Happy New Year--Many Thoughts

Well, I wasn’t going to, but I’ve decided to write a New Year’s Blog after all, for several reasons. Now that I’m not on Twitter or Facebook very much, I actually have the energy to blog as well as to do my work. Second, it feels like a good beginning to the year to say hello and to wish you a wonderful New Year.

The Solstice

 We had a lovely solstice—our Circle had a wonderful ritual and dinner, and for the first time in years, I really felt connected to the holiday again in a way more than just putting up the decorations. It’s been many years since I’ve worked in Circle with others, but things have meshed in a lovely way for several friends and I to come together. And now that that I’m part of a Circle again, I find I really forward to spending more time away from the clamor of the net, and more time in private meditation.  While I received some lovely and heartfelt gifts for Yule, I think the best was the gift of celebrating it with good friends.

Toys

 I bought an iPhone and have fallen in love with it. Well, as much as I can fall for a gadget. By the same token, I bought a Kindle Fire and am rather regretting it. It’s not quite what I hoped it would be and I still hate reading on screen.

Etched in Silver

On January 12^th, the standalone e-novella of Etched in Silver is releasing. I hope that those of you who haven’t read the story yet (first out in the anthology Inked) enjoy it, and I also hope you enjoy the little extra that I added in for fun. My editor loved it, and I hope you will too. And in addition, you’ll also find the first two chapters of Shaded Vision included.

My Birthday

And my birthday’s on January 17^th so I’m facing another sort of ‘new year’ in a few weeks. I’m ringing in my birthday about 55 pounds lighter than I was last year at this time, and a whole lot healthier. The low carb is working for me so well, and I feel so much better. And the exercise—well—that only helps too.

Schedule This Year

This year I’ll be making three big trips—to Chicago for the Romantic Times Convention, to Anaheim for the RWA Nationals, and to New Orleans for the Authors After Dark convention. My schedule is set—except for a couple local signings, that’s all the traveling I’m doing. In addition, I’m writing three books again. I have my workouts, my coven I’m working with, and a life to lead. So I’m officially a mega-busy woman for 2012. ~grins~

Social Networking Back-Away

Now, to address an issue: I’ve received more than a few disappointed notes on Twitter about the fact that I’m not there. While I appreciate that you enjoy my tweeting, the fact is that yes, while I still have my account, I have backed off dramatically and am seldom there now and that’s not going to change.

I let Twitter suck away my time and energy. While I met some lovely people on Twitter—some whom I have developed friendships with—I also found myself not getting work done, and I was easily irritated by negative things I saw posted.  So, I decided to back away.

Now understand, I’m not saying Twitter is bad. But I was addicted. And that’s not a good thing. So from now on, I’ll be an occasional drop-by on there, to put out an announcement or to say hello, but I will never be there again with any regularity again.

My moderators—Jenn and Phil—will make sure my Facebook is updated regularly. And while I know some of my readers will miss me on both sites, I’m also sure the majority would rather I focus on writing books more than on entertaining people on Twitter/FB!

So, 99% of my online interaction is going to be limited to the blogs, and to my forums.

Yes, the forums are back—all user info intact—but this time, we’ve created a full fan site—the Moon Stalkers Site. ALL the perks—the avatars and icons and promo banners and book videos and all of that fun stuff—is located in the same area.

And we’re working on an Otherworld Wikipedia for my readers. The OW Wiki won’t be accessible to change by anybody other than our team, so it’s not a user-interactive encyclopedia. We’re also working on some form of puzzles/crosswords for you to enjoy—we’re hoping to have that all up by February but we can’t make an absolute promise.

The only part you have to register to use is the forums and chat room—the rest will be accessible to everybody.

So, I guess that’s it for my New Year’s Blog. I hope that 2012 is a wonderful year for you all (no, I do not believe it’s going to be the ‘end of the world’—too many cultures have had too many EOTW scares over thousands of years and frankly, I think it’s hype). I wish you prosperity, joy, and health this year.

Yasmine