2012: A Year in Review

So, I am nothing if not a man of traditions… ok, I’m lying there, I think. I only have one tradition and that is to go to my wife’s grandmother on a Sunday with the whole family.

Any who, I digress once more.

As we approach the end of the year, we always seem to cast our mind back over the year that was, and I am no exception. It was certainly an interesting year, but at the same time oddly frustrating.

I want to break it down into the good, the bad and the ugly, why… because it seems like fun and well… why not.

The Good:

1. I published a book (Twice). I launched my novel Highway to Hell as a self published writer, and was subsequently, as I am sure you all now know, contracted to MayDecember Publications and therefore pulled my novel, and have, as of two days ago, had it republished. So yeah, one year, one book, two publications.
2. My blog increased in stature 5 fold, moving from 5,000 hits in year one to 21,000 in year two.
3. I wrote two novels and four short story collections in 2012, not bad for a man with a very limited writing window each day.
4. I edited almost all of the above, besides one novel which I plan to knock out in January.
5. I have managed to plan out (as far as I can plan) 15 novels, plus a 10 books series with a more serious tone to it.
6. My son and fourth child was born, happy and healthy, above all things the best achievement this year.
7. I was appointed, or rather, forced myself to be appointed as the Social Media manager for the company where I work.
8. I survived the year, my family survived the year as too did all my friends, we are happy, healthy and ready for the next round.

The Bad:

1. I published a novel TWICE. Ok, it was great news being signed, and I could not be happier, but at the same time part of me wishes I had published more.
2. I didn’t write enough. Ok, I’m sure every writer says that, but I really wish I had written more in the last 12 months.
3. I wasted too much time playing games and goofing around when I should have been working.
4. I grew bored with my day job and found myself getting quite down about it for a few months, and subsequently became a real grouch.
5. I didn’t read enough
6. I became the social media manager at the company where I work. This makes it twice because while I have set up a blog, and am the sole person responsible for the posts, it is not a promotion, there is no extra pay or anything of the sort, merely an addition responsibility that has been given to me in a job I dislike anyway. Or rather a job that isn’t writing and so I dislike by default. The company is good, the pay is good, but it just isn’t me in the long run.
7. I didn’t improve my networking skills anywhere near as much as I wanted to. I really need to improve my people skills, and my promotional skills. I have a long long way to go in that respect, and it is one of my primary goals next year.
8. I lost my direction for a while, in my writing, and my blog. Ok, this is kind of a repeat of the above, but I wanted an even number. It’s one of my idiosyncracies.

The Ugly

1. I feel that on a personal level, I have failed myself by not making the profess in my career that I had wanted at the start. Looking back I see so much time, not necessarily wasted, but time spent treading water. No more, onwards, upwards and to the top I march.
2. I lost over 25 pounds in weight, only to put a large chunk of it back on again. I would love to get more exercise in the new year and just be healthier in general.

So that is it in a nutshell… I think.My 2012 was a mixed bag, and maybe I am just being an old ‘zeurpiet’ as they say in Holland, but I am often hard on myself. I have a goal, and I need to make sure I work harder to achieve it.