Black and white dog with Happy New Year hat
Happy New Year! In my last blog post, I wrote about needing to refill my creative well. I took December and tried really hard to focus on self-care and nurturing my creative side. The well isn’t completely full, but neither is it bone dry anymore.
Right after University classes ended in December, Mom and I drove to Hot Springs, Arkansas for a much needed vacation. Neither of us had ever been. We’d planned a week of sightseeing and trail walking. Sadly, it rained all but one day we were there so the plan went out the window. I made good use of the time reading and relaxing. I did manage to put a nice dent in my to-be-read pile. It is still MASSIVE and I will never get through it but I’ll have lots of fun trying.
Speaking of the to-be-read pile, I managed to finish over 235 books this year. I set my Goodreads challenge every year and I am proud to say that I met my goal (and then some.) For the past couple of years the goal has been steady at 200 books but I think for 2022 I may up it to 236. That will be one more book than I read in 2021. That’s roughly a book every day and a half. I’ll let you know how I do.
The last week in December is always about goal setting for me. The problem is that I always set too many goals and several of them don’t get done. This year, I am pairing down my goals to just 4. Number 1 is to eat healthier. For several years, I was on keto and it worked very well for me. But I went off it November and I’m a little afraid to get on the scale right now. I’m transitioning to the Mediterranean diet and hoping for the best. My second goal is to self-publish Under the Harvest Moon. My previous publisher passed on it but that is fine. Preliminary publishing date is August. Anyone interested in being on my street team should just drop me an e-mail.
Goal number 3 is to have 2 drafts of Under the Frost Moon complete by December 31. This might actually be two separate goals but I’m combining them. Finally, goal number 4 is one I’ve already mentioned. I want to read 1 more book this year than I did last year. Hopefully, by narrowing down my goals, I will meet all of them. But the overall motto for 2022 is New Year, New Book!