Here in New Zealand, the new year is always about a month late. January is school holidays, beach days, barbecues, sand in every corner of the house, mosquitos, bare feet, and long, soft evenings under the stars. The children stay up too late and go brown despite our best efforts with sunscreen. And we eat so many strawberries that we almost get tired of them. (Almost!)

From the fields to our tummies.

Come February, the country hitches up its pants and gets back to work, gazing out the window at the wide blue sky, hanging out for the weekend. But some of us can’t wait to get back to our work.

The amazing Theresa Ragan shared a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson in her newsletter today: “We become what we think about, all day long.” Almost every writer I know thinks about writing all day long. And most of us half the night too, as we lie awake plotting our books and our careers! Not to mention all the times we jolt awake, desperately trying to hold onto the threads of a disappearing dream that would make the best book…

I thought I was going THAT way…but okay!

So as a writer, January isn’t wasted – and this year it’s been especially interesting. Between kid-wrangling and icecream-scooping, I spent the month thinking, all day long, about a new plan. And by February 1, I knew my year was going to be completely different from how I’d imagined it on January 1.

But more on that later. In the meantime, wherever you are, and whatever season you’re in, I hope your 2014 is shaping up to be a happy and successful year. And maybe a little unexpected too…

Happy New Year!

Blue sky dreaming…