As 2014 draws to a close, I thought it made sense to do a recap of 2014. Seriously y’all. December has been the month of catching my breath. Ben and I have live a lot of life this year (there’s a post brewing, so more on that later.)

Scroll down to the end of this post for a g i v e a w a y and totally voluntary survey opportunity!

Highlights

• Self-published My 1st Novel Since Re’and has launched, I’ve experienced a gamut of emotions: joy, relief, sorrow, fear, dread. In the hustle leading up to its launch, I really psyched myself up. I don’t want to say that post-publication has been a letdown, it’s just showed me how much more work there is to do. Producing a final piece of writing is exciting, but it doesn’t mean you’ve “arrived”. No, it just means you’ve got another piece of writing down. In this interview with Caroline Starr Rose, she talks about being an apprentice to your craft. I can be such a get it done person that I forget the doing is part of the process. So publishing a first novel was exciting, but it was only my first novel. I’ve got more writing to do.
• Moved Domains What was VictoriasRamblings.com is now VictoriaEasterWilson.com. I’m still working out a few kinks to make sure that all of my redirects are working correctly, but from here on out my content will be built on this self-named domain. I may rename the blog oneday, I may not. I just felt that a self-named site gave me more freedom.
• Guest Posted Submitting a guest post to Modern Mrs Darcy was equal parts thrilling and terrifying. I was so humbled and grateful that, after suggesting a few needed edits, she accepted my post!
• Guest Podcasted In an amazing and divinely orchestrated turn of events, I had the great joy to record a podcast episode with God-centered Mom (What the what!?)
• Attended A Blog Conference I loved running down the interstate to attend a small, but mighty impactful, blogging conference in Asheville.

Best of the Blog

The most popular posts of 2014.

1. To The Girl Who Waited And Wished She Hadn’t, From Me (The post that blew up my blog.)
2. Carson Anne’s Birth Story
3. Why I Wear Two Rings On My Left Hand
4. A Natural Mother
5. The One About Breastfeeding

May I just say that having a baby is great for your blog? Not that I’d recommend it as a blog growth strategy, necessarily. 

Looking Ahead

My goals for this space have never been lofty. I don’t want to quit my day job and blog full time. I don’t want to make millions online. I do, however, want to start contributing a bit to our family’s bottom line through my writing – or at least be able to pay for this online space. Blogging can turn into a very expensive hobby if you’re not strategic. I’m going to start doing a bit more outreach with the blog. In 2015 you can expect to see a few more guest posts here, and hopefully spot me elsewhere online. I also want to experiment more with giveaways. (I am hosting my very first giveaway in this post! See below!) Personally, I’m committed to forming some sort of creative routine for myself. I do want to take my writing seriously, but it won’t happen if I don’t take myself as a serious writer.

To give you a bit of a teaser, my husband and I are going to launch a new project that we’re super excited about around February. We’ll be ready to share more in the new year. Until then!

G I V E A W A Y

To thank you for an amazing year, I’d love to give back! Leave a comment on this post and you’ll automatically be entered to win a signed copy of my book, Re’and. I’ll choose a winner December 15th. It’ll make a great treat for yourself or gift to a friend! It does not, however, make good fire kindling. Promise. 🙂

Survey

And speaking of giveaways, I wonder if you would be willing to take this quick survey? (Okay, maybe those two things aren’t related, but work with me.) If you could spare a minute I would love to hear your thoughts on how this blog can best serve you. This will help me sort out those aforementioned ideas I’m having about the future of VictoriaEasterWilson.com.

You can use the embedded form below, or click here to take the survey!

Here’s to 2015, y’all!