Saturday, December 25, 2010

Out With The Old, In With The New . . .

By Lonnie Cruse

Merry Christmas/Happy New Year to one and all!

WHERE does the time go??? Just last year many people were worried about Y2K, some people preparing by storing food and water, etc. I'm not still not sure exactly what they were afraid of, except computer meltdowns which would have shut down stores and kept us from buying food and other necessities. Well, we in southern Illinois deal with that from time to time, way out here in the boondocks, when an ice storm hits and we live without power and other modern amenities for days on end. Sigh. Where was I? Y2K. As you have already no doubt figured out, that really wasn't LAST year, it was TEN years ago and where DID that entire decade go?

Life has a way of sliding quickly by us, whether we are actively living it, or simply watching from the sidelines. A couple of decades ago I was involved in a job I wasn't totally crazy about. It was physically and mentally difficult for me. I'd often heard that we should stop and reflect every now and then about what we are doing with our lives. Are we happy where we are? Do we still want to be there in five years? Or not? My answer was NOT, so I quit and went back to college (in my mid-fifties, mind you) so I could go in a different direction with my life. With my career. That decision led to a new, better job, but it also led me to be able to become a published author, something I'd only dreamed about until then, not even daring to dream that it could actually happen.

So, dear reader, are you happy where you are? Do you still want to be there next year? In five years? At the end of another decade (2020, which sounds far away but will be here before we can blink twice!)

Where do I want to be next year, the next five years, the next decade, assuming I'm still here? Pretty much where I am now, except I need to exercise and work out more in order to maintain my current physical strength. ( I've discovered that we "seniors" lose a lot each decade, no matter how much we work out to maintain.) I want to stay published, particularly in non-fiction. I want to teach/encourage other women. I want to grow as a person. And I want to smell the roses along the way because IF time flies when you're having fun, I must be having a REAAAALLLLYYY good time!

So I repeat, Happy New Year to one and all. May it be our best year ever. And I wish us all 365 days of noooo power outages. Sigh.

PS: Just signed a contract with Harlequin to bring my latest book, FIFTY-SEVEN TRAVELING out in paperback sometime in 2011. It came out in hardback this past July.

And author Patrick Miller did a terrific article about my new book because it's set in a tourist area (Smoky Mountains) so IF you are an author with a book set in a tourist area, you might want to contact Miller to see if he is interested in doing an article about it. The link to the article is here: http://southeasternliterarytourisminitiative.blogspot.com/2010/12/murder-in-dollywood-country.tymlhttp://

41 comments:

Julia Buckley said...

Great advice, Lonnie! And some wonderful questions to pose to ourselves as we enter 2011!

Anonymous said...

buy hydrocodone online hydrocodone 10 generic - hydrocodone acetaminophen uk

Anonymous said...

valium pill price of valium without insurance - valium online ireland

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol tramadol 93 58 pill - tramadol for pets no prescription

Anonymous said...

ativan drug yellow ativan dosage - buy generic ativan online no prescription

Anonymous said...

tramadol online what is tramadol generic for - buy tramadol 200mg

Anonymous said...

ativan online lorazepam 1mg children - ativan drip alcohol withdrawal

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin online klonopin usual dosage - effects of klonopin wiki

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol cod online tramadol withdrawal time frame - can get tramadol online

Anonymous said...

tramadol where can i buy tramadol in the usa - kids getting high tramadol

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin online generic klonopin teva - klonopin dosage cats

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online buy tramadol online us pharmacy - ordering ultram online legal

Anonymous said...

order tramadol online buy tramadol cheap online no prescription - get out tramadol addiction

Anonymous said...

buy ativan online ativan side effects children - generic ativan

Anonymous said...

generic ambien cut ambien 10 mg half - generic ambien at costco

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol online eu - tramadol 100mg overnight

Anonymous said...

buy generic ambien generic ambien 93 73 - ambien withdrawal babies

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol tramadol online paypal - tramadol tylenol interaction

Anonymous said...

buy soma online soma drug ancient - buy soma seeds

Anonymous said...

ambien price ambien celexa drug interactions - ambien cr retail price

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol for dogs tramadol 50 mg is equivalent - tramadol with valium high

Anonymous said...

generic ambien ambien side effects fda - will ambien show up hair drug test

Anonymous said...

ativan cost lorazepam 1 mg dose - cheap ativan online

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol cod overnight tramadol buy cod - buy tramadol hydrochloride online usa

Anonymous said...

soma drug canadian online pharmacy+soma - soma muscle relaxer erowid

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol cash on delivery tramadol ingredients - ultram online cheap

Anonymous said...

buy ambien online ambien drug company - buy ambien online australia

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol online overnight - tramadol online apotheke

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol 100mg buy tramadol united states - purchase tramadol online

Anonymous said...

buy cheap ambien took 3 10mg ambien - ambien dosage for insomnia

Anonymous said...

order klonopin online klonopin dosage rls - klonopin dosage

Anonymous said...

ambien medication ambien dosage in pregnancy - ambien cr dosage elderly

Anonymous said...

buy retin-a retin a makeupalley - retin-a gel strengths

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online ordertramadolonline.org - tramadol ratiopharm 100mg nebenwirkungen

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol without prescriptions buy tramadol online cod - buy tramadol mastercard

Anonymous said...

buy retin-a where can i buy retin a cream - retin a 1 vs 5

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol no prescription overnight buy tramadol hydrochloride 50mg - buy tramadol cod free

Anonymous said...

tramadol no rx buy tramadol online from canada - normal dosage tramadol hcl

Anonymous said...

buy cialis professional online buy brand cialis online - does cialis daily work better

Anonymous said...

tramadol generic buy tramadol online with visa - tramadol dosage in adults

Anonymous said...

carisoprodol 350 mg carisoprodol 350 mg espanol - carisoprodol 350 mg and hydrocodone