Happy 2013!

Happy New Year!

2012 was crazy-amazing. It was tremendous and scary and wonderful and challenging. I am so grateful to everyone who’s read BORN WICKED, especially those of you who’ve taken the time to tweet, Facebook, or email me to share your thoughts. I’m so glad I get to share Cate and her sisters and Finn with you, and I can’t wait for you all to read STAR CURSED!

Last New Year’s Eve I was drinking pink champagne, all dressed up, at a big party, chatting about my upcoming book release and tour with a mixture of exhilaration and trepidation. This NYE I was playing board games in jeans, wearing a crazy furry pink hat.

Last year felt so…BIG. It was a lovely debut year, but it was awfully FULL. There were so many ups and downs and feeeeeelings; it was a little overwhelming at times. Hard to focus, to be still and quiet enough to create, with all that noise. Being published, seeing my book in stores, writing full-time, getting reviews and emails from readers, speaking at schools and going on tour and attending several writing retreats: 2012 was the year that I felt like a Real Writer. (Which is not, of course, to say that you need all those things to be a Real Writer.) It was a dream come true.

But now I feel ready to settle into my own skin, to figure out how to balance Writer Jess with all the other parts of me. To balance the noise of publishing with the stillness I need to write.

Uh-huh. My word for 2013 is BALANCE.

I want to find a better balance between work and play. Between discipline and forgiveness. Between fear and joy. Between challenge and stagnation. Between introvert and extrovert. I could go on, but suffice it to say, it’s a touchstone word that opens up a lot for me.

You can see my 2013 business plan and some more concrete personal goals here, if you missed it. Do you have any resolutions, or a touchstone word for 2013?