2008 in Review

Since today is New Year's Eve, it seemed the best time to look back on this strange, wonderful, scary, frustrating, and rewarding year. I'd taken a blogging hiatus this time last year, mostly due to work stress and anxiety, so I don't have a list of goals to check. I'm sure, though, I started 2008 with the same goals I'd had in previous years: get an agent and keep writing the best stories I can.

Guess that worked out, huh? In May, I signed with a terrific agent. In August, we accepted a two-book deal. I also moved closer to home, put one of my cats to sleep, wrote my second contracted book, started two other WIP's that have stalled around a hundred pages, bought a website, lost an uncle, paid off three credit cards, and supported my parents while my dad had quadruple bypass surgery. Hence the long list of adjectives in the first sentence of this post--it's been quite a year.

I also commented to a friend that I've read more books since October than I had the entire preceding nine months of the year. I really don't know why that is, but I'm glad for the change. I feel fresher, a little more open-minded, as I feed my brain with other people's stories. My list of books read isn't terribly long, but here are my five favorite from the year:

5. Riding the Storm/Unleashing the Storm, by Sydney Croft. I don't know who the two halves of this writing duo are, but this series is super-cool. The ACRO world is fascinating, and I am just mesmerized by their supporting cast.

4. Dirty, by Megan Hart. I fell to pieces reading Hart's Broken last year. This one packed a similar emotional whallop, and was one of the few non-paranormal books I read this year.

3. Savor Me Slowly, by Gena Showalter. I almost put Gena on my list twice, for this one and for the Lords of the Underworld series. But something about SMS just hooked into me and didn't let go. Maybe it was the fact that it started with the hero in mid-torture and it brought out the hurt/comfort lover in me. But I've read several of Gena's books this year, and this one is definitely my favorite.

2. Halfway to the Grave/One Foot in the Grave, by Jeaniene Frost. Dark, sexy, and limit-pushing in some ways, I adore these books. And it doesn't hurt that Jeaniene herself is a very kind, generous author.

1. Storm Front, Jim Butcher. Great hero, amusing voice, very well-built world. It's the book I really wish I'd written. The next three Dresden books should be arriving from Amazon soon. I can't wait.