If you’ve read (and remember) what I’ve written in January before, you know I don’t make new year’s resolutions. I do like the idea behind the Roman god for whom the month is named as he looks back and then looks forward with a key in his hand to unlock the doors of the future. In this blog, I look back at 2023 and forward to 2024.
2023 brought a mixed bag with much to celebrate and much to lament. I’ll go ahead and start with celebrating the completed bucket list item as my name appeared on the spine of a book with the publication of Becoming Ezra Jack Keats on February 22 by University Press of Mississippi. The related events of speaking to groups like the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute; signing my book for this year’s winner of both the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator and the Caldecott Medal, Doug Salati; book store events here at home at the Author Shoppe and arranged by my sister in Atlanta; and being a panelist at the Mississippi Book Festival were enjoyable follow-ups! To keep my head in its rightful place, I received my best ever rejection letter noting, “There’s not much market for a well-written literary historical novel for middle grade.”
Other positive parts of 2023 included family with all four sisters visiting during that trip to Atlanta and the birth of our first great grandchild, Myles Ackerman. My regular book events with SCBWI, festivals, and book clubs filled a good portion of the calendar. I read a total of 119 books and saved almost $900 by checking many of them out from the Oak Grove Public Library.
Negatives from 2023 have to include the drought in this area such as I had never seen before. Evidently the wildlife had not seen such either as resident deer ate my garden – from the tomatoes and peppers to the milk-and-wine lily foliage. Compensation for their meal was the vista as the doe took a nap on my lawn with the fawn frolicking around her while she slept.
More serious was the proliferation of friends and family that dealt with cancer this year. Searching for a silver lining did bring thankfulness for modern medicine and caring medical personnel as tough patients waged their struggle.
Looking ahead to the new year, I can see probabilities of both sunshine and shadows. Judging by the multitude of pictures we have seen of Myles, he is infinitely hold-able, and we have a promise of getting our turn early this year. January has already brought a storm that felled our favorite woodpecker’s tree with the two grandsons next door turning that into an opportunity for creativity and fun.
I have no resolutions for the new year, but will attempt a mindset that is loosely based on the serenity prayer. One day at a time, I will deal with things I cannot change, put a good spin where I can, and enjoy all the sunshine that comes between the shadows.