I like to begin each year feeling fantastic and inspired, so here’s a list of recent GOOD NEWS that’s been making me bounce.

– KAWASAKI SYNDROME
A couple of months back, our eldest son came down with a fever with mild rash and weird tongue. The incredible people at Princess Margaret Hospital picked it up straight away: he was in the early stages of Kawasaki Syndrome.

KS is a mysterious and rare childhood disease that we’d never heard of my but girlfriends knew from Grey’s Anatomy and my mother-in-law knew from Catalyst. (Maybe I should watch more TV??).

So, why is this Good News ? Because, after timely treatment (thanks to blood donors everywhere!) and six weeks of waiting-and-rest, we’ve had the all-clear.

No long-term damage to the heart… HOORAY!!

BROTHERS by Cherry Lee – inspiration for the awards.

– CITY OF ROCKINGHAM SHORT FICTION AWARDS
Also a couple of months back, I entered a short story competition run by the City of Rockingham, and…

…I won a Commended prize with a lovely cheque to go with it. Woo hoo!

It was SO NICE to have this confidence boost, especially because I was writing for adults and outside of my genre. (Writing outside your genre is, BTW, one of the best ways to stretch your writing muscles. Give it a try!)

– CITY OF ROCKINGHAM WRITING AND READING EXPO

This was an AMAZING day…I loved meeting old friends and making new friends, and I totally enjoyed all the sessions. My fave was the afternoon session with Glenda Larke. I’m now so hooked on her novels that it’s a struggle to drag my nose out long enough to make a cuppa and head back. If you love long, fabulous fantasy, check her out. Glenda sounds like an amazing woman and her session was so generous and useful. Thank you Glenda!!

Watch for this expo next year: the whole day is FREE! You can read more about this great day at the very funny Meg McKinlay: You rock…and kinda suck (but mostly rock :-)) and pick up more pointers at Open your mind, crush your dreams, the title of which sounds awful, but only because the publishers and writers at the expo told it how it is, which is what we need to hear. If you want to be a writer, you have to work at it, like anything else.

Picked up lots of inspiration and ideas and managed to get there and back on public transport! YAY!!

– NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS
Also in Good News, I have purchased a set of five highlighers and a calendar, and am colour-coding my way to success and happiness. Woo hoo!

I really do think it will be that easy. I haven’t resolved to do anything crazy, like WRITE EVERY DAY or JOG EVERY MORNING. Instead, I’ve made lots of ONCE-A-MONTH goals, so I only need to do this resolution once a month (or twelve measly times a year), to feel INCREDIBLE SUCCESS AND ACHIEVEMENT. (Ooo, what’s that? I feel it now!)

I’m writing this post fresh from swimming a kilometre for the first time in almost-double-digit years. WOO HOO!

So let’s get to it! What are your resolutions? How’s your New Year shaping up?