Regret is a 4-letter word

Do you have any regrets?

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Regrets. It's such a nasty little word.

I regret to inform you - that phrase is meant to be polite but it's so informal, it's almost callous.

I think I may know why I have such a almost hatred for the word regret.

My nature, I try to be optimist. If something bad happens, I worry, I fret, I cry, but I also try to see if there is a silver lining. I'm not delusionial, I know when things are awful, but I do try to see the good in everyone and everything.

Regret, by its very nature, is dark. It's depressing. It's being sorry for a past action. Something that can't necessarily be changed or fixed.

Instead of forgetting what you regret, it's important to try to move on, move forward. But it's most important to learn from your past mistakes and regret and go on to be happy, a better person because of your past.

Your past, your failures and mistakes, your regrets, your triumphs and succeedings, make you you. Make you who you are. Make you a better person, a better friend, a better husband/wife/son/daughter.

So maybe regrets aren't so evil and dark. If you learn from your mistakes, if you become a better person, changed and happier, then maybe having some regret isn't such a terrible thing.

What do you think? Do you have any regrets?

And don't worry. I promise to blog about more cheerful subjects, I swear!

Post Holiday Blues

I don't know about you, but I always feel a little depressed after all the hoopla of the holidays are over. Maybe it's because the house seems so much smaller and quieter with all the relatives gone. Or the cleaning up the house and tripping over all the kiddies new toys. Or no more listening to Christmas music 24/7 until next Black Friday.

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What I like most about the holidays is the sense of family. Family is something that is so important to me - spending time with loved ones, creating lasting memories, laughing and joking over a warm meal. That is what the holidays are all about.

Togetherness. Love. Family. Friendship.

Do you ever feel the post holidays blues? How do you overcome the symptoms? Should I just pig out on leftovers? :) What do you like most about the holidays?

Inspiring Mondays

Here's a lovely picture of a winter queen. Methinks there's something magical about the wintry forest behind her. I love her cloak. And dress. I would so buy that outfit.

New Year, New Resolutions

1. Edit and send Champion of Valor to beta readers, make changes, and send it to Gail.

This has to be done so this is a guarantee check at the end of the year.

2. Finish the last couple of tweaks to Alexia's Pen before sending out queries.

The query letter and synopsis are all done. Just need to make some scene changes.

3. Re do the beginning scene to Hidden in Shadows and send it off to beta readers. Make changes. Rework the query letter to incorporate voice and send them out.

4. Start working on a new project. Or two.

Last year, I had written down resolutions to write three complete novels. I know that is just not how I operate. I have periods of intense writing and periods of inactivity. With my young ones and trying to get them on the same sleeping schedule, that's just going to happen. I would like to be able to write more than one story a year, even if it's a story and a half and gradually work my way up to two or three full novels a year.

5. Do a better job of keeping my website up-to-date and work on increasing my newsletter subscriptions. Also, send out the newsletter at least 4 times a year.

So there are my goals. Far more realistic than last year's - get an agent. Oh boy, lol, do I laugh at that now!

I also plan on making monthly goals on the 1st of the month and seeing how I do at the end of the month to help keep my goals in sight and keep myself on track.

So what are your writing resolutions this year? Do you having reading resolutions? (I would like to find more time to read, even if it's only ten minutes a day.) Regular resolutions? (I want to get back to my college graduation weight - a little less than 20 pounds to go!)

New Year, Old Resolutions

Tomorrow I'll post my new writing resolutions but for today, I want to revisit the resolutions I made last year.

1. I want to sign with an agent for my fantasy YA novel, The Land of Imagining.

I've already started querying agents the end of November and have had two partial requests and several rejections to start this long, drawn-out process.


Well, this hasn't happened. YET. But this is something that is out of my hands, and having a resolution that I can't control the outcome of is never a good idea. Note to self: when making my new resolution, focus on things that I can control.

2. I want to start on the sequel to the aforementioned novel.

I see this series being a three book series, with The Land of Imagining being the middle book, with a sequel and a prequel. So why did I write the middle book first? Because the main character is an ordinary girl (who learns she isn't quite so ordinary after all) and has to journey to a strange, new world. I want the readers first glimpse into the All-Knowers' Land of Imagining to be seen through her eyes, through the eyes of someone who has never seen it before. The sequel is set mostly on Earth, and the prequel is set mostly in the Land of Imagining. So it works best for the middle book to be read first. And it really isn't as strange as it seems. After all, the Chronicles of Narnia were published in a vastly different order than chronological.



Didn't happen. I think I'm going to hold off on writing the sequel into I have interest in the first story.

3. Write the last book in the Kingdom of Arnhem series.

I still trying to come up with a name for this one. I'm thinking Warrior of Courage. I would like to keep the trend going, Woman of Honor, Knight of Glory....

Hero, Warrior, Mage, Champion....
Courage, Virtue, Hope, Justice....

Still playing around. Any ideas? Suggestions?
 
Well, I've chosen a title - Champion of Valor. And it's just about done. So I'll chalk this one up as a victory.

4. Start and hopefully finish another fantasy YA novel or my suspense novel.

This fantasy novel shows the plight of four teens as their world is turned upside down when magic sudden appears and chaos results.

The suspense novel is about a woman who accidentally kills a young child during a game of hide and seek, and her resulting descent into madness and guilt.


Didn't happen. Now that I have two kids instead of just one, and they aren't napping at the same time, it makes fnding time to write very difficult. I have so many stories I want to write, but the notion of me writing three novels in one year right now is just about impossible. Note to self: make realistic goals. They can be slightly lofty, but they have to be realistic too.

5. Sell some short stories to magazine(s).

I have a backlog of short stories that are collecting rejection letters from magazines. I would like to work on them, shine them, and start circulating them again. If I can't find a paying market for them (so far I've only tried the pro markets), I may end up making some available on my website for you all to enjoy.

So far, I have 9 short stories in various anthologies. I still haven't broken into the magazine market, but I'll still chalk this up as a win.

What about you? Did you make writing resolutions last year? How did you do? Are you making new resolutions this year? What are they?