2012 - the year brought to you by the letter W

Wow. 2012 has arrived. Already it's in double figures. January has that effect on me. It's one of those months that you look forward to and boom! you blink and it's gone before you know it. I never feel like I've had the calendar turned onto January for the full 31 days. Weird but true.

So. 2012. At last we meet. Sure, there's been heaps of talk of an apocalypse being the big feature for you at the end of the year but for me so much will happen before that...well, I may need an apocalypse to catch my breath. You are going to be a year of new phases and lifestyles. Why yes. Plural.

My son is off to university to pursue a career in physics and moving in with his dad. I will have gone from school-mum (or mom for those who prefer) to empty-nester in the space of three short months. I don't have time however to actually navel gaze this life transition. I'm too busy preparing for another one.

My wedding (the 1st of the letter "W"s). It is under five weeks away and I like to think of it as being caught in The Wedding Vortex. There shall be some traditional things (we do say vows, sign paper & then break bread after all) but there are many things that may not be seen as traditional (though what goes for traditional these days?).

In amidst all this I am also this year no longer in a day-job (well, at least until August or September). So, my new "day job" is writing. I'm finally able to spend my time on my words (the other "W" in my life). I shall continue to develop the Elemental series as well as get on with writing my Vestal Virgin centric story.

I'm looking forward to these changes. As the only constant in life is change. Saying that, I will however be continuing my reading challenges. They help keep me focused. I'm keeping records of them over on Goodreads I'm again using the challenges set up by Book Chick City (who I found via the wonderful Eleni).

My choice this year shall be -

I'm always wanting to expand my exploration of authors and genres so this fits beautifully. I'm going with 25 as the goal. Should be do-able.

Technology & Book Challenges

Technology. Such a double edged sword in this day and age. I thought I’d had my moment of technological difficulties back in February. Alas, no. My computer decided to end the year with some hiccups.

So, once again I’ve been forced offline or reduced to hijacking a computer from a family member. Least this time I had some peace of mind knowing backs up were regular. The problem is fixed, but for how long. Well, how long is a piece of string?

Then, I finally get my computer back – Yay! To only have our household succumb to the storm season. Brisbane is a sub-tropical climate & though summer has been very slow to start, the tropical thunderstorms we’ve had have hit way above their weight. The whole household went offline. This was only finally rectified by Christmas Eve.

So, I’m tentatively saying out loud that I appear to be back in the electronic saddle & wading through the inbox of email, blog feeds, google reader etc.

Over the coming few weeks I’m looking at how I’m going to incorporate my blog with other aspects of my online life.

As well, deciding which Book Chick City challenges I’ll undertake in 2011. The ones I’ve done this year have been great for keeping me on track to read (& take note of what I have been reading). I’ve met the speculative fiction one, well & truly. 

The library challenge run here, not so much. Though I am mostly happy how many books I’ve borrowed (as I’m aware that due to the busy-ness of the year meant not as much reading as I’d like).