concerned about the things that I haven't done or that I could've done better.

That voice is particularly noisy this week - for two reasons:

a) I'm getting over being sick, and I'm working about half as quickly as I normally do.

b) I just realized that one of my projects will be late - despite the best efforts of the people involved, including me. :-(

(Of course, I won't repeat all the things I've already talked about in this post, because that would just be bragging. So, this is just a list from February 19 onward.)

1. I went to New York to meet my lovely, talented, sweet agent, Joanna Stampfel-Volpe.
2. I completed two revisions for my agent (plus a pass she never saw).
   
3. I lived alone for roughly 21 weeks of this year, which was one of my life goals. (Not the week-count, obviously - the living alone part.)
   
4. I embroidered a cute little something for my little sister.
5. I read 45 books since February 19, which makes 125 over the course of the past year. (But only 78 were book I had never read before. The rest were re-reads.)
   
6. I also went on submission.
   

And, of course, I also took showers on a regular basis. So there's another item to cross off the list. :-P

So, I definitely did stuff. And I bet you did too.

What I've noticed about people (including myself) that if you're Type A or just stressed out, most of your thoughts are concerned with the things that you still need to get done. Sometimes, you can remember what you spent the last month accomplishing. In a few rare cases, you might recall what you did two whole months ago.

Think back six months. Where were you then? What were you doing? What were you worried about? What were you thinking would never get done? ('Cause I bet it got done.)

Now think back twelve months. Ask yourself the same questions.

You probably racked up quite a list of accomplishments. Give yourself credit.

No matter how long your to-do list is at this moment, you've already done - and forgotten - some of the things on your list (and a few things that probably weren't). Put it all in perspective. You'll probably forget about all these things that you're currently worrying about within the space of two years. Try to limit your worry as much as possible.

When I moved out of New York last August, I couldn't have predicted everything that happened to me. Or everything that I would make happen.

It's been a heck of a year.

And though I'm going to try to limit the freakout as much as possible, it's only going to get more hectic from here.

(Hahahahahaha. Okay, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. :-P)

Happy Six-Month Anniversary, Blog!!

This blog is officially six months old! Yay!!

Since I started this blog on the day that I started my new life, that means that exactly six months have passed since I left New York and moved to Charlotte. That is definitely a reason to celebrate, especially since the following has happened since I made that huge life-change:

1. I finally read the Twilight saga.
2. I moved again, this time to Montana.
3. I finished a manuscript.
   
4. I revised said manuscript.
5. I did a lot of skiing.
   
6. I connected with my fantastic agent J. (And someday, I'll stop mentioning her in every post.... :-P)
   
7. I read 80 books, believe it or not. I almost don't believe it, but since I was curious about exactly how many books I read in a year, I started keeping a list in the back of my journal.
8. And yesterday, I bought a new phone. :-D
   

Looking at this list, I have to admit that things are going well in my new life. Unbelievably well.

I don't know why things are going so well. I've wanted to be a writer since I was in kindergarten, but lots of people chase life-long dreams. I might just pass off my good luck as an upturn after five years of crummy life experiences, but several of my friends have faced rough times recently. I would say that I've been hard-working, but I know plenty of hardworking people who are struggling right now.

Maybe Enzo (from The Art of Racing in the Rain, one of those 80 books I read) says it best: "Your car goes where your eyes go."

When I left New York, I was already imagining what it would be like to be an author - both like and unlike the authors I knew as an editorial assistant. Once I had the contract, I was envisioning the writing and the revising of the manuscripts. When I finished the first round of revisions and began the querying process, I was already daydreaming about meeting my agent and discussing career plans with her.

I did doubt myself. Of course I did, especially early on. Quitting my job and moving was a big scary change, and nothing was certain. You may not have noticed, dear reader, but I didn't post at all during the month of September. I did other things. I read twenty-some books, almost a book a day. I started a part-time job. I planned - plotting out five books and developing career strategies. I started writing again, spending hours at the library with my headphones on and my pen in my hand (yes, I'm old school like that - handwriting my first draft - gasp!).

But especially in September, I was incredibly nervous, too wound up to fall asleep after I turned off the lights. I knew that I couldn't have made any choice besides the one I made, but what ifs in my future haunted me, especially in the nighttime quiet. I took a while for me to trust myself and my own judgment again. And so, I didn't blog, nervous that my insecurities would leak out on the screen.

In October, I started to feel confident again despite my doubts, and that's when my writing started to take off. I don't think that's a coincidence.

Confident daydreaming is important. I do recognize how lucky I am, but I don't think I would've gone very far if I wallowed on my day-to-day difficulties rather than thinking toward the next step.

Even now, at this six month mark, I'm thinking beyond the next round(s) of revisions to the day when I finish the last pre-contract revision for EAS and my wonderful agent sends it out to editors. :-D

I have a friend who believes in The Secret like whoa - she actually quit her job before she received her acceptance letter to grad school. (Both events did happen on the same day, but still, the names have been withheld to protect the innocent/eccentric.) I wouldn't go that far, but I think there's definitely something to be said for believing in yourself and believing good things to happen to you. Even if you don't know which way you need to go, you can visualize what it'll feel like to be in the right place - to have your strong will and determination headed in the right direction again.

And if you're out there, reading this and knowing that you aren't in the right place, knowing that you need to make a big change, do it. You have nothing to lose. Don't hesitate. Go for it.

You know who you are.