Buh-bye January

Some months have a greater impact than others. January is supposed to be one of those overlooked months. The holidays are over and spring is still feeling a long way off. It's a blah month. Usually. For some reason this January has seemed to go on forever--and not in a good way. I've covered for coworkers on vacation or sick leave, had a monster head cold and spent way too much of my free time volunteering. It's been a month that felt very much out of my control.

Not that I think I have a lot of control over any particular time period. But I usually have more control over how I spend my time during whatever time frame. The question is: Can I take back that control in February? I certainly hope so.

Last February I tackled a self-imposed challenge. The anti-NaNo challenge. Every other day, I responded to a prompt, like "Describe your antagonist's pet." The other days were for new plot ideas. I got some good stuff out of that month. And some not-so-good stuff. It spurred me on, though. Set up the year as a creative one.

So, what about this February? Rewriting MMG is a biggie for me this time around. Had a bit of an ah-ha moment about it yesterday morning--which was still January, I know. But because it was January, I didn't get a chance to do anything about it. My theory about February being different should mean that I do get a chance to tackle the ah-ha idea today.

Bret made me an offer about Apollo's Lyre that I may not be able to refuse. Instead of editting--and, therefore, having to deal with authors (what a weird bunch they are)--I might do a regular column. Hmm. Four or five issues a year. Could I be the next Miss Snark? Ms. Snippy? Maybe I could be the Not So Very Nice Editor. Any ideas? What kind of column would you like to read?

And here's to a happy, productive, creative February for all of us. Well, we already know that Jenny's going to be productive, but you know what I meant.