new year

Embracing 2017

/ Lisa Asanuma / 3 Comments

So 2016 was a hard year on me, both on a global and a personal level. Because of that, I didn’t get a lot of writing done, didn’t accomplish many of the goals I set out for myself. I pretty much hunkered down and practiced a lot of self-care and cuddled pets and friends’ babies and did everything I could to keep my heart open and beating and soft.

But 2017 has started, for me, with clearer and stronger intent than any year before. I have a lot of work ahead of me, but for the first time in a long time I feel energized and ready to do it. More than that, I can’t wait do do it.

I’m not expecting this year to be an easy one, by any means, but I’m going to make it a joyful one. I’m going to spend it being more of what I want to be and less of what I don’t want to be. I’m going to get off my phone, go back to using the internet as a tool rather than as a numbing device, and finally stop making excuses for my writing.

It’s taken me a lot of growth to get to this point, to go from wanting to being ready and willing to be genuinely myself and take hold of my power. To decide to be accountable for each and every day. That’s what I want this year to be. That’s how it is going to be.

I feel like last year was the recoil before the pitch. There’s going to be a lot of forward-movement from here on out.

Looking Ahead to 2011

/ Lisa Asanuma / 9 Comments

There are four days left of 2010, and I find that I’ll be missing the year a little. This year has been such a significant one for me, and next year is still wide open with possibilities, and a whole world of things that I can only half begin to imagine. Change is good, though. Change hopefully means improvement.

Actually, I’ve already started some big changes… I’ve finally gotten serious about branding my name on the internet as a writer, for example, thus this new blog which I have to say I like the design of very much.

This year is a new start for Tales From the Hollow Tree, as well.  Isabelle Santiago and I realized we were doing ourselves a disservice by using it mainly as a review blog—we want to highlight our own writing much more than we have been doing, so we’re taking a page from the Merry Sisters of Fate blog and we’re going to be doing an experiment in flash fiction, providing four short stories a month—two from each of us.  We’re hoping it will teach us a lot about writing and get us out of our comfort zones a bit.

As far as life goes, Christmas was a wonderful event.  My very first spent with my husband, and a deliciously sweet little thing.  I didn’t get out any Christmas cards this year, sadly, but I have a serious resolve to do things better next year.  Then again, isn’t that true for almost everyone, every year?

Still, goals for 2011:

1) Finish Jethro, Edit and Query.

2) Iron out the plot and hopefully finish Secret Project.

3) Write two short stories per month on Tales From the Hollow Tree.

4) Blog, blog, blog.

What are you going to be working on next year?