Thanks for Everything, 2017 — Carla de Guzman

Hello and welcome to 2018! It's been one HELL of a year in more ways than one, but I wanted to sort of end it on a happy note.

I joined this group of writers who joined the #WriteAway retreat last October, and everyone's been all over the group talking about their 'word' for 2018--something like a theme for them to look forward to. I've never been that introspective (except now, obviously), but I realized that 2017 was a test in patience. Patience for things that I know will happen to me, for things that haven't happened yet. Maybe things I waited for this year will happen next year, maybe they won't. But I'm glad I have something to show for it at least.

And I made it in collage form.

Things I'm Grateful For 2017:

Publishing the Queen's Game. A Filipino royalty romance has long been running around my mind, but it wasn't until we went to Batanes that it fully formed. This book went through so much, it almost became something else completely. But I'm glad I made it the way I did, and on my own terms. Now it's being live read (again!) very, very soon.
Playing with watercolors. Last year I was wondering why I should bother with this particular skill if it wasn't going to make me money, but I realized it doesn't have to be. I can paint because I want to, whatever I want. Last year I was terrified of painting landscapes, but with a little bravery and practice, I enjoy it a lot now.
#romanceclass--my happy place, my safe space. This group changes lives, makes everything better.
Writing more books! This year I wrote Making A Scene (which will be part of the #romanceclass Flair imprint), The Queen's Game, Baking Me Crazy, a book about London with lots of food in it, Chasing Mindy, a book about a two crazy kids visiting Paris together and maybe, maybe, a single parent romance. It's been a prolific year for someone who only published one book, but you see what I mean by patience?
Travelling. I mentioned somewhere before that at the start of 2017 I felt so grounded. There were days where I would feel the routine settling into my skin like dust, and some days it made me want to scream. But it made actually going on the trip all the more sweet.
Launching a book--in bookstores! Was something I almost forgot, and ironically, it's been a goal for so long. I'm not going to talk about how that makes me feel. But It's good to know that goals change.