HAPPY 2011 TO ALL!

I can't quite believe that 2010 is almost over.   It seems as though I just finished my last blog post of 2009 and here I am writing the last one of 2010.

Every year, I like to take stock of  "my year" and while I am thrilled to say that 2010 was much, much better than 2009, it somehow still did not really measure up to what I had planned for myself. Yet, as I have often said, "we plan and god laughs" so maybe its a good thing that 2010 did not go as I planned ?

2010 was a more uneventful year than 2009 for which I am grateful.  I started off the year by looking for a job and while I did spend most of the summer off, I did find a contract position in August of 2010 that has kept me busy.  However, the contract is ending soon, which means I will be back to looking for something new.  The problem?  I have no idea what I want to do jobwise anymore - I just know that I don't want to be in a job that will make me crazy! - good luck with that :)

One of my biggest disappointments in 2010 was my view of food.  As you may know, I suffer from an eating disorder and unfortunately, I have seen it roared its ugly head in 2010 and basically slowly, but surely start to take control again.  The good news? I know what to look for now and I am working towards finding my balance again when it comes to food, weight and spirituality, which includes finding my love of yoga again.

On the book front, things were very interesting.  I continue to work with some of the most wonderful publicists!  some in Canada and some in the US.  One of the things I truly enjoy about blogging is to see my relationships develop.

I read 128 books this year which is average for me - and when you consider that I was off for a few months, I don't think this number is very high.  Having said that, I am not including the dozens and dozens of books that I started and did not finish.  Yes, I am one of those people who cannot get through a book if I don't like it and unfortunately, for some reason, I found myself reading quite a few of those types of books this year - including a few from authors that I have always enjoyed in the past. 

The good news is that I discovered a few great, great authors in 2010, mainly debut authors that I will definitely follow from now on.

Speaking of authors, I have also had a great working relationship with a few favorite authors.  While I, of course, am not in contact with each and every author I like, I have to say that I have been lucky enough to exchange emails and notes with a few of them and it has been a treat.

Finally, I had the opportunity of going to BEA in 2010, along with Cindy, Donna, Avis and Linda from our Montreal Blogger Group (yes, we are still meeting each month! and are now going on our third year!!!!).  The BEA experience was quite amazing and a little scary.  Of course, a huge part of the thrill for me is that it is in New York City and I took full advantage of my time there to visit.  Yet, trying to describe BEA is almost impossible - except to say CRAZY.

BEA was also exhausting.  Lots and lots and lots of walking and a truly scary amount of people rushing around to get free books and meet authors.  Thankfully, I am not someone who really puts a lot of value in autographs (except for one signed book that I received which carries a very personal message from its author) so I did not spend any time at all waiting in line to get any books signed.  But, I have to say that BEA needs to work on those "in booth" signings because they were, for the most part, a huge disaster.

Also, BEA is so big that meeting the publicists you work with is tough.  They are so busy and being pushed all over the place that trying to have a conversation is really hard - although it is great to put a face to the emails :)

Finally, we all know that being at BEA means getting a lot of free advance reading copies - and this year was no exception - and the one thing you need to "hope" for is that the books are in the genre that you read - which, in my case, was not really the situation.  BEA 2010 offered a lot of "supernatural/undead/dystopia type ARCS that are simply not the types of books that I read and since I am not the type of person who picks up a book "just because it is free", I found myself walking by quite a few freebie tables.  For this, my arms and broken suitcase were grateful :)

Overall, 2010 was a so-so year with some good and some bad and some mostly ordinary stuff - whatever the year, I know that I am grateful that my family and friends are healthy.  Namaste and have a great healthy and happy 2011.