Most people celebrate New Year on January 1st, but for me, my birthday, April 29 has always felt like the beginning of a new year. It's a time when I assess the past year, look at my accomplishments, failures, and decide what I want to happen before my next birthday rolls around.
Since April of last year, many things have happened, the biggest being I completed Melody and Adrian's part of the Love on Fire series. Their story has come full circle and is done. They'll appear in other books to come that will focus on other band members, but I feel like they finally got their happy ending in Book 3. This book, Adrian and Melody will be released later this summer. In it, a lot of new characters are introduced and they'll be spun into new books. The first one focusing on Kat and his new relationship which blossomed in book 3.
Also, my 2nd book was published. Adrian's Melody. It's gotten some mixed reviews and rightly so. It is not an easy book to get through. There's a lot of pain, and definitely shows just how unhealthy Adrian's relationships with those he supposedly loves is. Some readers have expressed the book making them cry. As an author though, hearing these reviews and the emotions my writing made them feel, to me, says I've accomplished my task of creating something that captures and holds people's attention.
Last year at this time I was in a relationship, one that lasted six and half years. Although my partner was a good man, he was not the ''right'' one. And I was not right for him. it was a difficult decision to leave the financial security and I'm struggling now. But I have peace of mind, and just peace. My house is quiet and it is MINE again. I haven't dated again, haven't met anyone I felt a strong desire to date. I guess it will happen, when it happens. I think some of my friends are a bit worried about how much time I spend alone at home. They don't realize how much I relish that. I work so hard with marketing my books, and connecting with people on social media, that I don't even think about that time as a hindrance but as steps toward achieving my goals of becoming a ''known'' writer.
There have been some fun times the past year. I attended my first author events and it was a learning experience to get out there and meet readers in person. Watching other authors give their spiel really helped me to be more focused in how I market my novels. Another thing I did was attend more concerts with my daughter. Boy George, who follows ME on Twitter, gave an excellent performance, fronting Culture Club. What a solid band they are! And of course topping off the year was seeing Brian Setzer perform in Atlanta! The man is a music machine!
My goals/resolutions in the coming year? Finish writing book 4 of the Love on Fire series of course. Keep marketing my books and trying to become a successful author. And enjoy my time with my daughter as we go see Hall and Oates, U2 and Adam Ant!