Because Josh asked so nicely ... here an additional 25 random facts:

1. I cannot wait for Supernatural to start on the CW tonight. It’s one of the few shows on TV I absolutely love.
2. I wouldn’t mind being left-handed.
3. I want to learn sign-language.
4. I started learning Japanese when we lived in Japan, but didn’t continue once we came back to the U.S.
5. I’d move back to Japan in a heartbeat. I love Japan even more than Hawaii.
6. And I truly love Hawaii. I miss Hawaii (aloha, Debby; I miss the SinC chapter, too).
7. Like Josh, who tagged me, I don’t do horror movies.
8. I like researching a new novel better than actually writing the new novel.
9. I have horoscopes and personality profiles for all my major characters.
10. I’m a procrastinator.
11. I don’t have stick-to-it-ness.
12. I love being a Pisces.
13. I hate conflict (see #14). I can’t stand negative people or negative energy; it sucks the spirit/life right out of me and I don’t have any extra energy to spare.
14. I have fibromyalgia (you know, like that lady in the Lyrica commercial on TV) and suffer from chronic fatigue (which is why I don’t have energy to spare on negative things, see #13).
15. I wear a 39R shoe :-)
16. I wear my watch on the right wrist.
17. I’m so not vain; I’ve been known to leave the house without ever having looked in the mirror.
18. I don’t like vegetables. Or food in general. I dislike cooking.
19. I love books. I love reading.
20. I can’t stand American Idol.
21. It is my dream to win an Oscar (but I’m not actually doing anything to work on that).
22. I would love to just take the whole family and move somewhere for a year where we help the community (you know, like Africa or China and South America).
23. I think not having sex before marriage is a mistake.
24. I can’t hold a grudge (see #13-14 for possible explanation).
25. I think people who don’t know who to drive a car with a manual transmission don’t really know how to drive a car; all they do is steer (must be the German driver in me).

Sixteen random facts about me

1. I didn’t make my daily writing goal today (does this exercise count?).
2. I’m afraid of heights.
3. I love peas.
4. I’m a night owl (I’m a true moon-ruled Pisces).
5. I was born on a Thursday.
6. I have four tattoos.
7. I believe in reincarnation and karma (I’m a fan of Buddhism).
8. I married my first and only boyfriend.
9. We met during the holidays twenty years ago, Thanksgiving & Christmas 1988.
10. I wish I had an Irish accent.
11. I was an exchange student.
12. I love redheads and freckles (I married a freckled redhead).
13. I love math.
14. I’m contemplating getting my Ph.D.
15. I’m certain I have adult-onset ADD.
16. I love horses and horseback riding, but I’m not leasing or sharing board right now.

Goals, resolutions and such

In no particular order:

1. finish THE STALKER by March
2. finish Riley’s and Ever’s story by April or earlier
3. write Finn’s and Peyton’s stand-alone novel by the end of the year
4. travel to Chicago to get passport and visit bestest friend in the world
5. travel to Germany to visit family over the summer
6. do silly things once a week (ask kids for help)
7. become a Lambda Literary Awards finalist and travel to NYC to celebrate
8. win a Lambda Literary Award
9. sell out second edition of THE PROTECTOR
10. sell even more e-book versions of THE PROTECTOR
11. learn how to play the violin
12. eat healthier
13. read more with kids
14. speak German with kids so they can actually communicate with their grandparents and great-grandparents
15. write grandmother more often (at least once a month)
16. phone or e-mail far-away friends more often (reply to e-mails in timely fashion)
17. watch less TV
18. play outside more often
19. stop thinking depression is a personal flaw
20. nourish creativity

2009

Best wishes for a wildly successful new year. May it bring you peace, happiness and the fulfillment of dreams.

Viel Glück, Erfolg und alles erdenklich Gute im Neuen Jahr.