Ring out the old

Today’s a day for looking back. What kind of a year has 2009 been?

Workwise
Not bad.

• For Modern Heat, I wrote Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress; Good Girl or Gold Digger?; and the first half of the French duo (plus a bit of the second).
• For Medicals, I wrote The Doctor’s Lost-and-Found Bride and Neurosurgeon… and Mum!
• On the nonfiction front, I wrote about 1/3 of the Norfolk Miscellany, half of Suffolk Ghosts and Legends, and a bit of the Essex follow-up to the Suffolk book.

(That’s probably about 380,000 words. If this was anyone else, I’d be cheering them on. But it’s me, so the verdict is ‘could do better…’)

There were some really fabulous career highlights – I was shortlisted for the RNA Romance Prize 2009 with Sold to the Highest Bidder!; my book Hotly Bedded, Conveniently Wedded was chosen as the first Presents to be an enhanced e-book; and Romantic Times gave me my first ever Top Pick for Surrender to the Playboy Sheikh AND shortlisted the book as Best Presents 2009. The year ended on a nice note, too, as Temporary Boss, Permanent Mistress made the Waldies list - thank you to everyone who bought it and put me there.

Personally
Bit of a rough year again – health problems in the family, redundancies and bullying issues. I’d like to thank everyone who’s been so kind and supportive, either with blog comments or private emails/phone calls. It really was appreciated.

So how did I do with my goals?

1. Work-life balance/stress management. Well, I’m still the family fixer and that’s fine. And I’m getting better at managing deadlines, by going back to the way I used to do things in my ratrace days, i.e. keeping a proper schedule/to do list.
2. Exercise. Hmm. Well, I was a bit better with this, particularly from September onwards. (Probably helped because I have a list of the week’s meals pinned to the fridge and there’s a space for me to write in the number of steps. That’s one management tool I’ll continue to use next year: I need structure!)
3. Weight management. Thanks to the Harcombe diet, I’m actually taking some positive steps here. I’ve lost almost stone so far – mid-November was a bit of a struggle (note to self, reaching for the chocolate when you’re worried sick doesn’t do anything except stop the weight coming off; and Christmas was overindulgence) but this works without making me obsessed with food.
4. Writing. I said I wanted to lift my game. I’ve had some really lovely reader letters this year and some fantastic reviews. I was shortlisted in the 2009 RNA awards. I’ve done well in the bestseller lists (top quartile of the Waldies for Playboy Boss – behind two REALLY big-name authors, so I was delighted) AND I got a Top Pick from RT, so hopefully I’ve met my goal there. And I think my Norway book (written mostly this year) is one of my best to date. The project that fell through the cracks? I wrote an outline and a dirty draft of the first chapter. That’s something to build on.

I’m a notorious goalpost-mover where my own achievements are concerned, but I think I’ve done OK with my goals this year. I’m lighter than I was at the beginning of the year, I’m a little bit fitter, and I’m happy with the way my writing and work-life balance/stress management are going. It’s a matter of consolidating it all and using it as a base to move forward in 2010.