Happy 2015

It's New Year resolution time!

I'm totally faking that exclamation point. 

Over dinner the other night, the kids were asking Hubster and me about our resolutions for this year. For a hot second, I panicked, but then I remembered—

I DON'T DO RESOLUTIONS.

Bwahahahahahaha!

Besides, how could I top what I accomplished in 2014? After six years, I saw a long-standing dream come true this year. 

Release day, 10/7/14

I can walk into any Barnes and Noble in the country and find my very own book on the shelf. It's got my name on it and everything. And a flattering picture of me that is also six years old (but I swear I look mostly the same except more gray). 

Signing at Kids Ink in Indy, 10/11/14

Kids Ink in Indianapolis held an amazing book launch party for me in October. I signed my name on the bathroom wall right beside Rainbow Rowell's name (which, honestly, is the apex of my whole path to publication story, because OH MY GOD it's Rainbow).

This is the moment I realized I was about to
sign next to Rainbow Rowell, my favorite
author of EVER. This is what joy looks like.

Yes, my name and Rainbow's are together forever.

What more is there?

See the problem with New Year resolutions is that they come in the middle of winter. I don't do well in winter. It's grey and depressing. Really depressing. I question myself and my abilities and end up doing a lot of self-loathing in winter. I suffer crippling bouts of anxiety during which I doubt my ability to construct simple sentences let alone string them into paragraphs, chapters, and novel-length stories.

During winter, the best resolution I can think of for 2015 reads something like: 

I resolve to get out of bed.

I can't even expect myself to put on pants every day. Just get out of bed. That'd be awesome. Three hundred sixty-five days of putting both my feet on the floor and holding my own body weight. 

I really should start a trend for Springtime resolutions. That's when I feel like a new year is really beginning, when it's easiest to look forward and choose the brightest future. Yeah, this is a good idea. Let's make this happen, shall we?

Until spring arrives, I'll say this:

There are plenty of things I want to (resolve to) accomplish professionally this year, like get that second book out to you readers, learn to embrace promoting my work, help teen writers gain confidence in their own storytelling, and write more cool stuff.

In the end though, all I really want for this year is to know that I showed up for the people that I love every day.

Even if that means that I show up in pajamas.

How about you? Share your resolutions in the comments below. The more the merrier (like a pajama party)!

Read more about New Year resolutions at Happy New… and New Years Rejections.