Happy New Year! by Diane Burton

 

Did you stay up last night to usher in 2022? I hate to admit that staying up until midnight is getting harder each year. 😀 Last year at this time, I was looking forward to the new year, knowing it had to be better than 2020. Hah! Still, I'm confident 2022 has to get better.

Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, is often used to depict the new year. The old man is looking to the past, while the young man looks to the future. It's no surprise that the month of January, the beginning of the new year, is named for him. 

Gates or portals are also symbols of Janus. When we open a gate, we're going forward as well as leaving something behind. A transition, if you will. On January 1st, we transition to a new calendar year. Who knew when we entered 2020, what changes lay ahead? A pandemic of proportions unheard of since 1918 hit the world with disastrous results. So, when we learned a vaccine was available early in 2021, we figured that was the end of it. The optimistic me shouted "hurray" while the cynical me said "yeah, right." Here we are, almost 2 years into the pandemic, with another variant of the virus filling hospitals to capacity. 

Janus also symbolizes change. Boy, oh boy, have we had to make changes in our lives. I don't need to tell you that! Despite quarantine, or maybe because of it, we've developed or expanded on new ways of meeting--Zoom, FaceTime. A new phrase entered our vocabulary: binge-watching. Were we just wasting time or filling our creative wells? 

Change is never easy. It takes us out of our comfort zone and tosses us into new situations. We either "go with the flow" or flounder. Being flexible makes change a lot easier.

Traditionally, the new year marks a new beginning, a time to make changes in our lives--also known as resolutions. I prefer to think of them as goals. As professional writers, a good business practice is to make a one-year plan plus 5- and 10-year plans. Sometimes, it's hard enough making a weekly plan. 😄 

Nevertheless, I'm determined to make some changes in my writing life. One of my goals is to be more visible online. Other than my once a month post here and a monthly post with the Insecure Writers Support Group blog hop, I've neglected my blog. That's changing today with rejoining the Weekend Writing Warriors weekly hop.

Why make myself more visible online? I plan to release at least 2 books this year. That's going to "force" me to make several changes, including (but not limited to) reduce my binge-watching.

Small changes. Baby steps. A renewal of my writing life.

What changes are you planning for 2022?

Moving On by Diane Burton

Two days ago, Lea Kirk wrote about how COVID’s shelter-in-place affected her family, especially her sons’ graduation. More than that how we need to keep moving forward. As our S-in-P nears its end (2 weeks, we hope), I feel like the Roman god Janus—whose statue is a 2-faced head, one looking forward and one looking behind.

I’m looking forward to a careful reopening of stores and restaurants, being able to visit with family and friends, getting hugs from my children and grandchildren—and getting a haircut. lol Since my son-in-law is a doctor, we’re more conscious of what’s happening locally with regard to the progression of cases. And how important it is not to rush the process for fear of a second wave.

At the same time, I look at what I’ve realized during the past nearly three months. I’m in awe of the courage of our healthcare professionals and first responders who’ve put their lives in jeopardy to take care of us, and I mourn those who succumbed to this dreaded virus. My heart aches for those whose financial security has been ripped away. I’ve been there three times in the past, frightened, terrified that we could lose our home and worried as bills overwhelmed us. Since we’re retired now, our financial situation hasn’t changed—if I don’t look at our retirement savings.

Some good things are happening because of S-in-P. Televisits with medical professionals have made it easier for follow ups and getting health advice. Grocery shopping (my least favorite occupation) has become easier with online ordering and curbside pickup. I’m aware this was available before, but Hubs never wanted to try it. He enjoyed shopping. Or maybe he just enjoyed getting out of the house. 😏

I never heard of Zoom and now my book group and writers’ group meet online. We used Zoom for the family to get together for our granddaughter’s 5th birthday party. Unfortunately we couldn’t have a piece of her cake, too. Another consequence of those Zoom meetings was discovering that my laptop’s webcam isn’t connected. Surprise! Zoom and other technologies are proving this old dog is capable of learning new tricks. Although our schools are closed, many new learning opportunities are available. Same with entertainment. Bringing Broadway and Stratford (Ontario) plays to our televisions provides us with opportunities we wouldn’t have otherwise. Church services on YouTube enriches our spirituality and helps us handle the stress of the quarantine. And FaceTime enables us to “visit” with our grandkids. Sure we had many of these opportunities before, but now they are necessary to maintain our closeness.

I have a new appreciation for our national and international scientists who strive to keep us informed and, hopefully, safer. I’m in awe of the strong governors, like Andrew Cuomo (NY) and our own Gretchen Whitmer (Michigan), who fight to keep us safe from the virus while fighting federal officials and gun-carrying rioters—without masks—threaten their lives and all of ours, too, by possibly spreading the virus. I thoroughly appreciate the ordinary people who quietly follow the guidelines to protect themselves and us, the volunteers who made (and continue to make) masks and protective gowns for those in need. A proud shoutout to my daughter and granddaughter (13) who are sewing and donating masks.

Yes, I’m more than ready for a return to normal. Just what will that “normal” will look like is unknown. In a way, it’s a lot like writing a novel. We know what we want to happen. For some of us it’s like driving in the fog. We can only see so far ahead. Even when we outline our plot, characters take us down paths we didn’t see and our stories turn out differently from what we imagined. So it is with our future post-COVID. Change is never easy. But we are stronger than we think. We will get through this and whatever Life throws at us.

Hang in there and stay safe.

Happy 2020 by Diane Burton

A new year. A new beginning. Time to figure out where we're going and how we're going to get there. 

I love the idea of the Roman god Janus representing the new year. He's pictured looking back and looking forward. An old man and a boy. A year can be hard on a person. Just look at our presidents after they've spent a year (or 4) in office. That job really ages them. So too, a year ages all of us. Sometimes for the good. Sometimes not. 

Our family has had a year of health problems. Yet we've had some highs in spite of the lows. Hubs needs his aortic valve replaced (finally he'll get it tomorrow); our niece's baby was born at 25 weeks, one pound & change (now weighs 12 lbs and is thriving); my sister's breast cancer returned (she's undergoing radiation after a lumpectomy on one side and a mastectomy on the other, but the prognosis is good). 

Since Lea Kirk wrote such a great post on looking back at 2019, I'll strive to look forward now. What does 2020 have in store for us here on Paranormal Romantics? More sharing of information, tips and tricks, more ideas to help us be better writers. Sharing our ups and downs so we can celebrate and commiserate with each other. Knowing we're not alone in this struggle to write engaging books.

My new year wishes for all of us:

    good health
    strong writing habits
    writing enjoyment
    happiness
    books that fly off the shelves (virtual or brick-&-mortar stores)
    NYT bestseller

I deliberately put happiness before the last 2. Will having a best-seller or books that fly off the shelves make us happy? It would make my bank account happy. LOL Having good health, enjoying writing, and having better writing habits will make me much happier. I hope it will be the same for you.

May you have a great 2020!

PS Today is the last day for Smashwords End of the Year Sale. 

5 of my books are on sale for 1/2 off:

The Pilot
Rescuing Mara's Father
Mission to New Earth
Romance Rekindled
The Case of the Bygone Brother

Endings and Beginnings

 According to ancient Roman myth, Janus is the god of beginnings, passages, gates, transitions, and endings. It seems appropriate that we think of him today as we end one year and transition to another tomorrow. 

Janus is usually represented by a two-faced figure, one looking back and the other looking ahead. For the past week, television and newspapers headlined what happened in 2016. Was it a good year, a bad one, or a mixed bag? Like most years, it depends on what happened to you personally. 

For me, 2016 was a mixed bag. It started out fabulously. My husband and I spent six weeks in Arizona, visiting our son and his family. When we arrived, our newest granddaughter had mastered rolling over and didn’t need to learn how to crawl. Toys that weren’t close were easily reached by rolling and belly-scooching. Her mom decided to give her more room and put toys farther out of reach. To no one’s surprise, Baby Girl learned to crawl. And we were there to witness that milestone. (Later in the year, while visiting our house, she took her first steps alone. Another major event we got to witness.) Considering we live over 2,000 miles away, we were thrilled. Pictures and videos are wonderful but not as exciting as being there.

My writing career stumbled along in 2016. With three partially-finished manuscripts, I couldn’t settle on which one to finish. Each of them seemed overwhelming. When I have a task that’s overwhelming, I freeze. Instead of breaking it into manageable parts, I procrastinate. Finally, I looked at them from a practical standpoint. Which one was farthest along? That’s the one, Mission to New Earth, that I released in August. Despite not finishing another story, I upped my marketing efforts. Along the way, I met many wonderful writers who generously shared space on their blogs and helped promote my new release, and allowed me to return the favor.

Enjoying family, vacations, and good weather made the year fly by. Health-wise, that’s another mixed bag. Admitting that getting older means we can’t (or don’t have the energy to) do what we used to do is a rude awakening. For fun, I joined Goodreads annual Reading Challenge. In 2015, I didn't complete the challenge, more because I didn't log in the books read. This year, I surpassed my goal of reading 75 books. Feeling pretty good about that.

Then there was the world scene. Here in the U.S., we witnessed one of the most contentious elections in my lifetime. Enough said about that. Despite everyone claiming to want “world peace” we have a long way to making it a reality. 

Janus has two faces—one looking back and the other forward. What can we look forward to in 2017? A snowy winter, if predictions are right. Now is a good time to leave Michigan and visit Arizona. LOL Baby Girl isn’t a baby anymore. She’s a toddler who runs. We have to see that in person. If only life revolved solely around family, it would be much easier. But careers, health, government, world affairs occupy our minds. Unless we cut ourselves off from news reports and social media, we can’t escape. Writing about the future (as with my science fiction romance stories) can take my mind off the uncertainty of the world we live in. Reading has always been my escape. So is writing. I can make like an ostrich and bury my head or model myself after Scarlett O’Hara and think about unpleasant things tomorrow. Or face reality.

Do you make goals (resolutions) each year? One of the online classes I took this year was writing a business plan. I wrote one twenty-some years ago when I first started my writing career. Did you know you’re supposed to write one each year? <ducking head> I write (or think about) goals each January, but never incorporate them into a business plan. Writing that plan, including goals and action steps, seems like a good start for the new year.

  

How was your 2016?

Here’s hoping 2017 is a great year. That’s the wonderful thing about the human spirit. We can always hope.

Happy New Year to all the readers and my fellow contributors.