Farewell 2012 - Looking FORWARD to 2013!

Farewell 2012.

A year of ups and downs, joys and sorrows.

A year of discovery, planning and support.

Almost a year ago I took an honest look at what I was doing and where I was headed with my writing career. I realized that what I REALLY wanted to write wasn't a hot trend with the NY publishers. And if I really wanted to be honest myself, I had to admit that time travel romance is plain and simple, a tough sell.

In the summer of 2011 I self-published a short time travel novella that had been previously published by a small press. Sales started out slow, but by mid 2012 my monthly deposits from Amazon and B&N were buying me more than a cup of coffee at Starbucks, in fact, those royalties paid for a professionally designed website (which I'd been wanting for so long!)

My writing support network, and best critique group a girl could ask for, helped me work through my internal struggle with sticking with my niche even though it isn't the most popular genre. (Thanks ladies!)

So, in case you haven't read my post from last week, I am now NOT looking back. I am looking forward - I am moving forward! I've got a time travel series plotted and begun, the first one "Surrender to the Sheriff" is planned for early 2013. The cover will be ready within the next three weeks and my back-cover blurb is ready to be shared exclusively with my newsletter subscribers within the next few days (along with another giveaway for some awesome handmade travel soaps!)

While I'm always sad when the year comes to an end and I struggle with remembering to put the right date on my checks - I'm feeling more optimistic about 2013 than I've felt about a new year in a long time.

Are you ready to put 2012 behind?

What's your mantra for 2013?

This year along with setting some personal and professional goals, I've decided to pick one word that will be my call to action, my mantra.

I've been giving this one word a lot of thought. It can't be a word too elusive or too broad. It has to be a word that can motivate. It has to be a word that sums up my goals for the year - both personal and professional.

To start my journey in choosing the perfect word to use as my "battle-cry" for 2013 I decided to write down a few of my favorite quotes:

"You have the power over your mind - not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength." ~ Marcus Aurelius

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great." ~ Mark Twain

"Only in the darkness, you are able to see the stars." ~ Martin Luther King

"One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat." ~ Napoleon Hill

I know where I want to be this time next year. I know those small achievable (hopefully!) goals I'll be writing on my daily agenda. The question is what one word can sum up all those aspirations? A word that doesn't let me look back, because what's past is past.

Dream?
Determination?
Success?

All good words, but they just don't seem to fit for me this year.

My mantra for 2013 is going to be FORWARD!

I'm not looking back at what I can't change. I'm looking forward to setting the bar higher, to getting healthier, etc.

What's your word going to be for 2013? What are you going to write at the top of your agenda to keep you moving toward your ultimate goal? I'd love to know!

A New York Holiday Minute

 First I need to a take a few lines to express my deepest sympathy, my heartfelt remorse and my utter shock at the senseless tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School.  My heart goes out to every parent of that community. I know our prayers and support aren't enough, but I do believe in God and I do believe in the power of our prayers. May God bless all those angels.

Now, for the first time in years I planned a trip into NYC (about 90 minutes by train) with the hubs and 2 of my 3 kids - because my oldest hates the city and refused to go.

Even though we all felt a little down this weekend and not really in the holiday spirit due to the CT tragedy - we went with the feeling that life can be short, it can be fleeting and we should take the moments with our loved ones when we get them and celebrate. We all know how quickly things can change, "in a New York minute" we like to say...and so we headed out for our long-planned day in the city.


Immediately after stepping out from Penn Station we found the most important destination of our day to our 13 year old daughter - the One Direction store! We stepped into a hot store brimming with screaming teenage girls in their absolute glory (Okay, I was teen once and admit to same the consuming crushes, I think David Cassidy was my first celebrity crush and if that doesn't date me, I don't know what does!)

After surviving the One Direction store and the jibes from her 19 year old brother...we continued on. We took a few wrongs turns once out of Penn Station, but we had some laughs and ended up at our next destination, The Discovery Center for their exhibit on the real world of Spying and Espionage.

As someone who deals in the fiction trade, even though I write romance, this was AMAZING. The stories, the photographs and the actual items used during the last 100 years or more were fascinating. From hollow coins to poison "suicide" pins and carrier pigeon cameras - we went from one room to the next pointing things out to each other. The fact that it held the attention of both a 13 year old girl and a 19 year old boy I think speaks volumes!

Being that it was cold and rainy, we didn't do as much window shopping as we would have liked, but the window displays at Macy's are always worth braving the weather for. This year the windows depicted scenes from "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Clause" and they were all fun to see.

After eating dinner we headed for the tree in Rockefeller Plaza. Here I am with my wet hair (Isn't hubby lucky he has no hair to worry about? LOL!)

The train ride home was quiet but the smiling faces sitting across me filled my heart with all the goodness and hope I still feel and want to believe in. I gave my kids a wonderful memory that will last a lifetime this weekend and as a mom, that's all I can ask for.

Happy Monday my friends and safe travels wherever your road leads this holiday season!

Holiday Traditions - The Gingerbread Cookie

Making gingerbread cookies is a tradition in my house. In fact, it's been a holiday EVENT in our house for the last 17 years.

Hubby makes the dough, we invite our closest family friends and we spend the next few hours decorating cookies with the kids. Yes, I have pictures of our kids growing up at my dining room table...17 years of those smiling faces decorating cookies from the early days of simply a pair of chocolate chip eyes, to the years the boys covered the cookies in red hots to simulate gun shot wounds - we've seen it all!

  
And I even have my share of pictures of me covered with flour handprints (courtesy of my hubby!)

This is one holiday tradition that I adore and well, it just wouldn't feel like the Christmas season without the annual gingerbread night at our house.



Here's the recipe we've been using for 17 years...(warning you really need a good mixer - this recipe is thick!)

Gingerbread Men

1 Cup butter

1 Cup sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 egg

1 Cup dark molasses

2 Tbs vinegar

5 Cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp ground Ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

Cream butter, salt & sugar. Add egg, molasses & vinegar. Beat well. Stir in flour, baking soda and spices. When it's well mixed, chill dough for at least 3 hours. Roll out dough to desired thickness on a lightly floured board or pastry mat (we like ours thicker and more doughy!) Cut with the traditional gingerbread man cookie cutter and place on UNgreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Decorate as desired.
Bake cookies at 375 for approximately 6 to 8 minutes (depending on the thickness and your oven)
Let cool for about a minute, then remove to wire rack to continue cooling.

Enjoy!

Does your family have that one cookie you have to make every year?

Safe travels and happy scribbling!

12-12-12...Some 12 Facts!

Thanks to all who entered my December 2012 contest for 3 handmade travel-sized holiday scented travel soaps...Rafflecopter and Random.org picked my winner as Jennifer V. and she was emailed this morning!

Look for a new contest in January!

Now onto today's phenomenon...

Unless you're living under a rock (or have no concept of time and dates) you know that today is one of those dates on the calendar most of us will never see again.

12/12/12

Here's a few interesting things about the number 12 and why it's a number we all know well...

There are 12 months in a year.

There are 12 signs of the zodiac.

There are 12 inches to a foot.

There are 12 items in a dozen.

A day is broken into 12 hours on an analogue clock.

12 tribes were started after Moses lead his people out of Egypt.

Jesus had 12 disciples.

In Hinduism, the Sun God Surya has 12 names.

Christians celebrate 12 days of Christmas.

There are 12 sets of ribs in the human body (most of the time.)

Most humans also have 12 cranial nerves.

AA has a 12 step program.

12 Astronauts have walked on the moon.


And that's all I've got this morning...how about you? Any 12 trivia I missed?  Hope it's a lucky day for you and it brings you happiness x 12!

New Calendars, New Beginnings...

I am a calendar junkie and this is my favorite time of the year.

Every store has a new choice to feed my addiction.

How many calendars can a girl have? Well, I'm so glad you asked...

I have one hanging in my kitchen. I have a weekly calendar I post on my refrigerator with all of the activities for that week for every member of the family (thanks to Cozi.com!) I've also got one of those "daily" calendars on my desk at home...I'm a sucker for those!

I've got a Moleskin daily calendar in my pocketbook.

Yes, I have my Cozi calendar on my smartphone. It sends me reminders and I think that's awesome. :)

Calendar over my desk at work? Of course!

And last but not least, in my tote bag that goes everywhere with me, I have a good old-fashioned daily planner with folders, zippered pockets, etc.

You'd think with all these calendars I'd never missed an appointment. Well, that's not exactly the case, but I do get better every year at actually consulting the calendars on a routine basis. LOL

Something about opening up a new calendar and penning appointments in the boxes that gives me a sense of being in control of my life. All those blank hours in the day, just waiting for me to fill them up or keep them empty and plan NOTHING. It's all up to me (well, at least I like to pretend it is.) I look at all those blank days and weeks are new opportunities to start something, to accomplish a goal a day at a time.

My kids get calendars every year in their Christmas stockings, because it's never too early to learn how to plan and schedule.

Now, with the proliferation of calendars in all the stores this time of year, I can't believe I am the only one with this particular fettish...so tell me, how many calendars will you buy this year?

And while you're here, why not take a chance to win some handmade holiday scented travel soap? (See the giveaway here!)

Have a great day and safe travels...



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Holiday Singing?

I will be the first to admit that I cannot sing.

11 months out of the year, I belt out the tunes and sing along to my favorite songs ONLY when I know I am alone, like in the car or in the shower. BUT come December, all the restraint goes out the window and I sing along to the holiday music no matter where I am.

In the mall, at the office, in the grocery store...I feel no shame singing along (usually off key) to the strains of White Christmas or Santa Baby. My iPod is loaded up with holiday albums of all old favorites like Johnny Mathis and Bing Crosby - but is also just as loaded with Christmas tunes from Michael Buble and Mariah Carey. (I'm actually a sucker for new holiday releases...much to my family's dismay.)




Last year I started playing a holiday station on Pandora, so for the 5 hours I'm there every work day there is no escaping the sounds of my lovely voice drifting through the office. (I guess it's a small blessing for my co-workers that I'm pretty much alone in my office most of the time!)

What about you? Do you sing along with the holiday music?

And while you're singing along with your favorite tune, why not take a chance in my December giveaway? There's still time to enter! Check out my Rafflecopter below (the prize description can be found here.)


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Take A Holiday Chance

I'm having a December contest!

The prize is a 3-pack of travel sized handmade holiday scented soaps (and one of my new logo pens!)

I recently found Carol of Wild Herb Soaps on the Etsy site and fell in love with the quality of her soaps.

Since I write time travel romance to times when store bought soap wasn't an option - I thought it would be fun to offer some "Travel Soap" for a lucky winner this holiday season!

This December travel set includes small sample sizes of  Christmas Bliss,  Holiday Spice and  Honeycomb Lemon scents for a total of 1.5 oz wrapped in a raffia bow. (Contest open to US residents only, sorry!)

Here's how to enter!


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