HERE'S LOOKING UP YA!

The drinks are cooling, dinner's on the simmer, and I'm about to close down my innahnet for the duration.

I've decided against resolutions for the coming year: truth is, it's been hard, at times, to keep my nose above water this year, and the idea of doing anything other than trying to get my personal and professional lives on track in 2015 does not appeal. So, rather than set up a wishlist I'll spend a year feeling bad about not achieving, here's a short list of things that'll be nice to have happen, and a list of things I was glad to have happen in 2014.

1. Lose some weight. No targets, no plans. I'll be in a new town, with new opportunities to be active. If I lose some weight as a result, I'll be happy.
2. Give precedence to my writing. There have been too many distractions this year. My career has wallowed, and I've lost impetus. I'd like to recover that, and get back to the only thing I'm good at.
3. Spend more time with my family. I'm moving 15 minutes closer to work. I want to make good use of that extra 30 minutes a day.
4. Get out to some more Lego events.
5. Be happy. I've spent too long this year under stress, and miserable because of it. I'd rather not do that again.
6. Sell more work: whether it's a new novel, more short stories, a film script, I'm not going to care. I've been happiest when I've been running my career for my own amusement. I'm going back to that.

As to the year just gone, here's a few of the good things:

1. I was invited to present a workshop at the Perth Writer's Festival, a career highlight and proof that I could think about entering the wider literary world with a straight face.
2. My family blossomed in ways that brought me to tears on occasion. 
3. I sold a few short stories, and every one was to a new market.
4. We sold our expensive, hard-to-maintain white elephant of a house and bought a new, smaller one nearer to my work, which should ease our financial pressure in 2015.
5. I found a group of largely like-minded Lego fans and made it to a couple of group meetings, giving my hobby a social dimension it has previously lacked.
6. I had a good year for passing on my experience, with a number of workshops and public appearances under my belt.

Happy new year, y'all. See you next year.