End of the year note

2012 Year in Review and Goals

I read a lot of novels this year. So many that I am sort of surprised that I was able to squeeze in so many. I did not keep up a list of the picture and board books I read this year. I did not read as many as last year but I probably read one or two new picture books a week at the very least.

I am very happy that I got to read more LDS fiction titles this year also. Huzzah! Last year I was not really happy with my reading list, but I feel like it is more balanced out this year. However, while I do like romance I feel like I read a lot of it this year.  This next year I hope I can read a wider array of genres.

I am also really proud of my LDS Picture book Project. I featured twelve LDS picture book authors and had a lot of fun along the way. This would not have been possible if Rick Walton had not emailed me an article he wrote about LDS authors in the picture book industry. I still refer to this article on a monthly basis and use it for my posts. I plan to continue this series next year but I’ll probably half my goal and try to only focus on six LDS picture book authors.  Every single book in these posts were checked out at the library, except for the review copy of I Believe in Jesus Too by Mark Nielsen.

In my personal life this year was quite eventful, as my husband and I moved from Texas to Pennsylvania.  We live close to family now and have been excited about the things we have accomplished this year. Kindal independently published 5 book titles since last December. Wolfhound, Badger, Iron Angels, The True Adventures of Hector Kingsley, The True Adventures of Hector Kingsley: Murders in Whitechapel.

I was a finalist in the Mormon Lit Blitz and Four Centuries of Mormon Lit contest. That was such a surprise and such a joy. I have never won any recognition for anything I have written so it was nice to get positive feedback on stories I had written.  I loved participating in the contest and reading all the entries of my fellow writers. 

I also worked on some black and white board books and put them up on kindle. This year I drafted two novels that I hope to independently publish next year, but I don’t want to say too much about them. I am so nervous that I will fail at this goal, but I have been working really hard.  

Our little daughter is a bundle of energy and is so funny and so sweet. She runs around the house saying, “tickle, tickle, tickle.” This is what she says when she wants to play. She has a little stool she carries around the house so she can reach places up high. She likes to use this stool to get cookies off the counter, brush her teeth at the sink, and recently to watch herself eat food in the mirror. She is a darling little munchkin and a master of mayhem and we are so grateful that we have her in our family.