2017 Year-End Review and 2018 Goals

Time has been flying! Holy cow! It’s almost 2018 already, and and and —

Okay, I’m a bit early. I don’t expect much to change drastically in 3 days, so here we are.

So how did I do?

~Release 1 book (besides Ever Touched) ~NOT DONE, although I got a new cover for In Flames and put Reaper Girl into KDP Select. 
~Publish Ever Touched (set for May release)~DONE! 
~Start revision of Pirouette/Death Dancer ~NOT DONE, but had an interesting idea the other day about Alisia’s lineage. 
~Finish Covenant ~NOT DONE, but it’s at 24k now. Wanted to hit 30k before the new year, but I’m not sure that’s possible now. 😦 
~Start Elysium ~NOT DONE. At all.
~Finish and release Fireborn ~DONE. Rewrote it and submitted it to TDP for publication next year.
~Outline book #1 in Fey Touched spin-off series ~NOT DONE. May toy with this next year.
~Get on a consistent, simple exercise plan and STICK WITH IT ~NOPE. 
~Eat healthier/Gluten-free ~NOT DONE.  😦 Well, made the attempt, anyway…
~Get back into darkroom when hands are better ~NOT DONE.
~Add in a second writing session twice a week (8 minutes)~NOT DONE. Have been fighting pain and exhaustion.
~Try to write more short fiction ~DONE! Fireborn (55k) and When She Sleeps (projected 60k) 
~Continue with FYFB class (so behind right now!)~NOPE. Downloaded everything that’s available that I haven’t gotten to.
~Start working on Survivor Rewrite outline again ~DONE! Not finished due to wrist issues.

This year has been roughly for me physically. I have been exhausted more, and the trigeminal neuralgia flared up again so we’ve been trying to find the right combination of meds to control the pain. So far, we haven’t been very successful.

I was also laid off from my job in August, so there’s been some upheaval there. I have been working on my freelancing/virtual assistant business to try to bring in more money. Things are kind of up in the air, and it has been wreaking havoc on my productivity.

I have decided to buckle down and make things happen in 2018!

Goals:

~2nd round of edits/release secret project (early 2018)
~Revise and release Fireborn
~Get serious about exercise and DO SOMETHING
~Take pictures regularly (once a month, 1 a day for x amount of days, etc)
~Get moving with dictation again
~Progress on Covenant
~Progress on When She Sleeps
~Start Survivor Rewrite for reals this time
~Do something with Death Dancer/Pirouette
~Get better with planning
~Start writing every day again, even if it’s 100 words
~Figure out Reaper Girl #3, Faeborn

I’ve written roughly 80k this year, which is down from last year. Would like to hit 100k and more in 2018.

#ROW80 Round 3 2015 Goals

I’ve decided to do my goals post today instead of tomorrow. I know the round officially starts tomorrow, but I have another post to do, so it made sense to do it today to prevent confusion.

So, Round 3. The year is just FLYING by. I have some things I’d like to accomplish. I’ve been in don’t-scare-the-muse mode since I released Grave Touched, and I suspect I will continue to feel that way for a bit. So I’m setting very low goals. If I can and if I feel up to it, I’ll try to exceed them. But no pressure.

So, without further adieu, here they is:

Writing goals

~Finish Fireborn
~Continue Survivor Sundays/5k in rewritten draft
~10k on Covenant
~Participate in Camp Nano (Fireborn/Covenant)
~Write and edit Changeling part 3 for submission (due 9/1)

Non-writing

~Get 35mm automatic camera fixed
~Shoot test roll and develop
~Do something with darkroom, big or small
~Set up Etsy shop

I think that’s about it for now. I may add or delete stuff as I go.

(And yes, the chocolate consumption reports will continue!)

#ROW80 Round 2 2015 Goals

Annnnnd it’s time to ROW again!

It’s been a busy few months for me, getting Grave Touched ready for release. I’m getting closer, and I’m getting excited about it. After working on it so long (almost three years!), it’s finally leaving the nest.

So, with GT’s release coming May 1st, here are my top goals for the next 30 days or so:

~Finish final edit and send to formatter
~Prep for KDP
~Start wrap around cover for print edition
~Create ARCs and secure reviewers

After release, here are my goals:

~Restart/continue Survivor on Sundays (would love to get through chapter 1, but any progress is good)
~Finish Fireborn
~Select next project (my muse wants something completely new…we’ll see)
~And if so, prep for that if prep is needed (sometimes yes, sometimes no)

I think that’s enough to keep me busy for awhile.

#ROW80 Round 3 Goals

Annnnnd here we are again with A Round of Words in 80 days. This will be my third round, and I find that ROW80 works well for me so I’m in.

This round will be a bit different for me as I’ve been doing a combination of editing and rewriting my WIP, Grave Touched. It’s technically a rewrite, but I am keeping some stuff and rewriting others, and adding new scenes. So it’s a bit difficult to track my progress using wordcounts only, as I’ve done for the past two rounds. So I’m going to try something else.

I will have two goals. The first one will be 10,000 rewritten words to cover the rewriting portion. And 50 to 100 pages edited to cover the editing. I can do either, or, or both, depending how things shake out. This is a bit of an experiment, so we’ll see how it goes.

And naturally, I will have stats as I have the past two rounds. I’ve got the chocolate ready. So here we go!

#ROW80 Round 2 Goals

Here we are again with A Round of Words in 80 Days. Since it worked so well for me the last time, it wasn’t a question of whether or not I’d join this round, but what my goals would be.

I have a longish short story, Reaper Girl, due to my editor on May 1st. It’s for an anthology. So this month has been about getting the rough draft written. I’m 6k in, going for around 10k. So this goal is twofold:

~Finish the first draft of Reaper Girl
~Edit/revise/polish/submit to editor

After that it done and turned in, I want to dive back into the Grave Touched Rewrite. Again, like last time, I will count all words written and/or “processed” (edited, tweaked, or any combination thereof) for simplicity. That goal will be 35,000 words, which should put me at or around 75k.

I also would like to rewrite the opening scene of my dark fantasy novel, Soulfire, and maybe get a few thousand words written on that, too. But I’m going to hold off on making that official right now. Don’t want to overwhelm myself.

As some of you know, I have been battling illness and health problems* this entire year so far. I *seem* to be getting better, and I want to be more productive. However, I have to be kind to myself — while being insanely productive is awesome, it can be insane. And I tend to set such high expectations for myself, then beat myself up when I don’t meet them, and…that’s not the way to do things. So. I’m going to keep in mind that if I don’t feel up to producing, that’s okay. Just keep moving. I’ll get there.

So let’s do this!

*A bad fall in January. Back injury in February. Bronchitis. Cold. Ongoing eye pain/migraines. Fibromyalgia…

#ROW80 Check-in the Nineth – and a goal change

Well, I’m still sick, but I’m feeling some better, although it’s been a case of two steps forward, two steps back. I got unstuck on the sex scene, so yay!

I’ve decided to change my goal from 75k to 35k. Why, you ask? Well, I was feeling overambitious and have since realized that it probably won’t happen. This isn’t a straight rewrite — it’s requiring more than just new words. And while I’ve been counting everything, I still feel like I need to scale it down. I need to be kinder to myself and my muse – we’ve had a rough go of it so far this year. So, 35k or bust.

Stats:

Running total: 14,615 words
Words remaining: 20,385 words
Body count: Still alive.
Feeling: Cold. We had epic snowfall today.
Eye report: Not too bad.

A Round of Words in 80 Days, Round 1 – Goals

This is my first time doing ROW80 and I’m very, very excited.

I have one very simple goal. I have a novel, Grave Touched, which needs a full rewrite per my fabulous editor. It’s looking like I’ll have a deadline around January of next year. I know that sounds like a lot of time, but my process + wrist issues slow me down sometimes considerably so about a year is perfect.

So, I’d love to write 90k – almost a full draft in three months — but because I want to start small, and not put so much pressure on myself (I’ve also been dealing with some health issues* and I tend to put a horrendous amount of pressure on myself regardless), I’ll go with a goal of at least 75k written. I think that’s doable. And we’ll see. I’m understanding that I can adjust the goal if need be.

*Health issues – excruciating eye pain due to optic neuritis (a painful inflammation of the optic nerve). Doc is stumped, is treating the pain only for now, and I’m having some godawful side effects from the nerve pain medication he prescribed. And it wasn’t really helping enough to try to stay on it. (I had to quit writing for three months, then blow a deadline….so I’ve been through the winger already. Baby steps.)

So that’s my goal. 75k written and no pressure.

2013 in Review and 2014 Goals: Year of No Fear

This has been a very tough, challenging year for me because of my eye problems and everything that went along with it. An awful lot got compromised and set aside. But, I have accomplished some things that I am very proud of:

~I didn’t write for 3 months and did not go insane or kill anyone. That’s a big plus, right?
~I finished the revision of Grave Touched and turned it in on time. (Unfortunately, it needs a rewrite. More on that later).
~I took Holly Lisle’s Flash Fiction class and wrote 7 flash stories, 6 of which I self-pubbed as an anthology called In Flames. I also contributed to the Turtleduck Press Freebies with actual stories: Beloved(sci-fi) and Mirror (horror). I have another flash story going up on the TDP website on Jan. 1st, The Penitent (supernatural/horror).
~I made great progress on the Flamebound. I’m up to lesson 17 of 22.
~I took Holly Lisle’s Motivation class and learned some very, very important things that I have been trying to put into practice. Not quite there yet, but it’s happening.
~I got several new story ideas to add to the ever-growing writing queue.
~I worked a bit on Darklight as well.

Other goals I set not mentioned above:

~Reread Survivor and make notes for rewrite <–This has been started, but not much work done on it to be honest.
~Start a new novel? (Contenders: Darkweaver and Soul Touched, Fey Touched book 3) <–Not done. Darkweaver's still in the queue, and Fey Touched book #3 has been changed to Ever Touched. I can haz a plan!
~Redesign website so it makes sense Have decided to put this on hold.
~Get on a regular blogging schedule Started, with WWW Wednesdays. Would like to add more.
~Continue to look for more freelance editing/proofreading jobs <–Not really done, as my eye thing made it impossible to do anything except drafting for a loooong time. Still not out of the question — just not right now.

So you see I'm working little by little on reclaiming my life. It might not look like much at all, but I did things — I didn't bemoan my fate and give up. I kept plugging away. And while my writing numbers are quite low, I managed to release an anthology, write 7 flash stories, and finish Grave Touched. Not bad in my book. (I also want to add that as of November-ish, I’ve written just shy of 150k for the year. Not bad for having eye pain for almost a year!).

A little aside about Grave Touched… What can I say? I was be-bopping along, thinking I’d nailed it (or came close to it), only to find out that I screwed up. Bigtime. I believe I might have been a bit delusional. I won’t blame my eye entirely, but it did mess a bit with my creativity and story decisions. My editor — bless her soul — is totally right. It needs a rewrite. I know I am up to the challenge, and I know the book will be better and stronger for it. Am I disappointed? Hell yeah. But I consider myself a professional, and a professional would take a step back, shed the ego, and really look at what’s going on. Once I did that, I knew she was right. And I’ve already started on the planning, and I have some good ideas for improving it. So, no big.

As for the release date…we’re rejigging our release schedule and tentatively it looks like around February 2015. That may seem like a loooooong time, but in writing time, it’s not. It’s partly to accommodate the new schedule and to accommodate my need for enough time to do a thorough rewrite. So that’s the story.

As for 2014 goals…I’ve made some big decisions for this year. I am going to do things that I’ve been afraid to do. Fear is a HUGE factor in motivation, I found out. And when I dug in and followed the path to the source, it was mostly fear that was holding me back. So I want to fix this in 2014. Along with the following:

~Rewrite and revise Grave Touched by deadline (Sept/Oct – we’re not sure yet)
~Continue working on another draft of something (Flamebound is the top contender) if it doesn’t interfere with GT
~Continue the Flamebound revision (ties into the draft above)
~Make some type of ruling on Survivor – when to work on it and COMMIT to it
~Plan/plot/figure out Ever Touched
~Write more flash stories/poetry

As for the non-writing goals, check out my 2014 Manifesto (forthcoming!)

Hopefully, things will settle down in 2014 and I can get more creative stuff going. I miss photography and I want to grow and enrich my life. I also hope to nail the GT rewrite and get back on track with the series. And WRITE MORE.

Happy 2014. See you on the flip side.

2012 in Review and 2013 Goals: Year of the Crazy

This year has been nuts, and it feels like a whirlwind. But I managed to accomplish a lot, so it’s all good.

Let’s go over my goals for the year, shall we?

Finish Fey Touched and eventually self-publish it (includes lots of revisions and lots of blood, sweat, and tears). It’s currently at 58.5k. Goal is 100k.Ding, ding, ding! DONE and published August 1st.
~Continue Flamebound revision, hopefully move on from lesson 8! Ding, ding, ding! DONE. I’m on lesson 13.
~Write a novel (to be determined later. Current contenders are Survivor Rewrite, Darkweaver, and Fey Touched 2)Ding, ding, ding! Began Grave Touched, book 2 in the Fey Touched series, and it’s currently at 73k. While I wanted to get something new rolling as well, it appears that I work best with only one book at a time.
~Get unstuck on Alpha Female (note I didn’t say – finish Alpha Female – this one I think is taking its sweet old time)Nada. However, I did give it some thought and have a possible new direction. Still in the thinking stages, though.
~Write more poetry (nebulous, yes. That’s all I’m willing to commit to)Ding, ding, ding! DONE. Wrote a total of 6 new poems for the TDP Blog Freebies. Not as much as I’d wanted, but it’s a start.
~Take more pictures (photography has been sooooo neglected and I miss it so much!)Hit and miss here. I’ve taken some, but I still haven’t been able to get out there and rock and roll due to my health. Soooooo, we’ll see what I do for next year.

~And lastly, WORK ON GETTING FREELANCE EDITING JOBS. I had a few opportunities this year but they didn’t work out, although one was a very close call. Not only do we need the money, but my long-term goal is to make enough money to leave my day job. Scary, yes. Impossible? I don’t think so, if I do this right. And I know this won’t happen overnight — in fact, it could take quite awhile – years, maybe. But, as long as I’m moving forward, making progress, that’s enough for me. I want to believe I can make this happen. But if I never start, how will I ever know? Ding, ding, ding! DONE. I have an ongoing proofreading job with a writer friend, so that’s a nice start! Would love to do more, though!

So, I’ve accomplished almost everything I set out to do. The biggie was getting Fey Touched finished and published, and I did that. It was a very educational experience, and I’ve learned some things about promotion/marketing. So it’s all good.

I did participate in NanoWriMo, but unofficially with a goal of 30k. I managed 29k, just shy of my goal. But I’m totally happy with that.

Also, I wrote 100k+ words this year, which is awesome!

So what’s cooking for the new year?

~Finish, revise, and publish Grave Touched tentatively for August 1st release
~Continue work on the Flamebound revision, hopefully finish!
~Reread Survivor and make notes for rewrite
~Start a new novel? (Contenders: Darkweaver and Soul Touched, Fey Touched book 3)
~Redesign website so it makes sense
~Get on a regular blogging schedule
~Continue to look for more freelance editing/proofreading jobs

Annd that’s all I’m declaring for now. Here’s to a healthy, productive new year!

What are your goals for next year? Share them in comments.

2011 in Review and 2012 Goals: The Year of Change

This year has been a game changer for me, so I had to constantly revise and refine my goals numerous times.  Here’s the recap:

~I didn’t query a single agent this year, but I did participate in an agent-judged contest and didn’t even make the first cut.  However, it was a great experience putting my work out there. I also strongly believe that the book I used wasn’t the right one.

~Pirouette, my beloved Pirouette, is off the table this year.  I finished the revision (4th draft) and sent it off to critiquers as planned.  However, preliminary feedback has suggested that it might not be ready for submission yet.  While my first instinct was to rip it to shreds again, it was suggested by some close writer friends that I set it aside to gain much needed distance, as I’m failing to see its true flaws.  Now I am still waiting for the rest of the feedback, but I have a feeling I’ll get more of the same.  Either way, I need distance.  Right now, it has become the book of my heart which is not a good thing.  So, for now and most likely 6 months to a year, Pirouette will rest.  I’ll get the rest of the feedback hopefully soon and will start making some decisions.

~Pirouette was the only novel I felt was submission-worthy, so there was nothing to submit anywhere else, unfortunately.

~I’ve made the decision to experiment with self-publishing for my fiction.  I’m currently hard at work on Fey Touched, which I hope to publish through Turtleduck Press next year.

So, because if these things, everything needed an overhaul.

Let’s look at the 2011 goals, shall we?

~SUBMIT something.  This is HUGE.  This year was supposed to be the year for that, but I got a bit derailed.  I will submit something if it kills me.  Most likely either Alpha Female or Pirouette. As I said above, this was not in the cards.
~Finish up Alpha Female and get it critted. I did finish the final revision, but I’m stuck on some plot points, so this has been waiting patiently for me to return to it.
~Do the final revision on Pirouette and get it to critters. Ding, ding, ding! Done.
~Submit something! Again, did not happen, sadly…actually technically, I did submit something to that contest.  That’s big.
~Continue Flamebound revision, hopefully finish (I see a rewrite in my future…) I have continued the revision, but I’m still on lesson 8. I am making progress, just slowly.
~Finish Without Wings, my second poetry chapbook with Turtleduck Press, and get it to approvals by Feb. 1st.  This is a biggie because it still needs some work and time is ticking. Ding, ding, ding! Done.
~Write (hopefully) Darkweaver. Completely derailed, but I’m tentatively scheduling this for 2012.  I have a specific publisher in mind.
~Work on Don’t Close Your Eyes, chapbook #3.This one is also off the table, for two reasons: 1) I’m done writing chapbooks for the foreseeable future, and 2) The subject matter is something I can’t write about yet.  I’m not ready.
~Do not get derailed this time.  Stay to the goals. Ha, ha, HA!
~Get an agent. This is also off the table till I get something submission-worthy done.  I have a few ideas.

While this looks totally pitiful, I’ve learned a lot this year: roll with the changes, be flexible, sometimes you can’t keep to the exact plan, experimentation is great, and, most of all, sometimes something isn’t ready for the big time.  While it might feel that way, it’s not necessarily so.  Big lesson here.  And distance.  I’m learning this right now.

Soooooo what’s in store for 2012, huh?

This is all subject to change (gotta declare that):

~Finish Fey Touched and eventually self-publish it (includes lots of revisions and lots of blood, sweat, and tears).  It’s currently at 58.5k.  Goal is 100k.
~Continue Flamebound revision, hopefully move on from lesson 8!
~Write a novel (to be determined later.  Current contenders are Survivor Rewrite, Darkweaver, and Fey Touched 2)
~Get unstuck on Alpha Female (note I didn’t say – finish Alpha Female – this one I think is taking its sweet old time)
~Write more poetry (nebulous, yes. That’s all I’m willing to commit to)
~Take more pictures (photography has been sooooo neglected and I miss it so much!)

~And lastly, WORK ON GETTING FREELANCE EDITING JOBS.  I had a few opportunities this year but they didn’t work out, although one was a very close call.  Not only do we need the money, but my long-term goal is to make enough money to leave my day job.  Scary, yes.  Impossible?  I don’t think so, if I do this right.  And I know this won’t happen overnight — in fact, it could take quite awhile – years, maybe.  But, as long as I’m moving forward, making progress, that’s enough for me. I want to believe I can make this happen.  But if I never start, how will I ever know?

So those are my goals for next year.  😀  What are your goals for 2012?