Jesus, has it really been four months since I posted anything?

Yes, this is going to be a dopey year end review posts, so don't say you haven't been warned.

2011 was a hell of year.

Tons of changes and I can honestly say that all of them have been positive.

Here are some highlights:

Started a new day job

Bought a new house

Became a landlord

Went to Alaska

Went to St. Louis and attended my first Bouchercon

(And interviewed one of my heroes, Daniel Woodrell)

Saw my first book published

Saw CrimeFactory: The First Shift see publication (I also hung up my spurs as publisher of Crime Factory, which was a little sad, but it was time.)

Started writing for LitReactor

My darling daughter Sadie turned 5 and started kindergarten.

It' was a busy year, almost overwhelmingly so, but a good one. But like all the years before it, I'm glad to see 2011 hit the bricks

I'm ready for 2012.

My biggest hope for the new year, other than continued health and happiness for my family and friends, is for 2012 to be quiet.

That's right, more than anything else, I just want life to be nice and normal for a change.

What do I mean by normal?

I want to wake up in the morning, go to work, come home, pick up my daughter from school, make dinner, watch a little TV, put the kiddo to bed, come downstairs to my office and spend a couple of hours writing until I get sleepy and then go to bed.

And then wake up the next day and do the exact same thing day-after-day.

I know, all of that shit sounds boring as hell, but sometimes a little routine is what you need.

Anyway, that's it.

I hope you have a great New Year.

BTW, I finally updated the links over on the side bars and I'm fucking around with the blogs appearance a little