Happy 2009

Funny how the new calendar year has nothing to do with new. I mean, I look out the window and it's old snow, sleeping trees, and a sun barely able to peek over the horizon. Frozen energy.

New is supposed to be full of life, no? Instead, this time of year it's all about surviving. A time to survive the short, blustery hours of daylight, and the long, colder hours of night. And that does takes energy. Not the loud burst of frivolity of a new year's eve party (although I've done my share), but the daily grind of sticking to it and believing that spring is waiting.

Hey, it's kind of like writing a book. You write and you write and sometimes it seems dark and the words are hard to find ... but then you survive and spring, or should I say getting published, looms on the calendar like a tree thick with buds. (Hopefully it won't be like my plum tree that blooms so pretty and never gives me a plum.)

OK. Happy 2009 everyone. Spring's a comin! It'll be the real new year for me. Did I mention my book's coming out spring, 09? Fingers crossed.