Don't worry, I am on careful watch to make sure I don't replace one thing with another. 2008 is the year of the Single Title, if it kills me, so I will be begging, borrowing and stealing time to work on my books if I have to. Thanks for your good thoughts. Take care.

If there's one thing I find frustrating about the internet, it's making great friends with people but being unable to hear their voices, see them, and hug them!!! Thanks for all the fun times, Tawny. I'll be staying in touch via comments and reading your books, don't worry!

Thanks Kim. I'm looking forward to moving into our new home (when we fine one!) and getting settled. Despite our gypsy life, I'm just a big old homebody at heart. All the best for the year ahead to you, too.

Thanks for making me laugh. Much needed at present. I have four books out next year - so you'll be hearing from me via the bookshelves or via guest blogs or updates on my own site. Take care of you and yours - hope 2008 is a good one.

This is why leaving Cigars was such a tough decision - chatting to you ladies has been so much fun, and often very touching. Thanks for sharing through the year. All the best to you for the coming year, too.

...Should be a four letter word. Although, as my man points out, there are lots of good four letter words, like love and cake,so maybe stress needs to be in a category all of its own. I hope 2008 is a great year for you, and thanks for your good thoughts.

How am I supposed to read all these lovely posts without fiercely regretting my decision? This could be the shortest retirement in history... Thanks for your lovely thoughts, Danny. Look after yourself in the coming year.

...life won't be the same without our web-chats. Thanks so much for sharing with us all. And thanks for all the support and good wishes. I hope you and all your "boys" have a happy, productive, fun-filled year.

Glad that everyone understands why this had to happen (ie for me to retain what's left of my sanity). It will be lovely to come back and have the occasional catch up with everyone. Take care in 2008!

I hope I can find that balance, too. It's going to be a tough one. I also need to start taking better care of my health. One of the first things out the window when I am stressed is eating properly, and I am going to eat myself up a dress size and into an early grave if I don't start walking more and eating less rubbish. But there's a great organic food shop near where we plan to live in Auckland, and I got some fantastic Italian cook books for Christmas, so spending more time cooking (which I love when I have time) is big on the agenda for next year. Best of luck with your writing - and you will be hearing from me!

I hope the new year brings less stress, too. Wouldn't be hard right now, let me tell you! But I keep telling myself that this time next month I will be all cosy in my new house, with a bunch of new books ready to write for the year, and that seems to help alot. Have a great 2008, Stacy.

Without you, this website would never have existed. You're a real doer, and thank you for thinking of me when you started dreaming of this blog site. I don't think anyone realises how much time Sam and her husband put into maintaining and upgrading the Cigars site. Just keeping the guest writers organised and walking them through the log-on process is exhausting, I imagine, so, for the record, here's a big thanks to you both for your time, your passion, your creativity and your drive. Cigars is what it is because of you both.It has been a fantastic experience being involved with so many great writers, not the least of which is yourself, Sammas. You know you won't get a chance to miss me too much(!!), so be careful what you wish for! Have a great new years!

I'm looking forward to the occasion drop in as a guest blogger, too. And I do so hope the fresh start is in the offing - I feel like a need a bit of a revolution to shock myself back into a productive, healthy routine. All the best for 2008, Nathalie.

I have become an expert mover over the years, but I also think I am becoming a little less resilient with each bout with packing cartons and tape. But as we have left half our stuff in storage, hopefully this move won't be as onerous as the last. Having to sort through all our belongings in the storage company's warehouse, surrounding by big crates full of other people's stuff was a definite highlight of the last month (not!). It was a 40 degree day (very hot!) and a truck driver delivered a dumpster bin half way through the process and it came accessorised with a swarm of horrible little flies. Chris and I were beseiged by the little buggers for a full hour as we tried to work out what was staying in storage and what was coming with us to NZ. Never. Again. I hope! Best wishes for the coming year.

It was a hard post to write. I agonised over how to present my decision, but in the end humble truth won out. Everyone has been so understanding. I know stress is something we all deal with on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, and I am in the fortunate position of being able tailor my workload a little, so I know I am actually very, very fortunate. Look forward to chatting via Cigars in the future. Best wishes!

Couldn't have said it better. I think one of the most crucial things about blogs is not just how they allow us to talk to each other and to readers, but how it helps us stay connected as we sit here working away by ourselves...absolutely affirmation and we need it, because writing is so damned tough, and lonely, a good part of the time. Many times a reader's comment about one of our books that is written is what gives us the boost we need to keep on going on a bad day...

It's so good and comforting and fun to come here and chat with familiar friends and new ones, too. And God knows, I've learned a lot from all the posts.

Sam

...that your prediction comes true, Estella. Thanks for your good wishes - straight back at you for 2008!

Thanks Carolynn. Have a feeling I will need all the luck I can get over the next few months. Finding a house to live, finding a new car, getting settled in a new country... At least I have some lovely friends in NZ that I can get reacquainted with.

Good lord, I never win anything! So I won't hold my breath. But how nice just to be nominated - exactly the shot in the arm I need as I've just heard from my data recovery guy that the lost portion of my book is likely to remain that way. Bummer. So, I'm about to start rewriting. Nothing like good news to get the juices flowing. Thanks, Sammas, for the heads up. And thanks to anyone who nominated me, however that works.

...to you, too, Kim, and thanks for your best wishes.

Thanks Sassa. What a nice thing to say. You know, Anything For You is still one of my favourite books. It kind of just fell out of the typewriter and onto the page - the story had obviously been in the back of my head, waiting to be released. My latest book - the one I've lost 30,000 words of the 50,000 I'd written thanks to a computer glitch - is about best friends falling in love, too. This time, it's the man who's always loved the woman, and the woman who has no idea. It's been an interesting experience, and it's about to get more interesting thanks to having to rewrite those 30,000 #*&%!!! words. Oh well! Thanks again for your kind words - they mean a lot.

Sounds like you need to come join us on Dee's crazy thread... ;) I just posted about something in this vein...
LOL

Sam