And we’re back from the holidays! I hope everyone had a wonderful time and are well prepared for the New Year. It’s getting cold down here in Texas! (and by cold, we mean in the 30s. How you people live up North is beyond me.)

My time working on other projects is over, and my focus is now turned completely toward The Phoenix Curse. I’m working on formatting the three parts into one complete book, as well as getting some more work done on Dreamland. Many many edits lie in front of me for what’s already been written, and many many words still need to be put down on paper. It’s become a bigger project than I ever expected it would be, but I’m happy about that. Dreamland – Part One will be completely written before I turn to another project. I’m also expecting this book to be a bit heavier than After by the time it’s all said and done.

We all do this, right?

I’m preparing a little treat for all my wonderful Phoenix fans to be released at the end of February, so there’s a little something to look forward to while the book is in the works. Yay! I hope that’s exciting news for everyone.

I guess it’s time for a little 2014 recap. Last year, I never got down and made any resolutions. I vagued it up, and vagueness is the cause of many a failed resolution. The only solid resolution was to complete NaNoWriMo, which I was able to accomplish with a little room to spare. Not much, but a little. My second resolution was to ‘lose weight.” Okay. I did that. And then I promptly gained it right back. That does not count in my book, so I’m done with any type of resolution to lose weight/work out. Not to say I’m giving up on that, I’m just not going to confine it to one small time-frame of the year that’s normally forgotten by the end of January.

But I did accomplish one of my vague resolutions. “Read more.” Check!! Okay, so most of it was listening to Audible books, but THAT COUNTS considering I don’t have time to sit down and actually read as much as I would like. Some books were read, but Audible was available to give me a link to all the wonderful stories that I would otherwise be deprived of. Thank you, Audible!

Total count: 30. Resolution for 2015: 35.

I’m not exactly reaching for the stars here, but I’m keeping it reasonable. Also, you have to consider that nearly half those books from last year were the gigantic tomes called The Wheel of Time. Geez, but Jordan was not shy on his word count. And half of those were re-reads, but they still count! Except Crossroads of Twilight. I just read Leigh Butler’s re-read on that. For those of you that have actually read the series, I’m sure you understand. Crossroads of Twilight was not counted in my total.

That pretty much sums up my actual resolutions from 2014, but what I consider one of my biggest accomplishments was not even a resolution. Yes, I finished my first real book and got everything published, and figured out how to start on a completely different story that will one day be another best selling novel (right?!?), but there was something else I did that was a major lifestyle change for me. It might seem small, but for as much as I loved it, it was a huge change in my life.

I gave up caffeine.

I was never a big coffee drinker, but for years the only liquid I consumed was Diet Coke, and large volumes of it. First thing in the morning, I had to have my Diet Coke. I’d be late for work because I’d stop by McDonalds just to grab one. Not exactly a good habit to have and very unhealthy. Stimulants do not go well with someone that has hypertension, so I dropped my Diet Coke habit in October and haven’t had any caffeine since. I, however, switched to caffeine free Diet Coke for a while, but that is still not healthy, so I’ve even cut most of that out and have switched to water.

Water is boring and gives me heartburn, but I feel a difference, people! Dem fancy doctors and health nuts might actually know what they’re talking about! (no offence to fancy doctors and health nuts intended.) So my vague resolution for 2015 is ‘drink more water.’

And I think that about sums up my thoughts on this topic. I’ll be back to posting a little more regularly (expect at least 2 posts a month), and there’s a small announcement coming later this week, so be sure to check back!