It’s been a long week and I know I’ve been scarce. Insomnia will do that. Mix lack of quality sleep with a week long off-site project during working hours, and Pia pretty much becomes a drone of the Man. Work, eat, sleep, toss and turn. Work, sleep, toss and turn. Eat, work, sleep, disdain the thought of food with a snarl, sleep, toss and turn.

Finally, last night, I slept. Really slept.

Maybe today, I can get back on track.

Actually, yesterday evening, I started down that track. I wrote the next two installments of CRANK and, by doing those, I bridged the current posts to the stuff I’d written a couple of months ago to prepare for The Scene. No, I didn’t write that one yet, but rather, the build up to it is starting and I’m very excited to have reached this point. I think those of you following Crandall and Mike will be pleased with the results.

Along with the insomnia was PMS of flu-like degrees. The muscle and joint ache this time around went from knees to neck and everything in between. There were points during the weekend where standing at the counter, pouring a cup of coffee hurt the small of my back worse than sleeping on a lumpy hard hotel mattress. I truly thought I was coming down with the flu Wednesday when I went to bed at 8 pm after passing out curled up in the easy chair at six.

Still, I’ll take this crap over the cramps any month of the year.

Anyway, enough of this boring hate-being-a-girl crap. I have better things to do with my time and my blog.

Let’s see. I think I owe you, dear Readers, some book-type blog posts. I haven’t been reading all that much, and one of the books I recently finished I tore apart on Twitter, so I’m not sure I should bother to repeat all of that here. I probably will, for those of you that missed my “you failed me” rant at Dean Koontz. (Now that I think of it, most of that was probably in DMs so that I wouldn’t drop any public spoilers. Oh, there will be spoilers, my pretties.)

Besides, there are two other books that I did enjoy that you need to hear about soon. As in, before I forget enough details to make a ‘review’ sound like the book reports I wrote in high school when I didn’t finish the story because I was too busy reading Koontz.

For now, I just wanted to drop by and say hello. Hello. I’m still here, still writing, and almost recovered from myself. I’m sure I’ll blog again soon.

Ciao,
Pia

Just a quickie – I’m not on my computer and this keyboard is louder than a machine gun.

(Simultaneously published on SparkPeople.com)

I’ve been thinking of my February resolution since I wrote up that blog post. I love running and so this resolution will be one I will strive for regardless of promises.

Is that truly a resolution?

Usually, a resolution is something that we want but have struggled with. This one feels akin to me promising to write about my boys every week — I already do that! Granted I’m not up to the goal I set distance-wise, but I think I need a new resolution for this month… one that will challenge me.

The biggest thing that I struggle lately is groceries. Not the shopping itself, though I hate grocery shopping, but the planning of meals and the subsequent purchases of the proper ingredients. For the rest of February, I will be working towards that 5k goal on the treadmill still, but my resolution is now to plan out at least three meals each week. I think I’ll start with a salmon stir fry.

Mmm… salmon…

Ciao,
Pia

(Title credits: Dar Williams, February)

End of month and so much to say. It happens this way quite often. I want to blog daily for two weeks straight, and then I have nothing for a week. I’ve tried saving posts during my wordy times, but during the quiet periods, I do not have the same inspiration for those half-written epiphanies.

Today I have two things to cover, let’s see how much I get done.

First and foremost, the beautiful and energetic Ms. Jo Lynne Valerie has given me a blog award. It’s that pretty thing over there on the right. I even figured out how to link it back to her blog all by myself. If you know me and html, you know this is either a miracle or an accident.

Part of the requirements of accepting Jo’s award is to recommend three other blogs. Done. It wasn’t easy since I blew up Google Reader months ago when I breached the 500 mark on unread posts. I wish I had more time to read blogs, but let’s face it, we all have to make decisions with our time and I have to choose published works over most blogs. It was nothing against the bloggers themselves, or their writing, but all about me. If I’m not reading fiction, my writing suffers. It wasn’t a tough choice.

End of month also brings a resolutions update. Yay for little steps!

Health Goal: Twelve minute mile. Done. Actually, I first hit twelve minutes in the first week of January, but my energy level still ebbs and flows and so I wasn’t confident that this pace was sustainable until well into the month. Currently, my running routine is one mile at a 12-minute pace and then a second starting with a 2 minute fast walk break followed by running ½ mile. Rinse and repeat. Some days I’ve gone up to a total of 2.5 miles running (not including the fast walk breaks), but I’m not there on every run.

Next month, I’d like to be consistently hitting a 5k mark. That’s about 3.2 miles. It can be at the ½-mile intervals because currently I seem to peter out by the end of two and 2.5 is definitely pushing my limit. I think I can stretch my endurance that much farther this month, but I suspect it’ll be tough goal to meet.

Writing Goal: The month isn’t over yet! Ok, I pretty much have this one wrapped up, but I can’t say it’s done. I cut over a thousand words from FALLEN, but when doing a final read-through this week, I found a couple of minor details that needed patching. Those should get typed up Saturday for submission Saturday or Sunday. So long as I can get this done with the CRANK post due Sunday, I’ll have a double success on this month’s resolutions. I think it’s possible, but by no means guaranteed.

For next month, I’m torn. I have Kitty’s story to edit but that’ll take more than a month. At about 40k words, and not having looked at it in over a year, that will be a big project. I also am to the point with CRANK that I need to start nailing down some additional details for the summer months of this story arc. It was designed to run about a year, but since I abhor outlines before I begin writing, I still need to mentally approve of the endgame.

Don’t panic, my dear Readers. While I said that CRANK was intended for a year-long story arc, the boys will not be retiring at the end of that time. It is merely a way for me to measure my progress and to determine story breaks for when I pretty them up in novel format. There will be a second arc, and there are already the vaguest hints of it being laid down in recent posts.

While both of these things will be addressed in some form over the next month, the official resolution will be to read more. I have two novels started that I will finish and I have several new novella-lenth stories on the Kindle, of which I’m shooting for two to three of them this month. When I’m short on time, it is reading that gets forgotten too easily. Yet if I’m not reading my writing gets stale and the Muse fights against me with claws and teeth. I will stop brushing off reading as a frivolous hobby because for any writer, it should be a job requirement.

Ciao,
Pia

Remember back in September when I blogged about the newest version of the chain letter? A new sparkly prize is making its rounds in the blog world. Again, my first reaction is “Really?” and I roll my eyes. Then I send the cynic in me off to throw angst and turmoil into a random character’s relationship so I can respond without snark.

Yes, they are chain letter, or chain awards if you will. But, despite this, they can be fun to do. After all, how many times have I said, “Hey Carrie, I adore you!” Okay, she’s not allowed to answer that, because I meant to ask, how many times have I said so in my blog. Sweet, cutsie stuff is not what I write.

Just because I don’t usually write nice things, doesn’t mean I don’t think them. These silly little awards serve as a reminder that I have made some wonderful friends online and those people deserve recognition. Or at least a big bear hug.

Before I extend the circle, I do want to explain that I am doing this solely on friendship – people who make me smile. I have rarely had time to keep up with blogs over the past couple of months. I try, I do, but I couldn’t honestly award anything to blogs at this time. I barely read published stuff, and when I do it’s not as much as I’d like. Blog were the something that had to give. I have three that I keep up with still, through no fault of those that I had to abandon.

Anyway, on to the awards!

Carrie, aka @shadowsinstone. Yes, she gave me this one, but I’d have done it anyway. We’ve been through some amazing highs and wicked lows, and we share a mind when it comes to vampires. She’s the one person I know will beta read and tell me (and has) “This is not your best work.”

Andrew, aka @andrew_wolter. Not just because we can talk about cute men together, but also because he’s easy to talk to and his extroverted nature is catchy. Ok, I’m still a wallflower, but I try when he’s around because he has this wonderful energy that flows all the way from Arizona.

Lexi aka @writerlexiryan. Writer of the first M/F erotica story that I’ve actually read all the way through without mocking. Did I tell you I’m not a romance junkie? While I enjoyed her smut scenes, I adore Lexi for her selfless encouragement and assistance when I start slipping in my publishing optimism. I still have her “great hook” tweet favorited.

Hannah, aka @Jacquesthemonkey, and Jon, aka @jonsinger. These two tend to crop up in my tweet stream at the same time. Whether it be me corrupting them with Placebo videos or them stroking my CRANK ego, when the three of us chat, I’m always smiling or laughing.

Lee, aka @leesgreenberg. We’ve only recently been chatting/tweeting but already I’m comfortable chatting with him. We talk about such a variety of things and his is a truly open mind.

These are the friends I’ve talked with the most lately. There are others – online friends ebb and flow like the tides – so if I didn’t mention you, it’s not for lack of love. There is one person I do want to add to the list, despite not hearing from him lately.

Will, aka @wdprescott. Always a welcome tweeter/chatter. His silence lately is not his choice since he is currently recovering from a liver transplant. I fully expect to find him back on Skype as soon as he’s healed and functional. I miss him, and the fun chats we had whether it be the two of us, or dragging Jezzy and Andrew along for the ride.

So there you go. Some wicked awesome people. Now, because it’s a chain award, each one of you needs to tag five of your favorite friends or bloggers. I’d love it if you link those responses here so I can see who make YOU smile.

Happy Wednesday, dear Readers. Hug your friends!

Ciao,
Pia

Montréal quickly fades from memory, not because I did not enjoy myself, because I did. We took a horse and buggie tour through old Montréal; we went to the pirate exhibit at the museum,; we had a lot of sex; and we ate a ton of food (French onion soup in the US has nothing to the real thing, by the way. Onion soup in Montréal was to die for!)

It was chilly and raining or misting a good chunk of the time we were there, so next time (and yes, there will be a next time) we’ll go during the summer. The guy with the horse told us about the music festivals that close down the streets of the old part of town (which was impressive in and of itself since he was otherwise obsessed with explaining the difference between old and new architecture in relation to buildings that were fire hazards).

Instead of boring you with every detail, I’ll give you a best and worst. No doubt, you’ll have to hear more when we go again, so I don’t want to burn you out on Montréal too soon.

Worst: Christmas Day. Montréal was built by missionaries and the city is still full of religious people who roll up the sidewalks for Christmas. The hotel bar was open, but expensive and with a waiter who apparently didn’t like his job. Or tips. So for dinner, we went to Chinatown. We picked a restaurant, Ruby Rouge, from a blog about visiting Montréal at Christmas. It was awful. The hot pot was lukewarm, and half the fish in it was rubbery, the dim sum smelled and tasted (I assume) like dog food, and I’m fairly certain the waitress didn’t know English or French.

Best: Le Saloon, and the resulting evening. I couldn’t go all the way to Montréal without visiting the Gay Village. If the weather had been better, we’d have explored more, but even raining, we walked Rue Sainte-Catherine.

Ah, but I get ahead of myself.

After much surfing of blogs and websites, I picked Le Saloon for dinner. In one review, it was touted as a place to sit and dine and watch the pretty boys walk Rue de Sainte-Catherine. The Muse insisted and who am I to argue?

With the drizzle of cold rain, there wasn’t much walking along the street, and the place was fairly packed when we arrived, so when the host said there weren’t any tables on the main floor (I guess he knew about that ‘advertisement’ because I didn’t ask for one by the window) we took a table up on the second floor.

The drinks and the food were wonderful. The Hubby had a gin drink that came with a slice of cucumber in it. I hate gin, but there was this hint of cucumber aftertaste that felt more like a scent lingering than anything heavy on the tongue.

The atmosphere, too, made for a great evening. The Hubby commented that everyone was staring at me while we talked to the host, but then I pointed out that the room was 95% men and they were probably staring at him. (Fag hag? So what? Who’s that with her? Top or bottom?) I watched the table next to us celebrate something with champagne, fascinated by one guy who had hair just like Morgan. I am, after all, a people watcher at heart and so I was eying everyone that walked by – waiters, waitresses, other patrons on their way to the tiny closet cum bathroom. The Hubby commented on a booth of what could be college boys drinking it up and I just smiled. Ialways thought a frat house would be a fun M/M setting.

We left drunk, and with The Muse rambling on about Morgan. Instead of waiting for a cab, we decided to walk down the street and see if we could stumble upon something fun. There are a lot of restaurants, bars, and entertainment on Rue de Sainte-Catherine, but it was dark and rainy and we were chattering away about who knows what. After a brief stopover in a sports bar for one more drink, we walked all the way back to the hotel.

Cher Montréal, we enjoyed our visit and shall return soon.

Ciao,
Pia

Why do we, as writers, build those blocks around our creativity?

We do it to ourselves and you all know it. Writer’s block doesn’t really exist, yet we use it as an excuse when we’re forced to struggle and fight for the creative juices to flow.

Yes, I’ve done it. I admit it. I also admit that when I bitch about writer’s block, it is much more likely that I’m in a mental funk, unable to wrap my head around whatever character flaw I’m trying to illustrate, or stuck in an action scene that doesn’t seem believable, or at a loss as to how to transition the story from one place to the next. The writing has become hard and I’m annoyed. I’m not blocked, but rather, pissed that I have to work at it.

Sure, I’ve had days, weeks even, that I could not write a legible sentence let alone muster a new idea. But was I trying hard enough – was I trying at all?

What do you do to get around these blocks? These funks? These anti-creative moods that seem to hit us all?

If you can’t answer that question, then you’ve built your own blocks of doubt and negativity. If you can, then you probably don’t truly believe in the block as anything more than a convenient excuse to play video games when you know you should be editing that story.

(Yep, I do that too. Played all damn weekend while the boys played against the backdrop of my mind.)

Okay Pia, you say, what do you do then?

Well, I do play. I do (try) to recognize that a slow writing period can often mean I’m tired. I might be tired of writing, or just worn out in general, but either way, I need to relax when the Muse is quiet.

If play doesn’t work, then I have a variety of things I try.

1) Read. Yes, read. Doesn’t matter what genre or what form. Novels, flash fiction, comic books, blogs. Just read. My writing gets stale if I don’t read often enough. This might be the biggest ‘block’ of my personal experience.

2) Reread. Not to be confused with Read. Reread the last few scenes of the current WIP. Getting drawn into that suspension of disbelief is a great way to reawaken the Muse. Or, failing that, reread some really old stuff. (Holy moly, I actually thought this was good? This makes me want to immediately start rewriting that old crap.)

3) Pick two characters that have never met and introduce them. Recently, I took Morgan from the current WIP and introduced him to Nik from the old No Girls Allowed posts. They hit it off fabulously. Plus, Nik told me about a fight he had with his NGA beau, Leaf, so that’ll be a scene that could go in their story when I get back to writing it.

4) Bullet points. With either the WIP or a random note from my “Miscellaneous Ideas” file, I jot down bullet points on what should happen, be fixed, or would be fun to write. Just get the ideas flowing no matter how mundane or miniscule. The better ones will follow.

Last but not least, and best used with one of the other four (hence no number): music. Every character has his or her own music. Eventually. Find the band (or bands – make a playlist) that speaks to your Muse and puts you in that space in your head where your imagination wanders free.

Morgan likes Adam Lambert. My vampires like KidneyThieves. Weres, Dar Williams. Sometimes I personally would prefer to listen to something else, but the music that inspires them, does so for a reason. Listen to the words of Lambert’s STRUT and you’ll glean a bit of Morgan’s personality.

When a character doesn’t have his or her own music yet (I need to know them well to figure out their songs) then I have a default love of Placebo. My Muse occasionally takes the shape of Brian Molko, and even when not that obvious, just listening to this band can draw out a better, feisty mood. The most amusing part of listening to Placebo for writing is that I choose very different songs when I’m knocking down the blocks than I would for any other listening situation. Yes, even the Muse has her own songs.

Do you recognize when you’re building your blocks? What are your favorite ways to knock them down again? Let’s write today, dear Readers. No excuses.

Ciao,
Pia

Chaos is my world. I strive for order, but not everywhere, and when I do, it is short lived spurts of desperation. What does this mean? Well, for one, that list of four books I started reading a few blog posts back, is still in the “actively reading” pile. All four. I’m halfway through the first two and the second two I’ve read one chapter.

Despite having four books started already, when Keith Melton’s BLOOD VICE showed up at my door in a box soaked by snow melting off the roof (thanks UPS) I dove right in. BLOOD VICE beat the 20-page test easily. In the first few paragraphs, the Italian Mafioso stereotypes annoyed me, (but hey, it’s the mafia, and we’ve all seen the movies or read the history. They are what they are). Besides that was quickly overruled by Melton’s hit man vampire, Karl Vance, who both embraces and rejects stereotype. He is an expert in his trade, his skills enhanced by his immortal abilities but, speaking of vampirism, Melton does not flaunt his character’s supernatural abilities, writing them in as if second nature. Sure, doesn’t every city have a secret vampire assassin?

This story has moved to the top of the list and I’ll share more when I’m done. I expect that will be soon, and likely sooner than RELENTLESS. That is, unless it inspires me to dust off my blood-suckers, as it tempted me to do in the first two chapters.

Speaking of temptations, Morgan has finally developed enough to be an unrelenting enticement to write when I should be editing. FALLEN needs a good edit and since I spent so much time on it previously, it wouldn’t take much to tighten up the spots I want to address. Yet Morgan has wormed his way into my Muse’s bed and thus, I can think of little else. Sure, I could buckle down and just do it, but I’m enjoying this character with his playboy lifestyle and charming personality. Now if only I could get him to listen to something a little harder and darker than Adam Lambert. I cannot choose my character’s musical tastes. You would think I could, but so far, any attempt to sway what they want to hear when I write risks the magic that is creativity.

It’s all good. I like Lambert’s voice and STRUT fits Morgan better than any Placebo song. Besides, it gives me a break from Crandall’s fascination with Nickelback.

Now it’s time to give Maximian some attention. I don’t know what he wants. No, correction, I know what he wants, but I don’t know what he expects me to write tonight. He rolls his eyes at Morgan, and if he had to stay in the same room as Crandall he’d slap the boy.

I’ll pour some tequila and let the Muse do the negotiating.

Ciao,
Pia

Perhaps I spoke too soon, or perhaps, as is often the case, I don’t have a good idea of what I can accomplish in a given period of time. One third of the way through the month and I already hit my twelve minute mark for one mile. That was last Friday and I don’t know yet if it’s sustainable since I felt like the veins in my face would explode during the last two minutes, but I have the rest of the month to keep practicing.

Meanwhile, I’ve yet to edit FALLEN. Okay, to be fair, I did cut out the four hundred words that slowed down the beginning. I’ve yet to decide where to sneak in bits of that so that all the details match up, but that’s a minor thing. What I need to do first is read through everything after the big cut and decide what I can do to make the story cleaner and more engaging. I don’t see it being done this month like I promised though. I just can’t wrap my head around what I was trying to accomplish with this storyline. Angels… I’m no angel.

Despite my bellyaching earlier in the month, I haven’t been avoiding writing. I’m still not writing much, but I’m trying. CRANK must continue. I have loose sketches of what needs to happen over the next couple of months of posts, so I’m not quite as frustrated with that project as the others, like Morgan and LOVE WITH ABANDON. (Let’s just call Morgan’s story LWA for short, shall we? Or maybe I shouldn’t be so damn lazy about formatting. Using all caps is the lazy way to format titles.) I do have piles of handwritten pages with Morgan and his beau, so soon I’ll need to force myself into a long, painful bout of transcription. My wrists hurt just thinking about it!

Ah, but I digress, the resolutions weren’t about transcription, but I do need one for that too. As long as I’m smoking crack on the to-do list, let’s add one for organizing my files too. I spent an hour rearranging folders on the flash drive trying to make sense of which fiction is stored where. It didn’t help much compared to the overall file of chaotic intents.

Things to do. Things to do. Maybe another month, because regardless of my moodiness, I do love FALLEN and I need to get that back out in the query jungle again.

Excuse me but I have work to do.

Ciao,
Pia

While wallowing in a writing funk, I’ve hidden it well until today. CRANK had been pre-written for the last couple of weeks since I knew the holidays would make my life crazy. I barely edited today’s post and I know it’s not as good as it could be, but since I’m in a deep well of apathy when it comes to writing, I’m going to think that. It’s probably fine, with the exception of a typo or two. Those always sneak in during these funks, no matter how much I edit.

I’m in a reading funk too. I skimmed through some reviews of books in my genre, hoping for renewed inspiration. Nothing. Not a single one caught my attention. Four books in progress scattered throughout the house and I haven’t picked up any of them since we returned from Montreal, and even then, I read little.

So that is the beginning of my year so far. Feeling “bleh” because I want to write, I love to write, and I haven’t been writing because I don’t feel the inspiration. Sure, I know that if I want to, I could. If I tried hard enough, words would come – like now, for this blog. Writing for me, however, cannot be work. I do it when I’m enjoying it and when I’m not, I mope, but I never, ever force it.

Writing is special for me beyond telling a story. If I start forcing it to make word counts, or to overcome these random bouts of meh, then it becomes more like work, and less like fun. Yes, writing is work. Twice a week, I write 800 to 1,000 words for CRANK. Editing a passage takes as long as writing it if not more. It is, however, also a burning passion. I enjoy these boys, these fictional characters, as much as I enjoy cuddling with the cat, or biting into the perfect piece of chocolate-covered caramel.

I write about monthly resolutions, but in all fairness, these are things I am working on to improve my life regardless of the new year or new month. I don’t believe in the typical resolution process because of funks like this. Had I “resolved” to write on a regular schedule this year, I’d be beating myself up this week due to the moodiness that I know will pass if I’m patient.

So, yes, I will continue the monthly resolution posts, but understand that these posts are not so much the ultimate promise that so many people make and then break in celebration of the New Year, but are instead, guidelines to remind myself what I want to work on in my life, and to share with you, dear readers, that old dogs can, and do, learn new tricks, should they only wish to do so.

Writing Goal: Clean up FALLEN and resubmit. I had the good intentions to do this before the first of the year, and then life got hectic, holidays came and went, and time flew by. I won’t work on this part of the storytelling process without 100% focus. I need my head in the right space to do this story justice. It’s worth the delay to do it right.

Health Goal: With the craziness of holidays, I’ve fallen out of my running routine. It was shaky to start with, and I did try to run in Montreal just to keep it going, but things happen, and I got a head cold. It wasn’t pretty, my attempt at using a treadmill in a Montreal Marriott, but the mind is there, even though the body still struggles. My focus, for now, will be to stamp the routine back into place and, maybe, get my mile down to twelve minutes.

This will be an extra difficult challenge thanks to all the people who do suffer through the New Year’s Resolutions. January through mid-February is always a busy time at the local gym. By mid-February, there are a few who have been successful and still attending, but the rest, those that hogged the cardio machines to read their magazines, have left by the time my birthday rolls around. Still, despite this, I intend to renew my affair with running nowhere as soon as possible. Save a treadmill for me, you wannabes!

Ciao,
Pia

I’ll finish my Montreal recap soon, but since this is one holiday that doesn’t give me hives, I wanted to participate with some kind of blog-like substance.

Time, for me, ebbs and flows, and sometimes even does somersaults. I have no true concept of time and often have to stop and do the math just to remember how old I am. Thus, a 2009 recap may be an impossible undertaking, but what the heck, let’s give it a whirl on the dance floor. I might spill a drink on 2008 while I’m at it. It’s all good. We’ve parted ways amicably.

I’m not going to bore you with the same stuff you can get on so many television programs at this time of the year. Yes, we were all stunned by Michael Jackson’s death. He was my first crush, setting me on this long road of loving and living in music. How I went from Michael Jackson to Brian Molko, I couldn’t quite say, but I do remember a several year, one-sided love affair with Brett Michaels somewhere in between.

As you should know by now, 2009 was the year I broke my long-standing resolution not to make resolutions. Instead of making a year-long goal however, I set myself up for month-long goals, looking for those little steps that felt just a little more achievable. Some went well and some stumbled into the gutter like my mind so easily does nowadays.

I had two major goals, each with smaller monthly steps throughout the year. Occasionally, I added a challenge outside these two to an individual month, but for the most part, I focused on my writing and my health. Neither is exactly where I want it to be, but both have had experiments with both success and failures that have led me forward more than back.

The boring one first. I won’t diet. I hate the word. If you want to lose weight, have more energy, feel better, whatever, you can’t just DIET. You need to change your lifestyle to fit your desired goals. Diet nowadays implies a temporary status until you’ve reached your goal, and let’s face it folks, you can lose five pounds and then return to your old habits and gain it back in ten percent of the time it took to drop.

So what have I changed?

I’ve cut back on video games significantly. There are some new dungeons on WoW that I’ve been playing in more often in the past month, but over the year, I’ve cut back drastically, to the point that the Hubby noticed he was playing alone quite often. Turnabout is fair play, he quit before me, when I was still using the game as downtime for studying. Less sitting in the computer chair and less staring at the soul-sucking, energy-eating computer monitor does wonders for my mind space.

The gym is no longer that looming shadow off to the right as I speed home after work. I don’t go as often as I’d like, but this time last year I couldn’t run for thirty seconds and now I can run a mile, if not more, and I’ve been slowly shaving seconds off my time. I’d still like to tighten up some muscles. I miss my sexy shoulders during tank top weather, but I’m getting there. I hope to ramp up the exercise over the next twelve monthly segments.

My food intake (aka, diet, but not DIET) has changed. While I still splurge at home with potato chips or chocolate, I have cut soda out of my life virtually completely and I never buy food from the vending machines. If I do have a soda, it is once a month, if that. Between the sugar and the caffeine, yes, I’ve noticed a huge difference. Ideally, I’ll next work in more veggies and remove even more of the processed crap. Planning meals each week is my downfall in this area, and that will be the first thing on the monthly list for 2010.

The second big resolution goal, writing and more writing, has progressed both too slow and better than I expected. I’d have preferred to have more stuff out in the submission circle by now, but I do have several rejections under my belt for 2009, plus two stories nearly ready to be thrown into the ring.

I’ve made many friends this year networking in writing circles online. That has been great for both the introvert and the writer in me. Shy by nature (no, really) this alone was a great feat (that technically started in ’08, but it took me quite a while to figure out how to use Twitter properly).

Word counts for the year are higher than I ever would’ve expected. Also, variety has soared. I don’t write just vampires anymore and, with the obsession over sparkly, weak Fangs, I’ve moved willingly away from them. It’s been good for me, and my Muse, who now likes angels, demons, fae, weres, warlocks, and *gasp* humans.

Outside of the resolutions, other stepping stones and hurdles presented themselves this year. I passed the Certified Financial Planner exam with flying colors. A very good friend and I both exploded and then made up in a much needed shift of passions and desires, both growing stronger for it. I’ve started, and maintained, a fun to write (and read, I hope) web serial and have plenty of tidbits to carry it through the next year. I sunk the health saving account into Invisalign to finally fix the crooked teeth my dentist has wanted to straighten since middle school.

As we head into the tail end of this decade, I don’t know entirely what to expect. I’m looking forward to subbing more stories, meeting up with some online friends in Vegas, exploring the opportunities my certification may provide, and watching my nieces grow like weeds. I’m happy with my Hubby, my family, my friends, and I look forward to more of the same.

Raise a glass with me, dear readers. Let us cheer to a night of drunken debauchery followed by a greasy hangover breakfast, to embrace the lush stereotype the writer loves to have.

Liquor, but I hardly know her.

Ciao,
Pia