Like many, I’m amazed another year has passed. My recollections of the year just past tends to blend together in a blur of meetings, appointments, conflicting schedules and myriad responsibilities. That’s not all bad because I like what I do, but here in the long, dark evenings of winter, I wish I’d taken more time to relax and play. I don’t make formal New Year’s resolutions, but perhaps I’ll keep that in mind as we sail into 2014.
I’m a firm believer that to know where you’re going you need to take stock of where you've been. The past and future are what this blog is all about as the present is taking care of itself very nicely.
January saw the release of Desert Snow. Desert Snow was an easy story to write. I’d had it in mind for a while and it flowed onto the page. January also launched the new tradition of our Cousin’s Dinner, a more formal quarterly gathering of all us cousins. It gives us a chance to sit down together for a meal on a regular basis. Making time for each other has become more important as we all seem to be busier than ever.
February brought the Snow Moon. They called the storm that went through here Winter Storm Nemo. We had some snow and then rain, but it could have been much, much worse. We were lucky, unlike folks north of us. Catching Fireflies was released in February 2013, and I’ve been wondering if I need to revisit the guys on Ocracoke Island.
March was a quiet month. I prepared for the blogging challenge and did my income taxes, and I didn’t write as much as I would have liked. My sunroom became an impromptu greenhouse as I planted seeds - dill, coriander, green pepper and more.
April has taken on a new meaning in the last few years with the A to Z Blogging Challenge. Twenty-six blogs in twenty-six days going with topics from A to Z. More information about the A to Z Blogging Challenge can be found here. Think it’s easy to blog every day excepts Sundays for an entire month? Ha! I dare ya to do it and no cheating - write real entries!
May was the release month for Deuce of Diamonds, the sequel to Double Deuce. There’s definitely a third installment of Ian and Rick’s story in the works. We made a flying trip south to visit the brother-in-law and I came home with a mild case of strep throat. Luckily I got antibiotics promptly and my vacation wasn’t ruined.
June - my birthday month and Mercury went into retrograde. I still got some writing done but I took some time to work on my genealogy project. We got a small pool, just deep enough to relax and cool off in, and we enjoyed it all summer long.
July was a slow month. I wrote a lot of prose but no book releases. It was one of those stretches where foundations were laid for the future. Thinking about the future convinced me to actually make Twitter part of my daily routine. I now remember to go tweet, but I'm a lost cause with the pictures part of it. Perhaps I'll work on that in 2014. Liking photography, I did what I knew I shouldn't and joined Pinterest. No joke - I set a timer if I'm going to play on Pinterest. My website got an overhaul in July.
August. The release of Kentucky 98 Proof. I knew this book would take off like a rocket and it did. Kentucky 98 Proof was the #1 Bestseller at Amber Quill Press in August and it was on the top ten bestseller list at All Romance eBooks. I went to my roots for this story and the end result was magic.
September was busy. I spent a lot of time on the promo circuit with Kentucky 98 Proof while doing the edits for Station to Station. The month also brought the worst news of the year when a young family member was diagnosed with cancer just before her first wedding anniversary. We know her fight will be difficult, but youth is on her side.
**The following paragraph was updated 4/24/2016**
October found us having a quiet celebration at my house. My partner passed the seven-year mark of being cancer-free. Even as we give thanks and count our blessings we pray for others undergoing treatment. Station to Station released in October and seemed to be well received. I was delighted to have this new installment of the Men of Marionville series available but the truth is I privately think with our cultural focus on the fun sides of Halloween, October is only good for paranormal releases. So if you missed Station to Station in October, now’s the time to circle back and get it.
October found us having a quiet celebration at my house. My partner passed the seven-year mark of being cancer-free. Even as we give thanks and count our blessings we pray for others undergoing treatment. Station to Station released in October and seemed to be well received. I was delighted to have this new installment of the Men of Marionville series available but the truth is I privately think with our cultural focus on the fun sides of Halloween, October is only good for paranormal releases. So if you missed Station to Station in October, now’s the time to circle back and get it.
November 2013 marked the 30th anniversary of my father’s passing. That, coupled with a brutal month at the day job, left me a little tired. Not much writing happened in November, but sometimes it’s important to step back and take a breath while dealing with employer horseshit. Excuse me. Horse manure. No, I was correct the first time. It was all horseshit. I took a good look at my retirement portfolio and upped the ante. I don’t need to buy shoes in 2014. I have enough pairs of heels to last the next three years.
December, finally. There are stories submitted several places and I’m waiting to see if I can expand my horizons in the coming year. Keep your fingers crossed. With any luck, I can spread my wings a bit and take my writing up a step. It's a circular conundrum. If I retire I'll write more but I can't write more until I retire. So in preparation of writing more, I need to get my name into new places. It's a prime example of how interconnected all things are. I hope you’ll stay tuned and see how it goes.
There it is - 2013 in a single blog entry. My sincere thanks for coming along with me in 2013. All in all, it was a great year. I hope the good trends continue.
To you and yours, I wish you a healthy, prosperous and fulfilling New Year.
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KC Kendricks
My home on the web- Between the Keys:
Visit my bookshelf at:
Social media links:
Life through the eyes of my black Lab, Greenbrier Smokey Deuce: deucesday.blogspot.com
My country life at Holly Tree Manor: hollytreemanor.blogspot.com
Snips and clips on my YouTube channel: KC Kendricks Between the Key
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