Happy Holidays 2021

Hello, my wonderful Tartlets, and happy holidays from me, #awellreadcat, and Mr Tart!

Here we are again, another year down that’s been, well… it’s been kinda weird. And strangely quick; wasn’t it just Memorial Day weekend, like, two weeks ago?? UGH. Where has the time gone???

I feel like I can’t remember what I did this past year, but when I sit down and really think back alllll the way to 11 months ago, I realize quite a lot has happened to me. Even though half of it was spent social distancing at home.

While 2020 was a rough year for a lot of people, it was actually a banner year for me and Mr Tart. Safely ensconced in our little cottage, we were given the gift of a TON more time together, which we’d been craving since, oh, we met about ten years ago! Our pre-COVID schedules (particularly mine) were rough on us, mentally and physically, and we were lucky enough to ride out 2020 in a bubble of domestic bliss.

However, 2021 was a little rockier. I believe in “good years” and “bad years,” and since 2020 was so good, I waded into January 2021 with dread in my heart.

Life didn’t wait long to start challenging us. We had a lot of stress, a lot of angst, and a lot of worry. A lot of doctor appointments, a lot of budget discussions. A lot of possible changes, including — gasp! — selling our cozy little home in order to move to a less expensive state. By mid-July, I was shoveling in Wellbutrin like TicTacs.

Then, September came. And everything was turned on its head — finally, for the better.

All in all, 2021 gave me a LOT more than I ever expected it to: I received a diagnosis and solution to a serious health issue. My “day job” finally, finally agreed to let me work remotely, full-time and on a permanent basis. We were given unexpected gifts from the universe that allowed us to stay in our happy home and live a better work/life balance.

My writer life did pretty well in 2021, too: I finished revising my second novel, Desserted, and started querying it to literary agents. It’s currently under review with several agents, and I’m crossing fingers, toes, and eyes that one of them likes it enough to offer representation. (pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease)

I’ve also started writing novel #3, despite my earlier resolve to take a year off before starting a new project. (I mean, we all knew that wasn’t going to stick.) I’m about 20K words into my new WIP, and I’m loving every minute of it. I have big plans to dive into it over the holiday break.

Speaking of writing — I’m typing to you from my couch, where I’m happily sitting with my laptop; I haven’t been able to sit or lie down without extreme pain for three years. In September, we discovered that my chronic pain was caused by a severely herniated disc in my spine, which needed corrective surgery. My lumbar discectomy was performed a few weeks ago, and now I’m on my way to being able to sit on my derrière for hours on end, the way man and god and Netflix intended.

Which brings me to my next announcement: although the surgery was minimally invasive, I still need to be careful with moving around for a few months. I can walk and climb stairs and stuff like that, but my main restrictions are no bending, lifting, or twisting. I do both those things an awful lot when I’m making recipes for the blog and taking photos of food and books… so it looks like I’m going to be out of commission for a little while.

Luckily, this whole ordeal has fallen during my annual January Blogging Hiatus, so none of my 2022 blogging plans have been derailed. In fact, I’ve actually decided on a new January blog tradition!

As a book blogger, I read way more books than you usually hear about. And, try as I might, book-inspired recipes don’t strike me for every novel. But I still want to talk about these stories! So, during this January’s “blogging break,” I’ll be posting new book reviews twice a week. My usual book review + book-inspired recipe combo will return in February. This way, I get the rest and relaxation I need, and you guys don’t miss out for a month on what books to read (and skip!).

In closing and as always, dear reader, I’m grateful to you for your support, friendship, and encouragement. Keep sending me reading suggestions, keep sending me recipe ideas. I love getting them. And please keep in touch on Facebook and Instagram because I love connecting with you all on a regular basis.

Wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday season!

Love, books, and carbs,

CJ xoxo