Friday, December 30, 2011

New Year's Resolutions


I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!  I had a fabulous time.  Lots of family, lots of food, lots of gifts.  The Man and I went a little bit overboard with presents for the kids this year, but it was totally worth it on Christmas morning.  This was the first year that we let my 11 year old be an “honorary elf”, and he loved the job.  My 2 year old now adds “Merry Miss-mas” to the end of everything he says.  I have a feeling we’ll be hearing it well into June.   

In addition to the items Santa left under the tree for me this year, we also got another amazing gift… we found out that we’ll be welcoming a new baby into the family soon!  I’m due in July, so anyone who has baby names suggestions, lay em on me.  (We’re so bad at names.  My 2 year old was “little buddy” for the first week of his life before we settled on something.) 


In light of our upcoming addition, I’ve been sitting down and composing my list of New Year’s resolutions.  Here’s what I’ve got so far:

1. Say “no” more often.  This year I calculated that I’ve spent at least two whole months working on writing related “extras” (guest blogs, promo activities, interviews, etc.), and not working on my next book.  This year I know I’m going to be shorter on time than usual… at least after July…  which means I’m going to have to use it wisely when I have it.  As much as I love doing all the extras, I’m going to make myself say no more often.

2. Keep a clean office!  I am not one of those people that can write in a messy space.  When my surroundings are unorganized, my thoughts get unorganized, too.  And for the last four months my office has been in a constant state of disarray.  At the moment, it’s a dumping ground for discarded furniture from throughout the house and unpacked moving boxes.   Come January, cleaning it up is my first project, and keeping it clean will be my challenge.   

3. Make sleep a priority.  I know, I can hear some of you laughing at me already.  “She’s having a new baby and expects to get more sleep?”   But the truth is that everything else in my life seems to come before sleep for me.  I’ll short myself on sleep to sneak in more writing time, or to sneak in more alone time with The Man after the kids go to bed, or to have a few minutes to myself before the kids get up.  But the truth is, I’m always exhausted and never quite getting enough sleep.  I read a study once that said the people who live the longest get an average of 9 hours of sleep a night.  If that’s true, I’m so screwed.  So, I’m vowing to get more sleep whenever I can.
    4. Don’t worry , be happy.  Yes, I totally stole that from Bobby McFerrin, but it’s going to be my no-stress motto this year.    I learned some very valuable lessons in 2011.  Like, I can extend a book deadline by 6 months, and the world doesn’t actually come to an end.  I can experiment with different genres, and my readership won’t instantly abandon my en masse.  I can even forget to blog one day (sorry, ladies!), and the wrath of the writing gods does not rain down upon me.  Really, there’s nothing all that important that’s it worth the mental and physical stress we tend to put on ourselves about it.  So I’m going to try to worry less and be happy with whatever the outcome is more.          
      Anyone else have some resolutions that they’d like to publicly announce?  (Because once you write it here, I will hold you to it!)  Any fun New Year’s plans?  Whatever they are, I hope enjoy saying good-bye to 2011 and welcoming in 2012!  See you all next year…


      ~Trigger Happy Halliday


      P.S. Don’t forget to come join us for our super spectacular New Year’s bash here next week as we’ll be giving away prizes every day, plus a fabulous ereader grand prize!  Details are on the sidebar à

      17 comments:

      Dru said...

      Congratulations Gemma!

      Gemma Halliday said...

      Thanks, Dru!

      Mellisa said...

      CONGRATS GEMMA :)
      AND NEW YEARS GOAL FOR ME IS 2 1.MAKE A NEW MEAL EVERY SUNDAY ONE I NEVER MADE BEFORE AND 2 READ 50 BOOKS OR MORE
      omg congrats :) Maddie is always a good name for a girl lol oh july 15th is a good day thats my bday :) my husband said to tell you the 7th of july is good also thats his bday lol :) congrats again

      Anonymous said...

      Work less, dance more.

      Diane said...

      Congratulations! That is awesome! Your first two on the list reflect mine a lot! The usual loose weight more family and friend time are on mine as well. Here is a name for you and I am partial to because it belongs to my eight year old :)... Landry. Ours is a he :) but have heard and know a few Landry girls (sometimes with an i instead of y) I agree Maddie is a great girl name :) plus Kelsey another one I am partial to since it is my 13 year olds name. I teach at preschool so I hear lots of new names like Grey, Diesel, Jaden, Camden, Keaton, Wren...etc..

      Joanie said...

      Hey Gemma, great resolutions. And as long as you keep #1 for saying No more often, that will give you more time for accomplishing the "get more sleep" resolution. You're a genius!

      Congrats on the new arrival!

      Brandy said...

      Congratulations on your upcoming new addition!

      Theresa N. said...

      Congratulations!! Wonderful way to start the new year.
      Theresa N
      weceno(at)yahoo(dot)com

      Kristi said...

      Congratulations! So happy for you. What a great way to start the new year.

      terry0444 said...

      Congratulations, like others I immediately thought you needed a Maddie if you have a girl since she's been such a hit but then I like being punny and with a name like Halliday, why not go with "Happy". It worked for Mrs. Rockefellow! Guess we're thinking girl- for a boy- hmmmm, I'll work on that for later. If she's born in July- Julie maybe?

      Gemma Halliday said...

      Thanks everyone! I'm loving some of these suggestions. Since I have two boys already, I'm cool with thinking of girl names. ;)

      Unknown said...

      Congrats on the new baby!!!!

      ML said...

      Congrats Gemma!

      Diana Orgain said...

      Gemma -congratulations! I am so happy for you! Nap often! I'm terrible at names, so I even have a hard time coming up with character names!
      Warmest regards,
      Diana

      J.K. Harper said...

      Congrats, Gemma! Sounds like you have a very full 2012 lined up, in many ways. :) My main goals: write, publish, socialize, not all necessarily in that order all the time. And, of course, remain sane, balanced, & happy throughout it all. I like your new motto of don't worry, be happy. Sounds like a keeper.

      Happy New Year!

      catslady said...

      Congratulations, Gemma! If it's a girl I've fallen in love with the name Lily or Lilly :) My two daughters are April and Alysa.

      Sandra Limon said...

      Happy New Year! Your resolutions sound safe and sane. Cleaning and re arranging my office today...glad someone else is taking their office in hand too!

      I just finished Mayhem in high heels, and loved it. During your "more sleep" experiments, I hope you can whip up another one of your fun books because I'm almost finished with everything you've written, bummer!

      Now, baby names. My first Son I named Rusty James. That is his first name and oddly enough he got tired of everyone shortening it or not understanding and has simply moved to writing it RustyJames. Believe me, no one else has this name except my dear Son and the character in S.E. Hinton novels.It is so rare that the only time my Son ever heard someone yelling his name (other than dear 'ol mom) was in the movie Rumble Fish, another S.E. Hinton book BTW.

      Girl names, how about Kelsey? I was never blessed with a girl but I would have named her thus.

      Good Luck, Great Writing and all my best, Sandra