Happy Holidays!

I just thought I'd pop in quickly and update everyone on what's going on in my writing life. We're in the process of putting the January issue of Charlotte Parent to bed (tomorrow at 1 p.m., keep your fingers crossed!) and all my freelance articles due this month are off my plate. I hope to get caught up on some of those fun, business-related tasks like updating my blogs and Web site over the holiday break, as well as get my game plan going for 2009! I've got lots of article ideas I want to flesh out, as I'm hoping to begin making a name for myself in the health and wellness genre soon. And this is the year I'm finally going to begin work on my passion project, the currently untitled NOVEL, even if it just working on it 30 minutes a day!
In my personal life, I'm strongly considering tackling a half marathon in April. I've run two 10Ks in the past few months at just under an hour each, so I feel I'm halfway to my goal already. Of course, training will take some time away from my writing, but it doesn't look too daunting yet. The hardest part will be scheduling a one or two hour run every Saturday from January until race day.
So how is December treating you? Have you had more work than usual, or has your business been affected by the downturn? What are some of your goals for the new year?

Creatively Challenged

I'm afraid I'm rapidly reaching writer burn-out. I'm not sure what is going on lately, but I'm having the hardest time being creative. At work, I struggle to write catchy headlines and subheads. I can't seem to find a way to put a fresh angle on an "evergreen story." I'm starting to fear for my productivity in 2009 if I keep this up!

On the other hand, I keep an Excel spreadsheet with all my freelance assignments on it, broken out by month. I happened to start going over it the other day and was a little startled. Since January of this year, I've written:

• 9 newspaper columns (including restaurant reviews) and 12 articles for The Charlotte Observer

• So many blog posts in various places I've lost count

• At least 24 parenting articles both online and print

• Several other articles and briefs since I began working at Charlotte Parent

• About 4 pro bono articles for Little Blue World, including a celebrity interview with Perez Hilton where I got to talk to him on the phone!

So I guess I've been busy. And by the looks of it I won't be slowing down anytime soon. I just need to figure out how to take some kind of mental vacation (a physical one would be nice too) so I can recharge my creative batteries! How do you do it?