Another ending...a new beginning

Some years, December 31 comes and goes so quickly, I hardly even notice that a year has just clicked by. This year feels different. Maybe it's because this year felt like a turning point for me. I sold a book after a long hiatus. Okay, it was only 3 years and many authors will tell you that's NOTHING, but for me it felt like 3 decades. I put an end to what felt like a terrible drought. Of course, it's hard to know when the next one will come. But for now, it rains gently and that is enough.

I'm also almost done with the new book, or a draft of it. Another ending and a good one, I hope. The end of the draft also marks, of course, the beginning of many revisions. And a new beginning--time to think about the next story. The next book.

For me, perhaps the most significant beginning is that I am starting school. In 9 days, I'm going back to get my masters in fine arts for creative writing. A beginning, I guess, but an end to something, too. What, I can't quite put to words. The end of living complacently with my current skills as a writer, the end of not pushing myself to the next level, the end of all my free time? The end of something. And a beginning.

2005 was a hard year around the world, beginning with the tsunamis of last December, the continuation of the war in Iraq, earthquakes, Katrina...maybe tomorrow will mark an end to some of those things, too.

And a new beginning. I guess the first step is faith. I'm hanging on to mine.

Happy New Year.....