So! Awesome things that happened in 2009.
1) Started The Pawn: Technically, I started The Pawn in 2008, but it didn't really kick off until 2009. Writing it was one of the best experiences of my entire life. I wrote nearly 100k of the story between June and August (THREE MONTHS!). Almost every night I stayed up until one or two o'clock in the morning chatting with the amazing people from Absolute Write here and here. I blasted music, sat in a chair or on the ground and made what had lived in my head for almost a year, appear in the real world. On paper. Do you have any idea how awesome that is?!
2) Finished The Pawn: It wrapped up at about 150,000 words. But still. It finished! It was a coherent (albeit really long) piece of fiction that had a beginning, middle and end in that order! It also is the reason I'm now an English major - it helped me decide what I want to do, for serious, for the rest of my life. I want to do this - make ideas real, type on a computer, consort with super awesome writerly types.
3) Found Absolute Write: If you haven't hit Absolute Write, you really should. Right. Now. I found some of the most amazing people - friends, really - who are not only so sweet you could make yummy cakes out of them, they also are amazingly talented and are going places. Fast. They also know, really, really know, what it means to be a writer. They understand the doubt, the process, the hardship and laughter and smiles and tears that all come with the job. It's not just a hobby and they get it. They really do. So to all my AW peeps (both OPWFTRS and TWIFTIES alike) thank you, thank you, thank you!
4) Made amazing friends in RL: I'm not a loner (most of the time) so yeah, I have friends in real life (I do. Really. Please believe me! :D). I started out the year, kind of a loner, freshman at college, and different. I ended the year being friends with some of the most amazing people you will ever meet in your entire life. Seriously. We're going to take over the world together. You'll see!
5) Realized (yet again) how Blessed I am: 2008 was hard. I started a new school, my father passed away; I just had a lot of crap to deal with. But with hardship comes ease. 2009 showed me that. I kept getting hit in the face over and over again with how amazing my family was. I have supportive, strong sisters. I have an empowering mother who doesn't let anything get in her, or our, way. I have cousins and aunts and uncles who believe in me, us and themselves. I have friends that care about and love me. So yes, a lot of crappy things happened that I may never recover from. But, a lot of amazing things happened, too. The most amazing of all is that I'm conscious enough to know that I'm and enjoy being Blessed.
Wow. That was way way longer than I intended. O.O Anyway - thank you all for making 2009 so spectacularly fabulous. See you in 2010!
