Wow…another year ends! And what a year it has been.
2015 was a pretty major year for me creatively. Here are just a few of this year’s highlights:
- JANUARY: My 10-minute play CLOWN THERAPY is translated into Spanish and performed in Peru.
The poster from the Peru 10-minute play festival in which CLOWN THERAPY was performed.
- FEBRUARY: My 10-minute play THE UNBEARABLE LIGHTNESS OF GREENING is performed in London.
- MARCH: My full-length comedy LOSING OUR HEADS: THE GUILLOTINE PLAY is produced by Harlequin Productions in Auburn, NY.
Losing Our Heads: The Guillotine Play presented by Harlequin Productions at Cayuga County Community College, Auburn, NY. Feb. 2015. Dir. Robert Frame. Featuring: Donovan Stanfield, William Mosier & Ryan Baldwin.
- APRIL: I launch this blog! So far I have profiled 9 amazing people as part of the CREATIVE MINDS PROFILE, hosted numerous authors on BOOK BITES and as GUEST BLOGGERS, and actually written a few blog posts of my own!
- APRIL: My 10-minute play ALONE IN THE GOLDFISH BLOW is performed at the Six Women Play Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
ALONE IN THE GOLDFISH BOWL, produced as part of the Six Women Play Festival in Colorado Springs, CO, April 2015. Featuring Crystal Carter and Anna Faye Hunter. Directed by Marisa Hebert. Photo by Brian Kwan.
- AUGUST: My 10-minute play BITE ME is performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
- AUGUST: I’m a panelist and moderator at Deadly Ink!
- AUGUST:SWIMMING ALONE, my debut YA mystery novel is published by Fire & Ice YA.
- SEPTEMBER: I celebrate the launch of SWIMMING ALONE at the Byram Shubert Library in Greenwich, CT.
Byram Shubert Library September 2015.
- SEPTEMBER: I am a panelist at Connecticut CrimeCONN.
- OCTOBER: I read a selection of SWIMMING ALONE at the Mystery Writers of America New York event at KGB Bar in NYC.
- NOVEMBER: I attend Crime Bake 2015.
Donna Andrews handed me my debut novel ribbon at Crime Bake. It was so wonderful to get honored with other debut novelists!
- DECEMBER: My 10-minute play SCULPTING PERFECTION is performed on Spokane Public Radio.
Having my debut novel released was probably the one thing that consumed much of my time this year… aside from raising a very active toddler. From edits, to final proofs, to publicity appearances, it was much more exhausting than I could have imagined. But the novel’s release inspired me to become much more involved with my writing community. I’ve also had the chance to write a number of guest blogs and participate in a number of online interviews, which has been quite fun.
Funny thing is, I always feel like I should be doing more. Maybe it’s just the world we live in, but it never seems like I am doing enough. So I’ll state my goals here, in this public forum, in order to motivate myself! Here are some of my goals for 2016:
- Finish writing my current WIP…a YA paranormal thriller. I’m on rewrite #1,987,553 right now. But I will get it done!
- Get ready for the release of FAKE ID: BEYOND RECOGNITION by Plume Snake. FAKE ID is my girl-power graphic novel adventure, illustrated by the amazing Leyla Akdogan.
- Write at least one more short mystery story and send it out into the world.
After that, I think I might take a little writing break. Oh, I won’t actually stop writing, and I do have an idea for my next novel swirling around in my head, but I have been putting way too much pressure on myself. I think I’ll need to recharge. At that point, I plan to:
- Get my butt to at least one yoga class a week. (2 preferably.)
- Read many, many more books. I can’t keep blaming my toddler for my limited reading time. I especially would like to find time to read some of the books that have been featured in the BOOK BITES segment on this blog. I also want to read many of the books by some of the authors I’ve met this past year, like the ones listed in THIS BLOG POST.
- Cook some new and interesting meals. I want to actually cook some of the dishes that have been featured in BOOK BITES, but I don’t plan to stop there. I might even blog about my cooking…or I might not.
- See more theater! I already have tickets to see New Victory’s HANDA’S SURPRISE and KING CHARLES III on Broadway. But I used to see a heck of a lot more theater, and I want to get back to doing that. Once upon a time I made a point of seeing shows that my friends were involved with, and I would really like to start doing that again.
And while I’m doing all this, I need to find time to potty train the little one 😉 More than anything, I want to have a fabulous, stress free and highly creative 2016. I want to have fun with my family, and stop to smell the roses. I want to support my fellow artists, and maybe spend a little less time worrying if I am selling books, and more time writing new material.
Happy New Year!
Nina, This is lovely, I enjoyed looking through this. Many more successes going forth.
Yours, Hank Kimmel, Atlanta, Playwright’s binge
(I got the math answer wrong on my first attempt!)
Thank you so much Hank! Happy New Year!
What a great year! You got so much done, AND had a little one keeping you busy. Big congrats on the novel–I know how much time they take up after the release. I think you’re very wise to cut yourself some slack and let yourself take a breath. (I need to do the same.) Wishing you a wonderful 2016!
Thank you, Patrick and Happy New Year! I have to say, I owe much of my success to the binge. I actually submitted the novel to a publisher during a binge. And while my focus has been on my fiction writing these days, I think I have another 10-minute play in me this year!