Ringing In & Out!

WOW! It's the last day of 2007!

Tomorrow starts 2008!

Like so many others, this time of year I find myself reflecting on the past and anticipating the future. This time it's an incredibly positive experience for me in BOTH directions! 2007 turned out to be a momentous year for me and 2008 promises to be even better.

Though I didn't know it, the seeds of my wonderful year were sown in 2006 when I became a finalist in the RWA Golden Heart contest. I found myself on an email loop with the 50+ other finalist and eventually, 19 of those fabulous ladies and I started our group blog The Romance Bandits. I can't even begin to tell you how much the friendship and comraderie of that group has meant to me. Our successes individually and as a group have far exceeded anything I dared hope or imagine.

I know that 2008 will hold more of the same for me and the rest of the Banditas. I can't WAIT to see what happens to us and where this crazy road will lead.

Being a 2006 Golden Heart finalist also led indirectly to achieving my dream of selling a novel. I met my editor at the 2006 RWA National Conference and she asked to read my manuscript. Although she turned that book down, she ultimately bought my next one, and I probably never would have approached her if she had not asked me for that first manuscript!

So 2007 marked the beginning of my long held dream -- BEING PUBLISHED!

2008 will see the accomplishment of that dream when my book hits the shelves in nine or ten more months. I hope to make my second and almost equally as exciting sale by then, too.

At the 2006 RWA Conference, Christina Dodd gave an inspiring speech about how all writers were moving down the same sidewalk. It's been a GREAT TRIP so far and I can't wait to see where the sidewalk takes me in 2008!

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!