Dear 2010,

I've got to admit, you've been very good to me. A very good year.

In january you kind of did me wrong, having me hugely pregnant and falling in the snow, which was not fun. But in February, when the big news of my sale came (especially when I'd just about gone and given up - even though my agent hadn't, she's a DREAM) I was VERILY stoked.

:-D

Then the baby thing happened, which was simultaneously amazing and scarring, and we slowly settled down into a routine. By the gods, we were parents. And good ones! Once the baby actually started *sleeping*, I came around to the idea that I could actually do this entire thing without losing it. Of course then I bit off too much and that hurt.

The following months were a little stressful. When you add a baby to trying to find the "right" follow up book to your little masterpiece, and having your agent carefully yet truthfully tell you 'this isn't it', well, that gets old. But I persevered! And thus "THE YOUNG BOY AND THE RIVER" was finished, made everyone that read it cry along with my agent who said this one would be great.

So now? What are we doing? Well, 2011, you've got a LOT to live up to! But I think settling back into work with Loki in the kindy will help move things along, and please send another couple book sales down the pipe! XO

Thanks, 2010.

2011, you're up.

(And I'd like to take a moment to wish you all a Happy New Years from me, my family, the hairless cats and Germany in general. I hope to see you when the year turns! XOXOX)

It's those little things you remember...

So I put Loki's favourite overalls on this morning. Girl needs to represent her farm mum at some point, and she recently scored a pair of (cupcake embroidered, I'll admit not very farmy) denim coveralls that were perfect for the cold (-12!!) here in Berlin.

I am amazed to say that after her last wear of these (a week ago!) these overalls have now gone on to be ... overall/capris.

HIGHWATERS.

That word fills me with remembered terror.

Did you have that problem? I sure did. Achingly. I'm perfectly willing to own the label geek or dork now, but when I was in 4th and 5th grade those words cut like a freaking KNIFE. And what makes it worse is I never really got it, until they made fun of my jeans. (The one MAJOR reason I'll hope and pray Loki is never, ever the popular one. They have no compassion. Or the ones I grew up with didn't). Anyways, I never cared about the length of my jeans until the others in the class made an issue of it.

To see these short overalls on my girl shocked me back to that sunny day when everything around me became a little less sunny, my inward blissful dreamworld shattered, showing me how mean people could be. I could ignore one, but there were more than one. More than one day, one person, one pair of jeans...

To go through that pain when you're young, that bullying, the meanness that is uniquely kids...I'm so happy I'm over it. I know it helped me capture emotions for my writing, and gave me the wellspring of pain to write from that makes me a good writer, now that I've learned to harness it. I do believe it made me a stronger person.

But it fills me with dread and fear for Loki, who is not yet able to defend herself. I want her to be an independent, free thinker that doesn't cave to other kids and their misbegotten expectations, but I know she'll have to fight that fight for herself**.

But, dammit, it won't be over highwaters. I'll be sure of that.

---

**and it goes without saying she'll have our full support and love to do whatever she wants-and that her papa will have to hide the Objects That Can Injure should someone try to bully her.

I HAVE DIED AND GONE TO HEAVEN !!!!! !!! !! !!!!!!!

I might have said something about a particular author...the one that got me thinking I too could write a book.

His name is Bill Wallace, and he wrote "A Dog Called Kitty" as well as numerous other WONDERFUL animal stories. The man is an animal story writing MACHINE.

Well, guess where else Mr. Bill Wallace has written something FABULOUS?

WANNA GUESS???

ON THE FRONT OF MY BOOK COVER !!!

That's right! (Envision this in all caps because man would that be hard to write.)

Mr Bill Wallace, the legendary animal writer, blurbed POSSUM SUMMER !!!!!!!

*OMG* *FLAIL* *DIES* *TWITCHES SOME MORE*

"A heartwarming, vibrant story.”

–Bill Wallace, author of A Dog Called Kitty"

And there you have it, kids. I've officially died and gone to heaven.

EDIT - but wait! There's MORE!

THE FULL QUOTE::::

"Jen K. Blom's Possum Summer, is a heartwarming, vibrant story of a western Oklahoma 'country' girl [that] mixes themes of honor, resolve, and courage with just the right blend of adventure, excitement, humor, danger, love, compassion, and a small touch of romance. It's a book that middle graders will want to read. The author should brace herself for all the letters and emails she'll receive asking 'did this really happen?' --Bill Wallace, author of A Dog Called Kitty and many other books

Blogger, I have sinned.

It has been mucho time-o since my last blog post. I have a confession to make, additionally.

I thought I was Superwoman.

I know that other people don't have this problem, but I just kept adding and adding on to the top of an already busy schedule. First the book and all that came with that, then the baby and WOW is that a lot of time you never thought you'd lose, then working from home and trying to write new novels and oh, housework and the cats and being able to speak coherently to my husband which meant sleep which I wasn't getting...

...and I thought I had it all under control until it all came crashing down.

The kicker was my day job.

I don't know about you all, but when I work I like to pay ATTENTION to it. As in, when I'm working I'm concentrating on work. But when I work from home I'm not able to do that, which led (last week) into a major epic meltdown. There wasn't time for anything to be done right, and if you don't do it right, why bother, you know? Everyone was depending on me and I wasn't delivering.

So I stopped. Everything. (Everything that I could.) Including Twitter, the blog, the other social media that everyone and their dog says is so important for authors. I did learn some things:

1. You will not die if you do not twitter/facebook/blog.

2. There is only so much that a body can do in a day. Go over at your peril.

3. Take a nap every once in awhile.

4. Break things up into tiny steps.

And the most important one. This one is a STUNNER:

5. The job of an author is to WRITE. All the other crap is well, crap. (Except for the baby and cats and husband).

I won't fail if there's no blog post for the week. I WILL fail if I am not constantly making a new book. Without follow up, there's no point in continuing, because for most authors, one book does not a career make.

So that's where I am at. Now that I've accepted I am not Superwoman, things have become more sane. I might not be here all the time but I will be here. And life will not end if I do not go insane on everything all the time.

You?