Breakthrough!

Over at Reinventing Fabulous, we were challenged to come up with a word (or short phrase) that would be our motto or touchstone for 2014. I'd already made a resolution to have "more fun," so that's what I chose.

Except, if you've ever read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, you might remember the scene where the four bikers of the Apocalypse have been joined by a group of tough-guy motorcyclists. They decide to adopt names comparable to the bad names of the four main bikers (Death, War, Famine and Pollution). One of the first guys to choose a name realizes he was a little hasty, and wants to change it after he hears someone else's choice, except they tell him he can't. So he becomes "Things Not Working Properly Even After You've Given Them A Good Thumping But Secretly No Alcohol Lager."

That's sort of what happened to me in the course of the ReFab discussion of our touchstones for 2014. I was really happy with my "more fun" until Jane Birdsell (go take a look at her photography!) chose "breakthrough."

So I printed out  my new motto and posted it on the wall next to my monitor:

It only seems appropriate to reveal my secret motto, now that I've made a breakthrough: My cozy mystery Nursing a Grudge (woman who's tired of being cosseted tries to prove that she could too have killed her much-hated visiting nurse, and catches the real killer in the process) has been acquired by Gemma Halliday Publishing, a "boutique publisher of light-hearted mystery, romantic suspense and romantic comedy."