MORE good news (or NNK finds a new home)

I know, I know, it's an overload today... but I have to share.

I just got back from driving my little, gray, no-name kitty to her new forever home. Through the kindness and willingness of on-line friends, this little kitty has found a single, retired woman with no other pets who is just dying to give her all the love and attention she craves.

\o/

I'm so very excited and hopeful about this new development... NNK takes a while to warm up to people, and she's always overshadowed by other pets here who bully her out of the lime-light. I think this new match up will be everything they're both looking for.

Whew... so thanks to those who helped make this happen!

A rung on the ladder of life (or NEWS!)**Updated**

I'm going to post this announcement today, even though I suppose it's slightly premature... in that I haven't received my paperwork yet... but...

I am a newly minted Assistant Editor for Entangled Publishing! Seriously excited about this, folks. It's a tiny, bottom-rung job and I'll probably be making beans and doing tons of work for it... but it's an editing position with a publishing company! I'll be putting actual hours toward experience, learning more about the craft in the process, and helping authors achieve their dreams of being published!

I'm on one of the category romance lines right now. It's as good a place as any to start, I figure. I don't get to acquire anything (too low on the ladder as yet), but I'm hoping that this position will lead to bigger things in the future! I'm looking forward to posting more of my deep, dark musings about the editorial process from this new perspective. I hope you'll make sure to drop in and comment occasionally.

I have been freelancing as a developmental editor for YA and sci-fi novels for around 6 months now, as well, and I hope to continue doing that work... A girl's gotta have her pet projects. So if you know anyone who needs their MS edited, make sure to send them to Writing Refinery.

Coming soon:
Photos from a Roller Derby excursion. It was my first time attending a bout. Super fun!

**UPDATED**
No, Leslie, this does not mean we're staying in CT. It's a remote position that I can do from wherever I happen to live. :)

Lists in the new year

Hi January. Nice to see you here. You sort of crept up on me.

Here's the eloquent Neil Gaiman's New Year's wish to start things off:

It's a New Year and with it comes a fresh opportunity to shape our world. 
So this is my wish, a wish for me as much as it is a wish for you: in the world to come, let us be brave – let us walk into the dark without fear, and step into the unknown with smiles on our faces, even if we're faking them. 
And whatever happens to us, whatever we make, whatever we learn, let us take joy in it. We can find joy in the world if it's joy we're looking for, we can take joy in the act of creation. 
So that is my wish for you, and for me. Bravery and joy.

It's time for making lists. Time to catalog the things I've done and the things I want to do. Last year was full of things I did not expect... like two publishing industry internships... and launching my freelance editing career. I really didn't expect those things to happen, but they made perfect sense and the timing was absolutely right.

Here are this years goals:

• Yoga, at least twice a week... (one day at class, one day at home)
• New clients (three, to be exact... and hopefully more)
• Journal every day. (I hope that this will help boost my writing and blogging, as well)
• Finish a draft of either Lilith or the Red Riding Hood novel. And by finish, I mean SHOW it to someone.
• Take a dance lesson or two.
• Enter a painting (probably the raven) into an art show.
• Read... LOTS... good things... including non-fiction.

There you have it. A list of goals. What are your 2013 goals?

I read more books in 2012 than in 2011. I hope I read more in 2013 than either of the years before. Here are the books I read in 2012. I'll keep a list again this year on the blog so you can see what I read as I read. (FYI, the titles with * by them are/were unpublished manuscripts. Yep... I'm that cool.)

47 - Second Chance Summer - Morgan Matson
46 - Over Sea, Under Stone - Susan Cooper
45 - Immoveable Feast - John Baxter
44 - Under Wildwood - Colin Meloy
43 - Ruins - Orson Scott Card
42 - The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Steven Chbosky
41 - Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
40 - If You Catch an Adjective, Kill It - Ben Yagoda
39 - Beauty Queens - Libba Bray
38 - Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo
37- Seraphina - Rachel Hartman
36 - Iron Daughter - Julie Kagawa
35 - Unleashed - Sara Humphreys
34 - Creatura - Nely Cab*
33 - Pathfinder - Orson Scott Card
32 - Fifty Shades of Grey - E.L. James
31 - The Sweet Far Thing - Libba Bray
30 - Rebel Angels - Libba Bray
29 - How to Be the Leader of the Pack (and have your dog love you for it) - Patricia McConnell
28 - A Great and Terrible Beauty - Libba Bray
27 - For the Love of A Dog: Understanding Emotions in You and Your Best Friend - Patricial McConnell
26 - A Lady Can Never Be Too Curious - Mary Wine
25 - The Fastidious Feline - Patricia McConnell
24 - The Talisman Ring - Georgette Heyer
23 - Lost Voices - Sara Porter
22 - Trespassing - Patty Griffin*
21 - Heart of a Highland Wolf - Terry Spear
20 - Self-editing for Fiction Writers - Renni Brown and Dave King
19 - Venetia - Georgette Heyer
18 - Eat, Pray, Love - Elizabeth Gilbert
17 - Let's Pretend This Never Happened - Jenny Lawson (The Bloggess)
16 - In Celestine's House - _. Gernes *
15 - Crank - Ellen Hopkins
14 - A Dance With Dragons - George R.R. Martin
13 - Divergent - Veronica Roth
12 - The Elements of Style - William Strunk Jr. and E.B. White
11 - Unspeakable Things - Kathleen Spivack *
10 - Of Wolves and Men - Barry Lopez
9 - Pearl - John French *
8 - The Artist's Way - Julia Cameron
7 - American Gods - Neil Gaiman
6 - Shift - Kate Thurmond *
5 - Tyme Benders - Thomas Suprenant *
4 - Twenty Mile Bottom - Joe...? *
3 - Butterfly - Gloria Montero *
2 - Legend - Marie Lu
1 - The Iron King - Julie Kagawa

I hope this new year brings strength, wisdom, and prosperity to you in unexpected ways.