Another New Year -- Already?!

Over the past year I have checked in here only on occasion, partly because I post weekly at another blog, partly because this year slipped by so quickly, but mostly because I struggled with how I wanted to use this blog or what I wanted to say here. In the coming year I want to show up more regularly -- in my writing in general and here in particular.

For now I am still planning what that content might include, but as a book lover -- an avid reader as well as a writer -- I thought at the very least that I could share the titles of the books I am reading. That's at least one thing I can do to check in here more often.

If you have other thoughts about what you would like to see here, please chime in -- inquiring minds want to know!

Until then, I wish you all a joyous start to the new year and a happy and safe 2011!!

xoxo,
bex

Five Good Things in a Year Full of Bad

After a quiet start to 2010, the past few months have been some of the toughest yet, with one emotional stab after another. There hasn't been a lot of good stuff to happen in this year, which makes the bright spots, when they've blossomed, that much brighter and my gratitude that much deeper for those unexpected but much appreciated bursts of goodness.

So as this year winds down, I have been thinking about the bright spots and thought I'd share the top five things I am grateful for in 2010.

5. FIFA World Cup action. I know it may sound silly, but this exciting tournament is one of my absolute favorite sporting events and it only comes around every four years. I love international play and miss it acutely when it ends.

4. Having an old friend get back in touch after a long absence.

3. Meeting someone new who has become a quick and big part of my life.

2. The RWA National Conference. It was an amazing experience for me from top to bottom - the absolute best yet!

1. One of my nearest and dearest confronting a cancer scare and getting through treatment.

A yucky fact of life is that no matter how bad we might be feeling at any given time, there is always someone out there in the world who has it worse than you. So to all of you who have had a year of bad, I send you my deepest, heartfelt sympathies. I hope you get bursts of goodness to help counterbalance the tough stuff.

xoxo,

bex

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

As writers, we try to come up with good stories -- stories that will hold the interest of our readers, stories with good plot twists and turns, and stories with good, deeply rooted conflict.

One of my favorite series of books was written by Fern Michaels and the series ended up being three different series that all stemmed from the same family saga. If you haven't read the Texas, Vegas, or Kentucky books, my first instinct is to ask WHY NOT?! And my second is to say DO IT! I love, love, love these books. And when the Kentucky series ended I wanted more, more more. Alas, no more.

Family sagas are fascinating. To a certain extent, that was part of the appeal of soap operas for me. The serial telling of the tales of families and of place. The over-the-top drama and the opulent lifestyles and the mega accomplishments could only be the stuff of soap operas. Some of that stuff couldn't possibly happen in real life. Right?

Someone has come into my life recently, and his family's stories rival the sagas I enjoyed reading (mentioned above) and the soap opera story lines that have captured my fascination in the past. I now know that the over-the-top-ness of some of these fictional story lines don't often come close to the drama and the lifestyles and the accomplishments some people find in real life.

What about you guys? Do you know of real life dramas, sagas, and soap operas that top what's found in books or TV? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,

bex

Got a Life

This past summer was crazy and stressful but there were a couple of good things to come out of that chaos, too - I got a life.

Someday I might write about why I didn't have one for a long time, but for now I just want to focus on the fact that I am making changes in my life that I hope will help me as I move forward toward my goals.

As a bi-product I have a new form of busy, which is good by all accounts but is pushing my time and task management skills to their limits. I have been on the road more than I have in a long time and I am excited to be out and about and seeing new things.

But for you guys who spend a lot of time in your cars, bustling from place to place, how do you get yourselves quickly focused and into deep writing mode when those pockets of writing time arrive? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,

bex

Looking Ahead: National Novel Writing Month

October is just getting underway and I am already thinking about NaNoWriMo. To nano or not to nano? That is the question.

I have started NaNoWriMo a few times, got close once, but have never actually won. I have a new book I would love to work on during the November writing frenzy but, you see, I have this other book. The one that's almost done. The one that I need to get submitted. And I don't think that winning NaNoWriMo on this new book is the best way to spend my November.

Sigh.

I could always do my own version of NaNo at another time but I am not sure if that will work for me. What about you guys? Have you ever run your own Novel Writing Month outside of November because the timing wasn't great? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo,

bex

What Summer?

I had really high hopes for the summer and here it is - gone. Slipped completely through the fingertips. I know the summer actually happened because it was one of the hottest and most stressful summers I've ever had, which is largely the reasoning behind why you haven't seen a lot of me here on the What's Wilder blog. I have been consumed with so many outside things and the blog just kinda' fell off once the World Cup ended. Thanks to such soccer fun, the summer at least got off to a good start, even though it was pretty rocky and unusual from there on in.

The biggest highlight of my summer was the RWA national conference. It was the best conference I have ever experienced, thanks to the new and old friends I got the chance to see and the happy accidents that led to some cherished experiences. Thank you, ladies, for making the trip to Orlando the highlight!

I hope you all fared a little better. Let's hope for much cheer and good will as we race toward the holidays. Hard to believe that 2011 is just around the corner!

xoxo,

bex

Health and Wellness and Other Goals

As part of the Change Your Stars Challenge that we've embarked on over at my other blog, the Moody Muses, I have not only wanted to make new progress on my writing goals but also on my health and wellness goals, too.

The hard thing though, is that sometimes life gets in the way of any plans we might try and make. This summer was supposed to be a big one for me in terms of productivity and weight loss and general feeling better about where I'm at in this stage of life and none of that ever happened because life happened instead.

Instead of digging in and finishing that book like I'd told many friends that I would, I was sometimes too emotionally overwhelmed to do anything. Just completely paralyzed to concentrate on a little thing like progress.

And when the going gets tough, the tough get . . . to doing a whole variety of things. They may get going. They may get tougher. They may hit the gym. They may go shopping. They may eat. And eat I did. I am pretty much farther away from those health and wellness goals than I had ever anticipated, but I think in times of crisis we just have to trust that we are getting through things the best way we can. We are not slacking off on important deadlines or the hard core responsibilities, but we are taking the time and care that we need to be whole. And quite frankly, for me and in this emotional state, it did not result in my opting for the gym membership. At least not at this time. I've just been too damn fragile.

The behavior is cyclical I think. I am so tired. And the more tired I am the less I want to move about. And the less I want to move about the more bad food I eat. And the more bad food I eat makes me that much more tired . . . You see the vicious circle taking shape.

At some point I will break the cycle. But for now I can only manage the many things I already have on my plate and I swear that I'm just getting by in the best way I can. Losing myself in the book in the few instances I can, trying to push forward and get this work done despite the stress and chaos around me.

How do you guys cope when the two words to describe what's going on in your lives are: TOO MUCH? Is it more than just peanut M&Ms? Inquiring minds want to know!

xoxo

bex