2013 Goals

I never do New Year’s Resolutions. Instead, I make goals—writing goals, family goals, personal goals.




Goal #1 – Playing Hooky – January 2013

A Paranormal Investigations novella



I always try to keep a fun project. It feels good to write something short, edit it, and publish it in a short amount of time (3 months) as opposed to the year long process a novel can be.



Currently, I’m waiting on the cover from my favorite artist and from the feedback from my beta-readers. This should be out by the end of January!



Goal #2 – Tsol & the Lizard Man – Spring 2013

Co-Written with my friend Wendy Swore, this one is already finished; it just needs to be edited and released this Spring.



Goal #3 – Dare to Sing – Summer 2013

(a Feather & Talon novel, sequel to my short story)

My husband and I are writing this together and we’re half way done. I hope to have it out this summer.



Goal #4 – Wendy Amazing and the Girl’s School for Mad Science – Fall 2013

Stand-alone novel for ages 10 to 12

Half way done writing. My goal is to finish this and have it out this fall.



Goal #5 – Songs – Winter 2013 / 2014

Sequel to Tears and the end of that series

Okay, I’m dreading this one, but I need to finish the story I started. I want it to be perfect—world building, characters, everything—and my self-doubt whispers to me that I can’t do it.



Goal #6 – Get started on my 2014 projects

I’ve got so many plans, and after I release the five books I’m working on, I’ve got to move onto the next books in my plans:

(1) Heart of Fear, sequel to Dare to Sing,

(2) Symbiote (a stand-alone I’ve been working on for 2 or 3 years now)

(3) the nameless sequel to Tsol & the Lizard Man

(4) the novella sequel to Playing Hooky



Goal #7 – Lose 10 pounds by May 15th.

Okay, I’ve been working on this for years now. But I think I finally found the secret ingredient: SLEEP. I’ve been burning the candle at both ends since I started writing five years ago. I stay up late to write, get up early for work, and drink loads of coffee or Mountain Dew to get through the day.



Can I really do it all?!?!?
So all these writing projects, and I’m cutting out my normal writing time. My evenings are often taken up with dance classes, and I work all day. And the weekend is for the family.



Somehow I have to squeeze time out of nowhere. I need Hermione’s Time Turner.



The good news is that many of my projects for 2013 are mostly done. And I work best when I have several projects to move back and forth between. When I get bored of one (or stuck), I switch, and when I come back to the one I was bored with, I find I have a fresh perspective.



And most of my projects are shared with others. I usually either write with my husband or my dearest friend Wendy Swore. So although I’ve got big goals and plans, I have friends who carry the burden with me.



And I have some things I'm cutting from my schedule: 
READING. I read over 100 books last year, and it really cut into my writing time. *sniff* But I'm sure going to miss all those good books. Of course, I'll still read, but I'm hoping to keep it down to 50 books this year.

COMPUTER GAMES. Well, I'm not really going to miss that at all.

MARKETING. Of course, I still need to market, but my efforts will be vastly different. And I will schedule my time more carefully.


What about you? What are your goals?