I’m sitting here trying to figure out how it got to be mid-October already. Where did the start of the month go? Where did the year go. Where did the last three years go…? Which is how long I’ve been blogging at Murder She Writes as of October 6th. (Yes, it’s my three year anniversary, and I’ll be doing a giveaway to celebrate that. :) )

It’s about this time of year that I:

  1. start panicking about holiday gifts
  2. wonder which member of the family is hosting Christmas Eve this year and praying it’s not me
  3. looking at what I’ve accomplished so far in the year
  4. taking note of what’s left to accomplish before the year ends
  5. start preliminary thoughts about what needs to be done next year

Last year, I released two short stories. That was all I could manage after crashing and burning the year before that. All in all, I was down for the count for more than a year and there were many times when I wondered if my writing mojo was gone and it was time to reevaluate.

In the end, I did reevaluate. I learned that release dates weren’t as important as giving myself time to write the best book I can. I changed the way I schedule my books, thinking first about how much time I needed to write and also how much time I needed to live a life on the side to keep me a happy writer. It took me a few months to get in the right groove, but once I did, the magic came back to me. I’ll wrap up this year having released three single titles, four anthologies, and three digital novellas.

I’m excited about writing again. Not so long ago I told a friend I’d never be able to write a book in a month like I did at the start of my career. I couldn’t hit that “zone” anymore. I’ve since discovered that I can hit that “zone” again, and the words can flow like water, and I can be so eager to return to writing a book that I’m impatient to do so. Get out of my way, I need to write. So I’ll need to keep protecting that headspace, because now I know how fragile it is.

I’ll need to keep giving myself permission to read when the mood suits me or when I’ve reached a point in my MS that stumps me. I recently wrote a book in about 6 weeks. During that time, I read 8 single titles, 1 category book, and 2 novellas. Reading = writing for me, and I lost that a few years ago. I won’t lose it again. I started out this year with the goal of reading 26 books. One every couple weeks, I thought. I can do that. I’ve passed that goal already and next year I’ll raise it. A book a week maybe. I’d love to beat that.

So unlike the last couple years, I’m going to end this year satisfied with what I’ve accomplished and looking forward to what I hope to accomplish next year. It’s been a great three years here at Murder She Writes. I’m looking forward to the next three. :)

I’ve got THREE RT Convention tote bags to giveaway, each one filled with books/goodies/promo as they were for the convention. Just tell me what you think the “must-have” holiday gift will be this year in your house. :)

Happy Monday!