Stefanie London's 2016 in numbers...

How is this the last post for 2016, already? I swear, each year seems to fly by with increasing speed. I was thinking about what to do for my ‘wrap up’ post on this blog and how I might be able to make it a little different.

So, I thought it might be fun to review my year…in numbers. Now, I’m definitely a quality over quantity kinda gal, but there’s a little left-brained part of me that really enjoys counting things. So, here goes:

In 2016 I have…

4 years married to this amazing guy

Been to five countries outside Canada (Germany, Austria, England, Australia, and Jamaica) and one province outside Ontario (Quebec).

Read 49 books (and hope to get another two in, at least, before New Years) and bought way too many to count!!

Written 232,000 words, released 4 books and sold 9 more to publishers.

Celebrated my 32nd birthday, 4th wedding anniversary (and being with J for 13 years!!) and two years in Canada (as well as getting our permanent residency status - woo!)

Consumed far too many flat whites to count.

And, since I’m a writer and know that numbers don’t always tell the whole story, here are a few highlights that can’t be quantified in numbers:

• This was my first full year as a full-time writer. Last year I was still working in retail (as a makeup artist for MAC Cosmetics) for the first few months, so 2016 marks the year that I worked for myself for a full year. That is a pretty amazing thing. 
• I hit a bestseller list (The USA Today with Pretend it’s Love) and was nominated for a major award (The RWAus RBY award with Pretend it’s Love). Both of those things are not just highlights for 2016, but for my writing career to date.

So many places to go...

I loved Helen’s post about what she plans to do for 2017, so I’m going to ‘borrow’ it and put a few things down here. Here are some of my plans for next year:

• More travel! Both J and I are going home to Australia in August and doing a short stop-over holiday on the way back in San Francisco. Plus, we’re hoping to go to the US (possibly Vegas).
• I’m planning to go to two writer’s conferences next year – Romance Writers of America conference (in Florida) and Romance Writers of Australia conference (in Brisbane).
• Write more words! I actually wrote less words this year than I did last year due to a crazy editing schedule, and some particularly difficult edits for one book which sucked a whole month out of my schedule.
• See more of Canada, both in Toronto and outside. 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my year in numbers! I’d love to hear some of your 2016 highlights in the comments. I hope you all have an amazing end to the year and a brilliant start to 2017. See you in the New Year xx

Focusing on the Positive - a Year's Blessings - Annie West

 Almost the end of 2015 and I decided it was time to think about the year almost gone and wave it goodbye in style. 2015 has been a mixed year for our family with joys and fun and sadness and crises all mixed together. That's life of course but some years seem a little more 'lively' than others. My initial instinct is to wish the year farewell as soon as possible as there were events I know I won't want to reminisce about. But then I stopped to take stock of the many truly wonderful things we'd been blessed with in that time and how very lucky I am.

First up I live in a democratic, free, peaceful place where I can pursue the work I love, have enough to eat (far too much in fact), get top quality healthcare, education services, and whatever community support I need. We have a comfy home in a quiet setting and if the kookaburras or channel-billed cuckoos choose to wake me in the early hours with their raucous noise, so what? All those things I take for granted every day are enough to make me grateful. Then there are the extra bonuses. Far too many to share here, but believe me, I've been thinking about them. Here are just a couple at random:

1) My garden. Stepping outside and seeing how the tree ferns are faring in the summer heat, saying good morning to the blue tongue lizard who guards our vege patch, or enjoying the green space, is enough to rejuvenate me.

2) Friends. Those I see often and those I only catch up with at conferences. Or those I connect with only via social media or emails because we live on the opposite sides of the world.

Michelle Douglas and Rachel Bailey at the RWA Conference

3) My first gondola ride! I first visited Venice when I was a skint student and my eyes watered at the cost of a gondola trip. This year my daughter and I had a very short but very special stay in Venice and I finally found out what it was like to float around the city in my own private barge for an hour.

4) Winning a Romantic Book of the Year Award. Romance Writers of Australia is a very special organisation for me and probably the reason I ended up as a published author. You can see by the smile on my face how wonderful it felt discovering 'Damaso Claims His Heir' had not only finalled but won!

5) Visiting the UK and (very, very briefly, Ireland) to catch up with very special family and friends and also the Harlequin Mills and Boon team who look after me and my books. There were some indelible memories made, new books plotted, new experiences, places and faces and catching up with 'old' friends who are very dear.

Not only a welcome sign but bubbly too at the editorial office in London!

 6) Time out with family. Perhaps the best thing of all.

Family picnic spot in the Hunter Valley.

There are so many other things I could add here but this isn't the place for an exhaustive list - just a taste.

How about you? Did you have a fabulous year in 2015? What are your top 6 things for the year, or your top 3? Or are you already looking ahead to something special in 2016?