2010 will be known as the Year I Wrote More Than I Ever Thought I Could.
Seriously, I didn't see this one coming, and if someone would have told me I would write three books in 2010 while holding down a more-than-full-time day job, I would have smacked him right upside his crazy-ass head. But I did, essentially. At the beginning of the year, I rewrote a novel from the ground up, a revision that was, essentially, a new novel (and one that I'm pretty proud of). Then I wrote not only the third book of the series (yay! and less revising!), but a collection of essays (why am I so reluctant to call it a memoir? I'm not OLD enough for a memoir, but that's really what it is).
It's also the year I learned a little about balance. And how I don't haz it. I had to really think about making time for family and friends, and at some point, I realized I'd left myself out of the equation altogether, so I'm working on that, too.
In many ways, for many people, 2010 has been a crap year, one that we won't miss. But it will always, always be the year my first book came out. The book that I *still* get a thrill from finding on bookstore shelves. And therefore, a very, VERY good year.
This year wouldn't have been half as awesome without you, dearest readers. I mean it. When How to Knit a Love Song came out, YOUR response was the most important. Your tweets/FBs/emails telling me you'd found it on a shelf, that you'd finished reading it, and better, that you'd liked it, kept me afloat. They kept me writing. They kept me believing. And if I haven't told you before, THANK YOU. With all my heart.
January: We met Dad's girlfriend Lola, who impressed us with her happy smile, big laugh, and her love for our father. And we also met the newest member of our family: CLEMENTINE!
(Hint: Clemmy is the one on the right.) Our rescued beagle-pit mix is wonderful, and loves all things except my sister's dog Boonie. Clementine cuddles happily with cats and Miss Idaho (practically a cat) but doesn't want anything more than to be in a person's lap, any person's lap, for approximately all the minutes in today and she'd like a loan on tomorrow's minutes, too, thanks.
February: Stitches West! I handed out one bajillion excerpts for the book and got REALLY excited about it. And we went to Disneyland, where I discovered I loved the Tower of Terror and I learned that Lala will never, ever, ever, ever go on it again.
March: How to Knit a Love Song hit the shelves. I expired of happiness.
It looks like I'm at a roulette table, huh? (Hey, you might have something there!)
(Psst – Save the date: Book Launch Party for the next book, How to Knit a Heart Back Home, will be at Bookshop West Portal on 3/3/11, with drinks and fun to follow. I want you there. Please?)
April:I took a zipline and got an iPad (because I love adventure, in every sense of the word. Except when that word is bugs, and then I'm not very adventurous at all). And I went to Stitches South where the yarn was good and the Key Lime pie was AMAZING.
May: I went to Columbus, where I ate at Jeni's ice cream every day, sometimes twice a day. I had three signings. I was, generally, overwhelmed, but in a good way.
June: My garden went crazy from neglect.
July: I gave up rebound medicines, and that really helped with the migraines (except for the monthly ones, which I'm still getting WITHOUT FAIL — I'm getting Botox in the back of my neck as my next line of attack. And OH BOY my nape will look wrinkle-free! Bonus!). (None of the other diet changes I made all year made any difference, so I'm back to drinking coffee and eating sugar. I'd like to give up the sugar again though….) I gave up overdying my silver hair, and I did a sensory deprivation float which made me think I was DYING before I decided it was cool. I wrote a hell of a lot. I was on the midnight shift at work, so I saw no one and I was quite a grumpy bear. And Digit was caught snuggling:
August:I went to RWA National in Orlando, which was like visiting the surface of the sun on a rainy day and having to keep your hair nice while doing so. I loved the conference, but I was stunned by the climate and ended up whimpering every time outside air hit my skin. I wrote a LOT. I went to the beach to get away from the Bay Area heat (which is nothing like Orlando, thank GOD). I wrote a lot.
September: We went to the Strawberry Music Festival, where I actually relaxed. And I got into wolf facepaint and performed Hungry Like the Wolf (a truly unflattering although funny pic is here as your reward for getting this far). I wrote a lot.
October: I finished the memoir:
I went to New York alone, then to Rhinebeck very happily not alone. I <3 NY.
November:I played the ukulele! I ran once! (BOY, 2011 has to be the Year Of Getting Back In Shape. Dude. I can barely run a bath right now, let alone 3 miles.) I knitted a lot as the writing slowed, and I made a shawl and two sweaters (I haven't even posted pics of those two sweaters here or on Ravelry. I keep forgetting. Whoops). And I relaxed more than I had in a while.
[Aside – Hey, anyone up for Runagogo again? 100 miles in the first three months? There's already a group on Ravelry for it (which I don't moderate, but I'm proud to say it started here), and maybe if you all were in it with me, I might get it done.]December: I started things: I started the revision of Book Three (a much smaller job than that of reworking Book Two from the first word). I started a weekly routine of sending a handwritten thank-you note to someone, somewhere. Oooh, and I started Alice Starmore's Irish Moss, sleeve seen here:
I'm modifying it to be knitted in the round (no idea what I'll do at the shoulder — probably a raglan-to-saddle, a la EZ). I'm in love with the yarn: DROPS extrafine merino in color 6. I'm knitting it on US size 1s. Le Sigh. It'll take a good long while to knit this bad boy. The pattern is GORGEOUS. I received a promo copy of Aran Knitting from the publisher and pretty much read it cover to cover, and I've come to the same conclusion: that I don't necessarily need AS at my hot tub party, but DAMN, she's good.
So, from Chez Yarnagogo-Smartyboots (aka Chez Hehu), it comes down to this: Happy New Year, all of you.
May 2011 kick ass.