The Best Is Yet To Come

There's a few days left before The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Contest begins and I'm still revising. Actually, it's going pretty well. I've had help from two awesome beta readers who've pointed out things that I didn't notice or didn't think were much of a problem. The good news is, since I've revised this novel before there isn't a lot that needs fixing. The bad news is, I sometimes fall into the trap of striving for perfection.

So I remembered this quote I read on an astrological site. One of those sites where you put in your name, month, place, and time of birth and it gives you a free report--everything you need to know about you distilled into a few paragraphs. Here's what it said in reference to my career and vocation:

"You need not only to accept the gap between vision and reality, but also to let go of your work when it is good enough - for "good enough" may be the thing you need most to learn to recognize about your work."

- Liz Greene, Astrodienst

It isn't the most perfect quote, but there is a lot of truth to it. Though, at the same time, if there's anything I've learned from watching you guys get agents, book deals, and win contests it's PATIENCE--my word of choice for this year. I just have to find the right balance.

There were indeed some gems I discovered last year. They didn't all come out in 2012, but still. I'll be sharing them now in a very simple list of favorites.

On Writing

Shh... Quiet Novels Here 

From Ordinary to Extraordinary Part 1 & Part 2

Reading

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Music 

Best Song: The Stable Song by Gregory Alan Isakove

We should write more songs like this.

Best Video: Featherstone by The Paper Kites

Best Newly Discovered Artist: Lisa Hannigan

Best Soundtrack: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Favorite Movies

The Dark Knight Rises

Spirited Away

My Neighbor Totoro

TV (What I Watched)

Supernatural
True Blood

The Vampire Diaries

American Horror Story

The Walking Dead

Pretty Little Liars

The Lying Game

Favorite Non-Writing Blog

Elephantine

Maybe I'm cheating because she does write some really wonderful shorts. Here, here, and here.

That's all for now. Happy reading and writing!