Starting Out the New Year on the Right Foot... Hoof... Paw... First Line... Whatever...

I have a lot of high hopes for this coming year... like getting an agent... swooning editors with my total fabulousness... taking the publishing industry by storm... Uh, am I writing this all aloud? Ooops. Okay, so the swooning editors and taking the publishing industry by storm parts were just vague, possibly dramatized, representations of what I'm really aiming for. Broken down to it's most simplistic form, my goal for this year is this: To move forward in my writing career.

In other news... (can I just say that I LOVE, in case you haven't noticed, those ... marks they leave everything so open) I've been enjoying my straightened hair. It really isn't STRAIGHT anymore, but it's mostly straight, and still hanging much farther down my back than my usual curls do. I went out of the office at work the other day and was immediately jerked over backwards because I'd shut my luscious locks in the door. That process was aided by a gust of wind that hit me upon opening the door. I had ignored the wind because curls don't blow, they bounce. Except I don't have curls at the moment... I could hear my brother, code name Chucky Duck, laughing his a$$ off on the other side of the door... such concern for my welfare!

And speaking of funny, heartwarming recaps of last year, if you don't follow/haven't heard of Kristin Cashore's blog This is My Secret, you really should check out her post December Rundown. Kristin doesn't allow comments on her blog right now, but I really can't say enough about her posts and how they affect me. Whenever I'm feeling squashed by my efforts to get into the commercial world of writing I venture over to Kristin's blog and inevitably find something that makes me smile, grin, and feel hope washing through me again. And because of Kristin, I know that some day before I die, I am going to take trapeze lessons.

And on to WIPs... Uh, I've got a new one. Really, I seem to be in this glut of retellings. I've got Thornbriar, the Beauty and the Beast retelling that I've been working on. But now I've outlined a retelling of the Swan Princess, which I've titled The Swanguard. It's about as different from the original as you can get - apart from being told in a classical sort of manner. And now I'm working on Schneewittchen, a dystopian version of Snow White that involves gene tampering and nano technology. Don't ask. The mc, Schnee, just arrived and smacked me around until I had no choice but to pay attention to her. She leaves marks and doesn't sing to woodland creatures. I definitely got the feeling that I'd be better off doing what she wanted for the time being... I also came to the realization that Amarok and the Gone Missing Girl is really just a retelling of Catskin. It's struggling through revisions at the moment. I've gotten a lot a feedback on how I can make it stronger and better but I'm having trouble taking time from the WIPs to put into the revisions needed for AGMG.

Which reminds me that I need to depart from the blathering and get back to the WIPs. Even if there's no agent on the immediate horizon for me (think good thoughts, think good thoughts) the creating is good for my soul and besides that, each finished WIP is a future book that might be the one someone else falls in love with the way I did. Happy writing all!

HAPPY NEW YEARS!!!

I know, super original title there. But I do mean it. Happy New Year everyone! I'll try and put a real post tomorrow. My big plan for New Year's Day is to write all day long! You know, I've always been told that whatever you do on New Year's Day, you'll do the whole year long, so I can't think of anything better to do than write! Besides, I've got to get the lead out of these battling WIPs and get someone finished so I can start editing them!

What about you all? Anyone have any amazing plans for New Year's Day?