Leaving the past behind

I wasn’t going to do a 2015 year in review post, but since my dear friend Arpita tagged me, I decided to give it a go.  I promise to keep it short.  It’s funny, I didn’t think that much had happened this year until I went back through the photos on my phone.

Yes, this was the year I completed and published two novels, but you’ve already heard that story.  I started taking my blog seriously and met a whole lot of really great people.  (This means you.)  Besides the novels, I’ve written a slew of short stories.  Now I have to think about what to do with them.  But you guys know all this if you’ve been following along since August-ish.  Instead, have a look at my personal 2015.

We only took one trip this year and that bums me out.  I love to travel and didn’t get to wander nearly enough in 2015.  The trip we did take was to the Blue Ridge Mountains in Southern Virginia and while beautiful, was not particularly exciting.  Oh well, sometimes you just need to unplug.

IMG_2730
This was the view from the deck.  Photo doesn’t do it justice.

 

I also love concerts and seeing live music in other small venues.  The only major concert I went to this year was ‘Imagine Dragons.’

 

cbedd7188b6ef1c38c0d454291dd5584.jpg
This was at the Billboard Music Awards.  My seats were not this good.

They were pretty awesome but that’s the only band I got to see this year.  Boo.

I suppose 2015 could’ve been worse but it certainly could’ve been better.  It was the year of medical drama for me.  I was diagnosed with asthma, the chronic cough kind.  Finally have it under control after battling my insurance company to find an effective medicine they’d actually cover.  Greedy bastards.

I had a tooth extracted and dental implants drilled into my jaw.  That was fun – see below.

IMG_2600
This is my actual x-ray

Then there was the mammogram scare.  You guessed it.  They found something.  You have no idea how that feels unless you’ve gone through it.  The follow up for a suspicious mammogram is a breast ultrasound.  That too, was suspicious.  Next up:  biopsy.  Horrifying.  Only bright side?  The boob doctor was a babe.  Biopsy results came back normal.  Hooray, right?  Not yet.  Cute boob doctor is so stunned that the tissue is normal he can’t believe it.  Since the ultrasound was so opaque, they want me to come back for another one to make sure they biopsied the right area.  Come the hell on, already!  Alright, enough keeping you in suspense.  The tissue was normal.  I just have really dense boobs.  Which is probably why they’re holding up so well as I get older.  Score!  (If you can’t laugh about this crap…  You know what I’m saying?)

So, huh.  Now that I think about it, 2015 kinda sucked.  So be gone, you!  Bring on 2016.  Maybe it will suck less.

cheers-839865_640

 

Ch-ch-ch-changes…

“Turn and face the strange…” – David Bowie

Expecting Sunday’s song lyric?  Sorry if you’re disappointed!  The blog is about to get a makeover.  I’m going to ditch the song lyric, even though for me, that was a lot of fun.  Music has always been a source of inspiration.  However, not everybody gets that. I think sometimes, trying to figure out how the song fits into the story can detract from the piece itself.  So that’s out.  

You’ll see more of my serial fiction piece “Here Lies a Soldier” something I really want develop into a full length novel eventually.  I’ve also had a lot of fun writing backstory shorts starring my novel characters.  If I conjure up enough of that stuff, I could publish it as a collection.  Honestly, the constant stress of coming up with a new short story every week has really distracted from my novel writing process.  I really need to focus.  Keeping my short stories in my novels’ universe will help with that.

I’ll continue to share progress on my current projects, dispense my marginally useful writing tips and have a laugh or two at my own expense.  (Story of my life!)  Other changes are coming too.  I think it’s time for an updated photo, background image and maybe a tweak of the color palette.  Hopefully, it will give the blog a fresh new feel for the new year.    Come to think of it, I could use a new background and a tweak of my color palette, too…

Oh, and one more thing…

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all the kind support, meaningful feedback and yes, I’ll go so far as to say, friendship. I’ve met so many awesome people this year.  It’s been an absolute pleasure interacting with you all!  Keep it coming in 2016!

community-909149_1280

 

Aw, you shouldn’t have. No really…

I admit it.  I am really bad at responding to these awards!  With a day job, regular blogging and a disciplined writing schedule, sometimes adding one more thing isn’t easy to do!  However, I find myself with a little extra time and I decided to be a good sport and respond to the lovely folks who nominated me.

Visakha at Worldy Words and Kaushal at Expressive Human both nominated me for the Dragon’s Loyalty Award, an award whose name alone will make you feel guilty for not responding!  😀  Also, Anand at blabberwockying nominated me for something a while back and I never got back to it so I’m including him here, too.  Also because he’s awesome!

Award Rules:
•Display the award on your blog.
•Announce your win with a post and link back to nominator.
•Present 6 deserving bloggers with the award.
•Link your awardees in the post.
•Write 7 interesting things about you.

dragons-loyalty-award

I nominate:

*see bottom of post

7 interesting things about me:  (I hope you find this interesting, anyway)

  1. I am not afraid of heights
  2. My dream job would be backup singer (except I can’t sing!)
  3. My dream home would be a travel trailer so I could pick up and move all over the place whenever the spirit moved
  4. My response to tense situations is to joke around
  5. I don’t like to shop.  For anything.  Not clothes, shoes, furniture, food, etc.  I’d like the drones to deliver everything to my door!
  6. I don’t like when people pretend to be smarter than they are.  There isn’t a prize for that.  There’s no shame in admitting you don’t have the answer.
  7. I can’t come up with a 7th thing!

Next, Shilpa at iamabloggertoo, nominated me for the Sunshine Blogger Award:

sunshine-blogger-award

The Sunshine Blogger Award rules:

• Thank the person that nominated you. Thanks Shilpa!
• Answer the 11 questions from your nominator.
• Nominate 11 bloggers and give them eleven questions to answer.

How would you rate your level of positivity ? It’s completely dependent on the situation.  Overall, I’d say I’m pretty positive but there are certain issues I have real struggles with.  If someone wanted to, they could make me feel bad about myself pretty easily.
What is your biggest achievement ?  It’s a tie!  I’m a Doctor so that’s pretty cool, right?  But I’ve also published 2 novels which fulfills a lifelong dream!
What do you think is your biggest strength? Ability to see beyond outward appearances.  Not an innate quality but one I’ve cultivated.
Which books do you like to read ?  That’s a tough one because I have so many favorites.  I’ll tell you what I’m currently reading and loving:  A Desperate Fortune by Susanna Kearsley.  It’s the story of a woman who is autistic but is a brilliant code breaker.
What inner talent/skill did you not know that you actually had but came to know of it later?  I’m a decent golfer!
Which is your lucky number ?  zero, just kidding!  I have no idea!
How would you define happiness?  Happiness is a rainy day with a book and a cup of tea.
How many places have you travelled to so far ? I’ll list countries: Canada, US Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Ireland, The United Kingdom, Belgium, France and Italy.  I have a huge list of places to visit, too.
Which is your favorite color ? I know black isn’t technically a color… 
How would you rate your level of patience ?  Again, depends on the situation.  I can be very patient as a teacher but very impatient when trying to assemble something that needs assembly!
Do you think you are a creative person ?   Yes!  I can make up a story about anything!
Which is your favorite vehicle ?  Spaceship!

Now about those nominations.  I’d have to nominate a total of 17 people between these 2 awards.  Heres what I’m going to do instead:  I’m going to post a link to Blogger’s World and let anyone that would care to participate, have a go.  Hear that Blogger’s World?  You’re all nominated!