Welcome to 2024!!! Life is like a dance, we take a few steps forward and a few back, and sometime run in circles. I'm more than ready to put on my dancing shoes. It's time to say farewell to 2023 and look forward to 2024. Normally, I don't spend a lot of time looking back and focus more on the future, but since 2023 was a big year I wanted to spend a little time on what was accomplished.

Contents

• The Look Back
• The Way Forward
• Picture Gallery

The Look Back

At the beginning of 2022 I had confirmed my decision to retire from the day job. Something that was essential to do for my overall well-being and I wanted to spend more time working on my passion projects. My timeline changed a few times and I carried over that goal into 2023. I had 3 major goals for 2023:

1. Retire from the day job.
2. Move (I wasn't even sure where exactly at that point)
3. Launch my debut MG series (Katie McCabe) with Vesuvian Books

Retirement:
Retirement is not for the faint of heart. Some people have a big adjustment curve they go through when they stop working. I had planned on an adjustment period because I knew there would be a lot of things administratively that would have to be handled before I could put into action the next step. The first week of January marked my retirement, but it took several months to get everything taken care, despite having planned in advance. I miss the people I worked with, but, even though I enjoyed my job, I haven't missed it one whit.

The Move:
Mentally, moving was my biggest challenge for the year. Just trying to wrap my head around everything that needed to get done and the how took several months. Overwhelm mode activated.. I had been searching for the right place on and off over the past few years and had even put an offer in on a house. But when friends checked it out, what looked good on paper turned to dust and the offer was rescinded. Since the housing market was in such bad shape with unrealistic pricing and rates that were too high, I made the decision to rent for the time being and I couldn't be happier.

I settled on the where, but then had to figure out how to get me and my stuff there trying to keep isolated as much as possible for health reasons. Then a brain wave hit … do a cross country train trip. It took a little longer to arrive, but I am still happy I made that decision. It is something I've always wanted to try. (A picture gallery is below.) I am now in a cozy apartment with my best friends close by and they have been SUCH A HUGE HELP, I can never thank them enough.

The Series Launch:
In the midst of going through everything, getting things packed, and making all the arrangements for the move, I released the first book in the Katie McCabe Series, Rain Falling on Embers. It has already picked up a few awards and positive reviews. I spent the beginning of the year with my editor polishing up the second book in the series, South of Happy and I'm looking forward to getting it out there later this year. All of 2023 was geared toward goals to support my writing habit.

The Way Forward

I do love a fresh, shiny new year. 365 days ahead to make things happen. Sometimes I achieve what I set out to do. Sometimes life throws a curve that makes me bob and weave, or completely derails the year to another destination. But I start each year with hope and plans and am excited to find out where I'll wind up.

The Plans:

• Write, write, and write some more.
• Go through self-edits on Going Up in Flames (Katie McCabe, Book 3)
• Work through the edits my editor will give me for the same (as hard as I try to send it to him as perfect as possible, he ALWAYS has a ton of things for me to think about and adjust.)
• Finish writing Book 1 in the Homeless Myths Series, The Secret of the Redy Key. I cannot wait to share this series with everyone. It has a lot of special sauce going on and I think the rest of the world will agree.
• Get healthier. I am currently in remission (YAY!!!), but my immune system is still shot, so want to work on several avenues to help boost the immune system and give myself more resources to go into battle with. I'd love for this remission to last several years. To that end, I am focused on:
  • Being more active. I have been pretty much housebound for a number of years, especially during the pandemic. So my plan is to get out more, take walks on some of the fantastic trails around me, and work up to using my vibration plate a total of 30 minutes a day (which usually results in my dancing on it if listening to music).
  • Improving nutrition
  • Searching out new treatments for dealing with cancer. I'm excited about the breakthroughs that are popping up with more frequency and have hope that one day, there will be a cure for mine.
• Find my next home, rates and real estate market willing, as the current apartment is meant to be temporary.

The Picture Gallery

I figured since I had so many pictures I wanted to share, that it would be best simply to create a gallery and provide a little commentary to provide a flavor for the move.

• 1. The day the stuff I was moving left. All my planning and preparation resulted in what was going and what wasn't. Everything that was making the move with me had been staged into two rooms, the first thing to be loaded were those items that were going straight into storage short-term, and the second room contained those things I needed in the apartment. The next day, everything that didn't go into the pods was cleared out and donated.
• 2-4. Fullerton Amtrak station on the day of my departure. Of course, when the freight train passed by with OOCL containers on it, I had to include them.
• 5. Arizona Mesa
• 6. Albuquerque, NM train station - one with a little style
• 7. Lamy, NM station - I couldn't resist the decorations.
• 8. Near Fort Osage Township, MO
• 9. Crossing the Mississippi river from Iowa into Illinois - we had a well-wisher waving as we hurtled by.
• 10. Amtrack, Chicago - where I felt like I might have dropped into a holiday gone wrong type of movie, but all was well in the end.
• 11. Entering West Virginia and nearly to my destination.
• 12. White Sulphur Springs Station - Cutest station on my route and where I got off.
• 13. My friends met me at the station and we loaded up the Grand Cherokee—AFTER they found me, because everyone else got off the train at the front, but they had me depart the train at the back. (I had stored luggage that had to be taken off the train.) We had quite the load.
• 14. But not ALL of the stuff was mine. While waiting to pick me up, they wandered into one of the boutique stores in town and just had to get the Christmas tree with bears climbing on it. I would have done the same.
• 15. The first thing I saw when I walked into my new apartment. My friends had been busy readying the apartment while I was traveling across the country.
• 16. My festive shower curtain. There is a light over the shower/tub so the fireplace glows when the light is on.
• 17-18. My view through my windows. My place in CA looked out on a parking lot and all I could see from my bedroom window was the apartments behind me. I am reveling in having trees and grass outside and enjoy watching the hills.
• 19. Still from my windows, but at night so you can see the lights from the space needle and the skybridge.
• 20. After my initial visit with my new doctor, we went for a ride, and had just been discussion how unlikely it would be to see any bears this time of year, when a bear family came through the woods, crossed in front of our car, and continued up the hill. I'm sure they came out just to welcome me.
• 21. It's not a holiday unless I decorate, so my fridge quickly took on some holiday cheer.
• 22. My stuff arrived from CA and the place is starting to take on a homey feel.
• 23. Essentials for any writer.
• 24. My living room rug with an Amish made cherry wood cedar chest.
• 25. My Christmas Day rainbow.
• 26. The space needle decorated as a Christmas tree (and I caught the flashing star on top)
• 27. Just because I love the shadows on my wall at night.
• 28-33. The fireworks display at the space needle. I have the perfect apartment for viewing.

The post The New Years’ Dance appeared first on Be the Cat.

As November draws to a close, so does the quest to win NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). I put win in italics because the prize is primarily self-satisfaction or bragging rights. Many writers participate the month was designed to get people to put words on the page. Any words toward the goal of writing a novel. The basic premise is to take a blank sheet of paper (or digital variation thereof) and have a shiny bright new idea, and starting November 1st write 50,000 words (averaging 1,667 words a day) by the end of November 30th—a daunting, but theoretically achievable task.

HUGE SHOUT OUT TO ALL PARTICIPANTS THIS YEAR! I SALUTE YOU!!!

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In the past, I have enjoyed cheering on anyone participating in the event. I missed checking up on how people were doing against their goal this year and hearing the excitement as everyone discussed their ideas with such enthusiasm. On November 1st, surrounded by boxes everywhere, I gave a brief thought to those who were dashing off their first words followed by a pensive pang because I'd miss all the excitement. I knew I wouldn't participate this year because the cross-country move I made mid-November put paid to any hopes of completing the task. I'm not an active participant in NaNoWriMo in any year … the self-inflicted pressure of writing a certain number of words or falling short of a goal halts my writing process … but I do enjoy cheering everyone else on.

As a writer, I don't have a daily (or even weekly) word count goal—either when drafting or editing. It may drive my agent crazy, but my process simply doesn't function that way and setting those concrete goals can put the creative brakes on more than it will ever spur me to achieve the goal. So how do I finish anything? It's all about knowing who you are as a writer and being true to your process.

Depending on the book, my process can either be fast or slow or somewhere in between. It depends on the story, the complexity of the plot, and primarily the characters and how well they communicate the story to me. The book I'm editing for what feels like the 3,000th time, South of Happy (Katie McCabe, Book 2), I wrote in 3 weeks, but it took me nine or ten months to complete the first draft edits. While the words simply flowed out of me and I wrote on average 5,000 words a night and between 10k-15k on the weekend days, the resulting manuscript had the makings of a story, but technically it was a big lump of clay that I'd thrown at the wall. A lot of clean up work had to be done to shape it into the story it is today.

By contrast my current WIP (Work in Progress), The Secret of the Red Key (Homeless Myths, Book 1), is taking longer for me to write than any other book I've written. Why? In an odd way, it is taking longer because I have learned more about the craft of writing and am far more deliberate about what I'm doing as I put words on the page. But that also means there will be a lot less mess to clean up when I'm done.

When writing South of Happy, I only knew it was a sequel to the first book, Rain Falling on Embers, and since I had lived with the characters in my head for a while, I merely had to plug in my headphones and turn on my music and the words simply gushed. At that point, I had no idea the story would develop into a five book series.

With The Secret of the Red Key, I have known from almost the outset that it will be a five book series. I don't know the characters quite as well yet, and the plot of this one is far more complex than with the Katie McCabe series. I absolutely love what is going on the page, the characters who keep popping up while I'm in progress, and the direction for the series, but since I'm getting things in a piecemeal fashion instead of linear, it is going to take longer for me to write. But it will be worth the wait.

Congratulations to all who participated in NaNoWriMo 2023 and best wishes as you complete your novel and polish it 'til it shines.

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I’ve never been big on making resolutions and probably worse at rehashing what has been … but I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on where we go from here.

To put it mildly, 2021 threw a few curve balls and caught me off balance. The biggest were to do with my health and having the chemo from end of 2020 / beginning of 2021 spectacularly fail. Fast forward to the end of 2021 and the new chemo plus radiation I had to undergo dragged me down so much I wound up in the hospital for a week with bilateral pneumonia caused by the chemo. I am incredibly sensitive to the chemo drugs and the treatments have been robbing me slowly of the ability to breathe due to inflammation in the lungs over the past few months. I still have two more treatments to go through, although at this point, we’re not sure whether I will be able to do them. We will give it a month and then try again. The health issues and fatigue played havoc with my writing schedule, so I’m well behind on what needs to get done.

But 2021 is now in the past. What did or did not get accomplished is also in the past, and it is time to look forward. And there is so much to look forward to. More than ever, I am certain of my purpose in life … and that is to write books for kids to connect with and enjoy. And, honestly, that is the only thing that is important to me. So while not completely ignoring all other aspects of life, the thing that I will put first is my writing. It is time for me to finish up some of the projects I’ve had on a slow boil and get them finished. No more back burner.

First up is finishing the self edits on Rain Falling on Embers (release date: October 3, 2023), which is book 1 in the Katie McCabe series. Next will be to get it to the editor who will rip it apart and help me make it what it is supposed to be. Rain Falling on Embers explores the question: How do you survive the worst thing that can ever happen? Especially in the past couple of years, kids are facing more upheaval than ever before — where things like school, which has been more of a constant than anything, has also changed dramatically. While circumstances will vary from person to person, Katie McCabe goes through coming to terms with her entire life being turned upside down. She struggles with accepting the changes and it is important for kids to know they don’t have to be perfect through all changes. That it is okay to thrash about trying to make sense of things that simply do not make sense.

The next project that will have my attention is book 1 in the Homeless Myths series, The Secret of the Red Key. I am so excited about this particular series because the storyline speaks to me so clearly. Five homeless kids struggle to survive the streets of Los Angeles and wind up as key players in a battle against mythological creatures to break a curse that will restore a fallen star and give humanity a second chance. It should be an adventure story for the ages.

At the end of 2020, during my reflective period, I came to a decision about my future … and that decision was that in order for me to pursue more completely what I need to do with my life, the day job had to go. It’s a decision years in the making, but the time has come and despite all of the upheaval of 2021, I have kept that goal firmly in mind. While I have not accomplished everything I have wanted toward this goal, it remains in place and I will see it through. The driving force? A few lyrics from Flashdance – What a Feeling spell it out for me. Take your passion and make it happen. In order to do that effectively, I need to simplify life a bit, which means letting go of something I have always looked at as stability and taking a leap of faith.

The picture at the top of this post has a great deal of meaning for me. 2022 is still all glittery and shiny and though we cannot see into the future (or down the path) the bright yellow haze beckons. One of my favorite flowers is the yellow rose, so I love that they are lining the path to the future. The color yellow is primarily associated with spreading happiness and joy, and it symbolizes moving forward with the joy of working on my purpose in life. And I hope to spread happiness and joy to those I meet. And purple has always been my favorite color and purple flowers are said to symbolize success. In this case, the flowers being campanula or bellflowers, the additional meaning of gratitude, constancy, support, and romance are present. Success for me isn’t defined in monetary terms, but whether or not I have achieved what I set out to do. Would I love to have a runaway bestseller? Absolutely. But if the book falls short of my personal mark, the number of sales don’t make it better. Success for me is crafting the book in my head as close as I possibly can. Success is reaching the small goals along the way to the big ones. And joy comes from achieving those things.

So 2022, here you are in all of your shining newness. I have identified my passion and all that is left is to make it happen. Let’s do this thing.

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I immediately stopped focusing on how poor I felt, and instead focused on how much better I feel compared to 4 years ago. Four years ago I was still facing the fact that while I had a relatively benign form of leukemia and lymphoma, my particular case had just the month before been diagnosed as exceptionally aggressive due to some abnormalities and life no longer lay in front of me like a big ol’ highway. All of a sudden I was on a twisting, turning road where I could only see as far as the next bend.

I am a “Spoonie” now. Even though my cancer is realtively under control with a new treatment protocol, I have been isolated for the past year and a half because the leukemia has attacked my immune system and I now struggle to fight off illness. So last night when the universe stripped away all my remaining spoons, I got a little down. It’s the holiday season, and I do love the holidays. Reading the post from 4 years ago, however, changed my perspective immediately. While yesterday and today it has hurt to move, it is nowhere near as painful as moving was then. Four years ago, I would not have been able to concentrate enough to string a sentence on the page, let alone write a chapter. I felt as if my creativity had been stripped away. Today, I am working on my next Middle Grade project and my excitement is growing. I have recently launched 7th Grade Revolution which has been very positive so far. And my creativity is staying with me. I have a top Middle Grade editor, a former Editorial Director of 20 years for one of the Big Five, excited to work with me on this project, and an agent who is kicking my tail to get enough of the book written we can appropriately forecast when it will be ready for editing. And I am going to do it. The details are flooding in, so I may be in a position where it is difficult to keep up, versus having to pull every scene through like a recalcitrant tooth.

Why am I talking about this on my author blog instead of my cancer blog? Because 4 years later, my dreams are as big as ever, and I’m closer to achieving them now than I ever have been in the past. I realized that The Secret of the Red Key is a huge stepping stone along the path to success.

But the biggest reason is that I want to make sure all kids know never to give up on their dreams. No matter the obstacle, as long as you have a passion for something, follow your passion. Yes, I am still living life beyond normal, where daily naps are essential, and sometimes the bad days frankly suck. But those bad days are temporary, and they aren’t as frequent, and I’m stronger than I was before, and I have already achieved so much, how can I stop now when the dream is firmly in reach?

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When I read, I fully invest in the story. I enter the world of the characters and live the story with them. I did the same as a child whether reading it or listening to my mother read bedtime stories. I remember reaching the moment in Peter Pan when Tinkerbell has drunk the poison meant for Peter and was dying. I cried, not so much because I liked Tinkerbell because I didn’t, but because she was Peter’s friend and he would miss her, and even though she was mean to Wendy, I didn’t want her to die. So when Peter asked everyone who believed in fairies to clap their hands, I clapped as loud and hard as I could, because I knew if Tinkerbell heard she would be saved.

Fast forward a year or two. I would listen to Peter Pan on an album we had and would always clap at the important moment. Not quite so loud and hard as I did in the beginning, but I clapped because I believed. But then things subtly changed. I’d listen to the record or read the story and would think, “But not everyone is reading or listening to the story at the same time as me, so how do I know whether Tinkerbell is dying?” Would my lone claps save her? I clapped. Not because I believed it would save her, but because I didn’t know it wouldn’t. Notice, it wasn’t my belief in fairies that had waned, but my belief that clapping could save a fairy in a far distant land.

Before, I had believed without question. Now, logic played a part and altered my beliefs based on concepts I better understood, like not everyone reading the same story at the same time. And slowly, I stopped clapping … and felt sad because it was no longer in my power to help Tinkerbell live or die. I first believed I had the ability to sway Tinkerbell’s fate because Peter, the hero of the story, had told me so. Later I believed because I had proven it to be true … I had clapped and she lived. Later still, my belief slipped because I had greater knowledge and that knowledge cast doubts on the beliefs I had previously held.

I find the same to be true with all beliefs. We might first believe something because we hear it from an authority figure. Someone we like/revere/trust. As we grow/mature in our knowledge surrounding the belief, there might be some subtle shifts in what we believe and how strongly we believe it. Sometimes we reach a point where we discard a belief previously held. And sometimes the hole, where we once held the belief, is filled with sorrow or even anger.

Back to the kids in the Homeless Myths series. They believe many things adults would say were wrong. But they hold on to their beliefs because they need them. The beliefs help explain the world they live in. A world so chaotic it otherwise does not make sense. And who is to say they are wrong? Because we cannot prove them right doesn’t mean they are wrong.

Yes, I have given up the belief that clapping because I believe in fairies can save one from dying, but who is to say I don’t believe it fairies?

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