2013 review and 2014 resolutions

First of all, Happy New Year! Hope you all had a lovely New Year's Eve, and I wish you all the best for 2014. What did you get up to?

I've been very poorly since Christmas Day so my New Year's Eve was a quiet one spent at home with Olly but if I had to pick just one person to see in the New Year with, it would definitely be with him, germs and all. This is our fourth year together now, can you believe it! {^_^}

A New Year can't be started without thinking back about the previous year. My 2013 resolutions were kept very simple: Cook. Write! Explore. Tick, tick, and tick! I still have to pinch myself to believe that in 2013 I had not one, but two of my chick lit books published, both receiving excellent reviews. A big thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed my books; I hope you love my next two books just as much. (Better get cracking on with those!)

So, other than the books, what else happened in 2013? Well, in June Olly and I moved into our very own place in Brixton, and we love living here. It's definitely feeling like a home now. {^_^} We went up The Shard in April, went to Whitstable for my birthday, I went to a hen do in Newcastle, as well as us making trips to Yorkshire and Kent to see our respective families.

We traveled to Italy and Switzerland in March, and Turkey in August, plus I made two trips to Ireland in November - one to celebrate Olly's 30th birthday and the other for his sister's hen do. At the theatre I went to see War Horse, Viva Forever, The Book of Mormon, A Chorus Line, Wicked and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - The Book of Mormon was definitely my favourite - and I saw The Big Reunion, Girls Aloud and The Killers in concert.

I must confess, despite some pretty awesome experiences and my books doing so well, 2013 has been a bit of a mixed year. I don't want to dwell on the bad things that happened, but I know that 2014 will be a much more consistent year, in the positive, and that's more than OK with me.

So, what are my resolutions for this year? This year I'm going to focus on two things - my writing, of course, but also my health and happiness. 

Writing:
In 2014 I plan on releasing another two books: Lost, the sequel to Kept, and The Dirtification of Tabitha-Rose. I'm also going to start looking for an agent to be able to take my books to a wider audience. I'm thrilled with the success I've had so far, but I'd love if more people could enjoy my books.

The other part of my writing resolution involves its result. Firstly, given my current "to-read" list stands at 91 books (that I own), I'm not going to buy any more books until I'm down to single figures! (Though if there is an awesome freebie or deal of the day... well, I'm only human. Which is why I bought A Monster Calls for 99p today. But, I'll buy no more books after this. Honestly.) Secondly, I'm going to be a much better indie supporter and leave reviews of the books I've read by my fellow indie authors. 

Health and happiness:
Given I ended 2013 feeling pretty lousy health-wise, I'm going to take care of myself a bit more. Whilst I'll (probably) never join the gym, I will look into doing a bit more exercise and hopefully this will help to boost my immune system and make me feel more alert.

As well as physical well being, mental happiness is also very important and in 2014 I'm going to make sure I am fit as a fiddle in both respects. Lots of love and laughter should sort that out, but any other tips are much appreciated! How do you boost your mood?


How was your 2013? What are you looking forward to this year, and have you made any resolutions? I hope you all have a wonderful year. x

No comments