Happy New Year!

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others." ~Marianne Williamson

Yes, I'm back! I know, I know, I took off last week entirely from blogging and I didn't even tell you ahead of time. Sorry. But I hope you had an enjoyable and restful holiday season, wherever and however you spent it.

Now here we are in a brand new year, 2010 (and have you heard about the minor controversy regarding how we're supposed to pronounce it? "Twenty-ten" NOT "Two thousand-ten" according to the National Association of Good Grammar, which coincidentally or not is abbreviated NAGG...hmm...). With the new year come articles everywhere you look about how to improve your life, how to make resolutions and keep them, what resolutions you're supposed to make in the first place, and on and on and on....

But I stopped making New Year's resolutions a few years back, when I realized that, honestly, just the fact that the calendar reads January 1 doesn't mean it's a better (or worse) day to begin a new chapter in my life. In fact, looking back on 2009, which was the most tumultuous year for me in a very long time, I felt even more certain about my belief that new chapters in one's life often happen when you least expect them. For me, in 2010, I'd like to continue to live in a way that makes me happy, passionate and challenged, while giving back to the world and the people around me the best ways I know how. FYI, today's quote is one of my favorites, and I'm going to do my best to remember it this year.

I'm going to continue to blog 3 days a week, and my goal is still for Monday's Mentionables to be updates on what's going on in my life and writing; Writers' Wednesday to be either author interviews or information useful/helpful to writers; and Friday's Fun Facts to simply be a day to share interesting facts about whatever's on my mind.

I hope you'll stick around with me in 2010; I have 2 print releases coming out (One Night in Napa and Summer's Song), along with 2 audio book releases (One Night in Memphis and Lost in Paradise), and fingers crossed that I will finish at least one other book and sign a contract for it as well.

In the meantime, I have 2 books up for Preditors' and Editors' "2009 Best of..." Poll: One Night in Napa and Summer's Song. If you have a chance, would you stop by and vote? Thanks! ~ and that's my only mentionable of the day. See you Wednesday!