Our Follow Friday today is really a Follow Monday, because Monday is a BIG day for children's books. The new award winners for the Caldecott, Newbery, and others will be announced on Monday, January 10th at 7:45 a.m. PST.

Each year the American Library Association (ALA) honors books and media for children and teens. Recognized worldwide for the high quality they represent, the ALA Youth Media Awards guide parents, educators, librarians and others in selecting the best materials for youth. Selected by committees composed of librarians and other literature and media experts, the awards encourage original and creative work in the field of children’s and young adult literature and media. The award announcements are made as part of the ALA Midwinter Meeting, held in 2011 at the San Diego Convention Center from January 7 to 11.

Follow award results in real time on facebook or twitter #ALAyma

Or watch the live Webcast (sort of like the academy awards for children's writers):

The American Library Association (ALA) will provide a free live webcast of its Youth Media Awards. The number of available connections for the Webcast are limited and the broadcast is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Online visitors can view the live Webcast the morning of the announcements. Those interested in following the action live should bookmark http://alawebcast.unikron.com .

The Youth Media Awards will begin at 7:45 a.m. PST on Jan. 10, 2011, but visitors should be able to begin logging on to the Webcast at 7:30 a.m. PST.

Here’s the thing.  I don’t like New Year’s.  There’s something about the desperate need to have a good time that just makes me want to go to bed early.  And then there are the resolutions.

My most memorable New Year’s Eves are the ones that went awry.

The year my friends and I drove twelve hours to a different city on the off-chance I would see the guy I was hopelessly in love with.  We stood in line for two hours outside of a club, my friends thankfully preventing me from accepting drinks from strangers.  At 11:30, blocked from entrance, freezing cold, we returned to our hotel room, where another friend popped open a bottle of Dom Perignon.  (Best.  Wine.  Ever.)  Eight days later, the guy got married.  To someone else.  (Told you it was hopeless – the Graduate I am not.)

Or the year I came home from traveling and thought I might try to settle down.  Get my Masters.  I had two jobs – one of which kept me at work until 11 on New Year’s Eve – and a keen interest in a guy who lived in England.  I decided to go out and see if any of the guys I’d ever been interested in at home were at the bars, and see what happened.  My friends who went with me on the road trip?  Went out with me again.  Gluttons for punishment.  What happened was that I drank one (or two) too many Alabama slammers (yes, in an hour) and then found and kissed several of these guys and…they were bad kissers.  I mean bad.    It could have been the Alabama slammers, but it was enough to convince me to pack my bags again.  And visit England.  A year later, the Englishman asked me to marry him.

At the end of December 2009, I was just giving up pushing my book in a direction it didn’t want to go.  I thought it would make it more commercial, more like what was already on the market.  It felt false.  Contrived.  I had to stop.  But the idea set the tone for the novel my book became.  When I stopped pushing, I was able to write.  And finish.  And sell GILT.

What I want to illustrate is that I operate on an ideal – to find the guy I’m in love with, to find a reason to stay at home, to write a commercial book based on someone else’s idea – but can see (through hindsight) that the best things happen, sometimes, when my ideals fail.

So my resolution this year is to keep my eyes open for opportunities.  Not focus so hard on the one line, the one book, the one ideal that I lose sight of…the rest.  The possibility. The single sentence that can expand to become a plot point.  Or a plot.  The pieces of life that are out there, ripe for specific description.  Just plain life.

Expect much.  Embrace the unexpected.  And avoid kissing drunks on New Year’s Eve.  Those are my resolutions.

I love resolutions. I am a firm believer in setting goals and striving to meet them.  Studies have shown that goal-oriented people have a much higher level of success than those that have no clear direction of where they want to be in the future.  It's common sense.  You can wander in circles or you can set yourself on a path towards a particular destination.  Resolving to start down that path is the first step to getting there. If you wander aimlessly, you might find the path, but you probably won't.

I once resolved to write a book.  That was New Years 1991.  I set to work on a bad werewolf romance.  I know! Werewolves, in 1991.  Maybe it would have been the beginning of the paranormal romance trend that is so popular today.  Maybe the timing was all wrong for a werewolf romance.  We'll never know.  I stopped at chapter three.

Fast forward to New Years 1996.  I had just experienced a life changing moment over Christmas break.  I couldn't wait to get it down on paper.  I resolved to write a novel that led up to that exact, heart-breaking, bittersweet moment when the girl realizes that the guy who might just be the love of her life, feels the same way about her. Twelve years too late.  I got 75 pages this time.  Hardly a complete novel, but closer.

New Years 1997.  Armed with 75 pages, I decided the story would work better as a movie script.  I resolved to write the script and make the movie myself.  It was all very ambitious.  Voila!  I finished a script.  It was awful.  Fortunately I was distracted enough by law school to NOT make a bad film with amateur actors.

New Years 2007.  What can I say?  Law school was very distracting.  I resolved to finish the book I started in 1996.  I sat down and started from scratch, writing here and there when I felt like it.  I only got about 50 pages, but I was writing. 

New Years 2008. I resolved to finish the book.  I didn't do much until September 2008.  That's when I realized that my book was a YA romance.  Heck, that's when I realized what YA was.  That's when I decided what my book needed was a few werewolves.  And then I wrote.  And wrote.

New Years 2009.  I resolved to finish the book, but this time, I already had 100 pages.  I started reading publishing blogs and learning about the industry.  I resolved to get a professional opinion about my work. To go to a conference.  In May 2009, I had more than half a book, and I entered contests to win critiques.  I got a 50 page critique from a published author, and a 30 page critique from an agent.  Both were encouraging.  By November, I had a first draft of what would become BANDIA.  In December I went to my first conference.

New Years 2010.  I resolved to join a critique group.  Query agents. I did them both. I rewrote the first book (goodbye werewolves).  Then wrote a second book.

What changed?  When did I change from someone who dreamed about writing to someone who did it?  Why now?  The truth is I don't know what finally clicked for me. But the impetus was always, always, a wish to get to a destination that wasn't reachable until I resolved to put one foot in front of the other and head down that path.  And then resolved again to keep going.

As you  make writing resolutions this year, recognize that you will succeed at some, and not at others.  I'm here to tell you it's okay to fail.  You've set yourself down the path.  You'll learn from your false starts.  The key is resolving to start again.  And to keep at it until you accomplish your goal, whatever it is.

And I haven't forgotten the giveaway!  Leave a comment before midnight January 8, 2011 for your chance to win an ARC of DARK GODDESS by Sarwat Chadda.  This is a wonderful book that I'll be reviewing next week, a paranormal story filled with action, a touch of romance, and complex questions about what it means to be human.

Now go forth and accomplish!

Last year, I made a number of measurable goals for my writing. I went through my calendar and marked off dates, adding things like, "Finished with first draft yet?" and "Are you querying yet?"

I blew most of my goals out of the water, and that feels really good.

This year, I have those milestones (see: deadlines) imposed on me by my publisher, so my resolutions have changed. They are less about results, more about process. Here they are:

Read more diversely - Last year my reading diet didn't stray very far from YA offerings. I did read a few adult titles, particularly in non-fiction, but it didn't feel like enough. This year, I hope to read more adult fiction, short stories and poetry. You know what they say about variety...

Reduce Internet Usage - Put a little distance between me and you. I don't mean YOU. I mean the internet. I waste far too much time on useless internet cruising. Twitter and Facebook will suck me in and take me on hour-long tangents to this blog or that interview. Sometimes these sessions feel like a drive in rush hour traffic. You can come away tired and frazzled and like you haven't really gotten anywhere. Like you just threw an hour away. Other times, you learn something good - and it is important to keep up on the business side of the writing world. But in a phase of life that is as busy as mine lately, I can't fit everything in. So in 2011, I'm officially scaling back on my directionless internet usage. It's time to roll up the old sleeves and get serious here, guys... Let's be smarter about how we use our time, yes? Shall we cut down that commute?

Balance - I resolve to find more balance in my schedule in general. Back in the day, when I could paint twelve hours a day, it was fine to be so single-minded. But I have kids now. And a husband. Substantial commitments to publishers. Life has sort of spread its wings on me and soared to another level. It's great. I love the new view. But those small moments in life have become more precious than ever. A bath and a good book. A walk with my dog. Spontaneous dinner with the neighbors. Staring contests with my boys across the dinner table. I inhale in those moments. Only then can I let out a creative breath. Busy as I was this fall, many of these simple pleasures dropped off the schedule. I need them back. I shall have them back!

Keep it pure - Now that I'm not just writing for myself.... I keep thinking that I'm not just writing for myself. People are expecting something. Maybe lots of people? And the thing is, that's a one way street to squelched creativity. It's good to be objective in certain stages of writing. To consider your audience, and your editor, and all that. But the real work of writing should happen in a vacuum-sealed cave. I need to find that cave and protect it. That is a sacred cave.

What are your writing resolutions? How do you plan to make 2011 a great year?

This is a time to share resolutions -new and perhaps "not-so-new but still needed." I think there's something about sharing a resolution that helps it become a reality. So join us as we bravely put our plans out there for everyone to see in the hopes it will encourage us to hold fast to our resolutions.

Eathealthierlooseweightdrink8glasseswatereverydayexercisemakemybed. Whew. Got that out of the way. What can I say? Hope springs eternal every January.

And now to my real resolution for 2011 (not that the one above isn't real, self)...

Write twelve letters of appreciation, one per month, for the year of 2011.

Over the holidays, and during the break from my usual crazy work-filled life, I began to think about the people in my life who've done, and continue to do, amazing kindnesses that support my soul. I don't tell them often enough how much they mean to me. Then I had a brilliant idea in the shower one morning (don't those ideas always come in the shower?). I'm a writer. I've written books, television shows, journal articles, blogs. Why shouldn't I write letters? Letters that try and convey my love and appreciation for the people in my life? Now all that's left to do is decide where to start.

Do I begin with my incredibly successful, famous writer friend who always drops her busy schedule to meet with me every time I come to town? "You can do this. You deserve this..." she always says, and somehow when she says it, I start to believe I actually do.

Or maybe with my sister, who did a wonderful job of hosting Christmas this year? Since my mother's death, we were left with a huge holiday vaccuum of tradition, but my sister stepped up to try and make the turkey and dressing just like mom's. It wasn't the same. It will never be the same. But it was a new tradition and a brave new start.

Or maybe my assistant at work? She's a single parent with a severely disabled son who struggles every day to make ends meet. But even with her personal challenges, not a day goes by that she doesn't make sure that every aspect of my work travel and meeting schedule is meticulously organized. She greets me at my office each morning with, "What can I do to help?"

Or maybe one of my writing sisters who gave me an incrediby generous gift just when the rollercoaster of my writing life took a steep drop?

Or maybe my colleague at work that makes me laugh (and critiques my shoes) every day in the midst of budget cuts and layoffs?

Or maybe...? I'm sure you get the idea.

I'm blessed.