Writing A Novel: Happy Birthday To Me!

Stop whatever you're doing and get ready to celebrate! It's my birthday today, which means I'm now 39. It's the last year of my 30s and I officially feel old. Then again, my grandfather lived to be 98 1/2 and my grandmother was 96 when she died last year. So in my family, at least, I'm not even middle aged.

I'm all for growing old gracefully, but I do have mixed feelings about being 39. On the one hand, I'm still pretty young and have plenty to look forward to. So far, I've done most of the things that I've wanted to do: I've traveled, I married a great guy, I put out an album, I started my own business, I published a book. On paper it sounds great, but I do sometimes feel that I haven't accomplished enough. Yes, I reached all of these goals, but my jewelry isn't being sold at Tiffany's, nor is my book a best seller. I have really high expectations for myself and I haven't yet reached them. As I push toward 40, should I get more into the mindset of being satisfied with what I have -- or am I still young enough to be an idealist and to keep hoping for big dreams? I had a vision of where I'd be at 40 in terms of my achievements and I don't think I'm there yet. I know, this probably sounds like a silly problem, but there are days when I'm very down on myself because business is slow or I feel like I haven't written enough. I think that I'm my own worst critic; maybe this is what I REALLY need to work on as I finish out this age decade.

Since this is a blog about writing, I do have to say that being older does make a difference. When I started BAND GEEK, back in 2002, I was 28 and thought I knew it all. I didn't; I was still just a kid. That decade makes a difference. The best parts of that book came to me when I rewrote sections and was in my late 30s. I just knew the world better and had more insight as to how people interact. I could look back on my teens with both a teen and adult perspective, whereas when I was 28, I was still too young.

I think I have a lot more to learn and hope that my life -- writing and otherwise -- continues to get better. The 30s were much happier than my 20s, and my 20s bested my teens. Maybe the 40s will be my best decade yet!

Please give me THE BEST birthday gift you can give and read my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD, just 99 cents this month!

Writing A Novel: New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year, everyone! It's been a crazy and fun December, which is why I've been so lax about blogging. But the holiday season gets a little nuts for me, as I'm sure it does for many of you. There were several parties, an illness, plus my jewelry businesses exploded just in time for the holiday rush so I was busy with orders. I'm back, though, and eager to return to my writing!

I don't really make New Years resolutions; instead, I'm constantly trying to come up with resolutions throughout the year. Still, it's impossible to NOT think about new beginnings at this time, so I've been thinking a lot about what I plan to do with my writing in 2013. So far my goals are:

To finish my second novel, at least a draft of it, by the end of April.

To blog more often.

To put together a book on making jewelry. (Yeah, this really has to do with my other businesses, but it still involves writing...).

To write SOMETHING every day, whether it's a blog post, novel chapter, article for HubPages, etc.

As you can see, my goals are pretty simple. I'm not looking to write The Great American Novel or some epic play; I just want to keep up with and finish projects that I've already started. I think that it's important to follow through -- and one of the best ways to improve as a writer is to well, keep on writing.

2012 was a very challenging year for me and my family for many reasons, but one of the bright spots is that I finally published BAND GEEK. I'm so glad that I finally put my work out there and am sharing it with the world.

Please read and review my novel REVENGE OF A BAND GEEK GONE BAD.