Time For New Beginnings

We're only a couple days away from New Year's Eve, and 2020 will be every bit as wild as 2019 turned out to be. While I don't normally make resolutions, since the couple of times I made them, I broke them almost before I wrote them down, this year will be a year of new beginnings, not resolutions. Here's my list:

My most important new beginning is personal. My brother-in-law had major health issues starting in August, and only came home from the hospital two days before Christmas. It's been a long, hard ride for him and he still has a ways to go. But he's out of the hospital, so we are counting our blessings.

Second, this coming year will see a new book from me for the first time in two years. It's the start of my Revolutionary War series and I'm loving this time period. It's made what's going on in our government today very personal since I have immersed myself in the streets of Boston and Philadelphia in the 1700s, and write about ordinary people rising to the challenge of creating a new country. I can't wait for you to meet my characters. There's Pippa and Daniel, Libby and Hawk, and an as yet unnamed woman from England who will become the new love of Patterson. Any help with a name will be most appreciated.

And last, after a health scare last year, I am going to get really serious about developing a more structured exercise program. I've been a member of a health club for over a year now, but it's so easy to let my three-times-a-week regimen slip in favor of meeting up with friends, or writing that next chapter.

In my area, we don't drop a Swaroski crystal ball from the roof of a skyscraper. No, here we drop an oversized pine cone from the ladder of a fire truck. And we don't wait until midnight. The cone drops at 8 pm. Much more laid back and sensible. I can barely stay awake until midnight on most nights.

So these are my new beginnings. What are you planning for the upcoming year? Whatever you have planned, and however you plan to celebrate, Happy New Year!

End of the Year

For those of you keeping score, let me recap my year.

Three ambulance rides.
Three surgeries, all on the same hip.
Three books published.

I'm sensing a pattern here. So here's my plan for next year, once I get past the recuperative phase from surgery #3.

Find one good agent.
Once again, have two good legs.
Publish three books.

Hopefully, as you read this, I'm recovering from the third surgery. And, if I finished my list of things to get done before then, one of the three books is back to the publisher after first edits, and I've managed to finish the flash first draft of the third one. I may have even gotten around to putting up the tree, or at least finding my Christmas wreath.

The jury is still out on the two good legs, and the one good agent search will commence once I polish up the flash draft. But at least my publishing schedule will remain on track. Although I'd dearly love to add another book or two to the roster by the end of 2016.

Pushing my boundaries is what I'm all about. I hope 2016 will see you pushing yours as well. Here's hoping for a healthy and prosperous year on the horizon. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve, everyone.