"So it Begins."

(Correction to the December 31st post.  The third sentence should read: It's a time to reflect on the year that has passed.)

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There it is on the left.  The blank book of a new year, waiting to be filled, one day at a time.

For me, the first four days of this new year have gone by in a blur, mostly because family has been dealing with colds and flu.  Not a pretty way to start the year.  Now that the grandkids' holiday vacation is over, they're back in school.  In fact, yesterday was the first day in almost two weeks that has been close to normal.  Whatever "normal" is.

We spent New Year's Eve playing Wii Trivial Pursuit.  My thoughts were that it was slow and boring.  That pretty much described the turnover from 2012 to 2013, too, but then we're not a rowdy bunch and missed the (rerun) of the ball dropping at midnight.  Obviously, when it comes to celebrating and welcoming in the new year, we're not the most exciting group.  It doesn't matter to me.  I've said goodbye to many years and hello to the same amount of new ones.  It's not like it's something terribly exciting that only happens in hundreds of years or even when there's a blue moon.  No, once every 365/366 days, we add another number onto the year.

Why is it that we make such a big deal of the arrival of the New Year?  As far as I could tell, there wasn't a whole lot of difference between Monday, December 31, 2012 and Tuesday, January 1, 2013.  It's not much more than replacing the old calendar with a new one.  Nothing magical happened.  I didn't suddenly lose 30 pounds or win the lottery.  I didn't even find a penny on the ground.  But I wasn't expecting anything grand, so I wasn't disappointed.  See how that works?  It was as pleasant as any other family get-together, although we did have a very small bottle of champagne to share, almost half of which was poured down the drain.

I know I should be here blogging about progress made toward my goals for the year, but I'll be honest and admit that I haven't done much.  In fact, I'm trying to think of what I have done, and I'm coming up with nothing.  I'm going to blame that on yesterday being the first day and today the second day of "normalcy."  The truth is, I could use a swift kick in the backside to get me going.  I'm sure I'll soon regret not using this time wisely and making some kind of progress, even if bad.  That's pretty much a given.  Another truth is that I'm not sure what I want to do.  Or even need to do.  I'm in a state of limbo.

So instead of writing something pithy that will light a fire under us all---something I have no right to do at this point in time, considering---I'm going to share a couple of links.  The first is one I saved some time ago, but it has a lot of good information.  I have all these links of blogs and articles that I've saved, yet I don't get back to them nearly as often as I should.  I have a feeling I'm not the only one who does this.  But this particular blog post is about procrastination, and, being the Queen of Procrastination, I feel it's probably timely for those of us who are fully aware we should be making progress, but for some reason or other are dragging our feet.    Give What's Stopping You?, from the Happy Writer, a read.  You might discover a little of yourself in it.  I do.

The second link is new and came through my email today.  I enjoy reading Kristen Lamb's Blog, and today's post is another good one.  Writing Tip #2 - Writing is Pain, Learn to Take a Hit tells it as it is.  Writing isn't easy.  The business isn't sweet.  It takes hard work and tough skin, picking yourself up and dusting yourself off, and if you don't want to deal with any of those things, leave your dream of being a writer behind and find something easier.  Underwater shark wrestling is always an option.

And while I'm here, I might as well do a little shameless promotion.  My seventh Harlequin American book set in Desperation, Oklahoma, will be out in March.  I'll share a little bit about it as time grows nearer, and also about books of my friends that will be coming out around the same time.  Until then, have a wonderful weekend and smile at the fact that the first week of a brand new year is nearly gone, and we have the rest of the year to buckle down and get some words on paper.

Having used a J.R.R. Tolkien quote as the title of this blog post, it's only fitting to add another to end it.  And quite appropriate this one is.  Enjoy!

“It is the job that is never started that takes longest to finish.” - J.R.R. Tolkien