2011: The year of the phoenix

Since it's the last day of the year, I thought I'd sit down and take a look at 2011.  What an incredible rollercoaster of a year!  On the personal front, I had a job loss, foreclosure, car repossession, and relapse into depression.  Yeah, rough year on that front, but I still have my beautiful hubby and animals – which I learned were the most important parts of my life.  I lost a great deal of hope in myself and my goals BUT I found peace through writing, forging a new path, and reshaping my life.

When I look back, I see the bad, but I also see all that darkness had to occur in order for me to finally start down the path to the dream I've had since I was knee-high: to become a writer.  Rather than view 2011 as a year I'd rather forget, I view 2011 as the year that gave me the strength and foundation to follow my dreams.  2011 is my year of the phoenix – and rebirth.

In retrospect, all I can say is … HOLY SMOKES!  LOOK WHAT WE BUILT, FELLOW CITIZENS OF LIZZYLAND!  I started 1 Jan 2011 with the release of Damian's Oracle.  Here are a few stats:

 I wrote and released ten books and four short stories.
 Started three series: Rhyn, War of Gods/Damian, and The Foretold
 Sold around (paid sales) 30,000 books.
 I had about 300,000 additional free downloads of my books.
 My website went from 20 visitors A WEEK to over 500 A DAY, and we reached 500,000 page views in ten months.
 From April, when I created a Twitter account, until today, I gained 2100 followers
 From July, when I created my Lizzy Ford Books Facebook page, until today, I gained 1293 fans.
 I Appeared on close to 100 blogs/websites for guest blogs, interviews, or book features.

And these are just a few of the accomplishments, which just baffles me even more!  I'm proud of these accomplishments, more so because they occurred during a time of great personal struggle.

We built all this – hereby known as Lizzyland – in a year.  A YEAR!  And yes, I say 'we' because I never could've done any of this without the support of my husband, readers, fellow writers and fans.  You all made this possible with your support and encouragement, because I never would've found the courage to continue to write without you.

So, at the close of the year, I'd like to say THANK YOU, and get ready for an awesome 2012.  Tons of books, giveaways, and other events are coming, and I'm hammering out my Master Plan for 2012, the one that will enable us to take over the world. 

2012 will be an awesome year – I feel it!