Hello, Champagne!

From the Hitchcock film, Rope: "What do you say to a glass of champagne?" "Hello, champagne!"

The new year dawns on us once again, bringing along with it new ambitions, a growing list of goals, and renewed hope. I know that for me, 2014 was a particularly challenging year. I had the privilege of completing and publishing my first novel, held my first book signings, bought my first house, and gave birth to my second child.

My best friend, Molly, and my young, always reading self.

On the subject of my first novel, Wolves and Men, I want to send out a special word of thanks to all of you who have been so supportive in making 2014 the year for a fantastic book launch, for “sharing” posts on facebook, for purchasing copies of the paperback and ebook, attending events and telling your friends about the novel. I certainly could not have done it without you! 

I am in the process of setting down plans for advertising the book online, speaking at book club meetings, scheduling more signing events, and getting the book in circulation in libraries. I am so excited about the prospect of what the Lord wants to do with my writing this year, and hope you’ll join me in prayer and anticipation. 

Without actually intending to do so, I’ve begun writing my second novel. It is in the very early stages, but I have a feeling the writing process for the second will be much quicker and smoother than the first. I am thrilled to begin the process anew, to push my limits and challenge myself as a writer and novelist. 

Here are a few of my tentative goals for 2015, much of which I hope will aide me in writing novel number two:

Natalie Gouldberg, author of Writing Down the Bones

1. Reading Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg from cover to cover.
2. Studying the poetry of a few different poets: Mary Oliver and Robert Frost, just to name a couple. 
3. Reading the works of some comparable authors to myself- I have yet to find a book to compare to Wolves and Men, so if you happen across something, please let me know!
4. Reading a few of my husband’s favorite authors: Cormac McCarthy, Willa Cather, and Marilynne Robinson. 
5. Creating new and better content on this blog, my twitter feed, and Instagram. 
6. Conducting a poetry series- writing better poetry than ever before.
7. Expanding my reading of favorite authors such as C.S. Lewis, Carolyn Weber, William Faulkner, and Leo Tolstoy. 

What are some of your goals for 2015? 

What (or who) is on your reading list? 

Which authors do you find yourself coming back to again and again?