Goodbye 2015, and Hello 2016!

Wow. What a year 2015 has been. I laid out a plan for myself back in April, and I think things are coming along rather nicely. Of course, I'm not even halfway through the Baker's Dozen Experiment, and completing that will be my main goal for 2016.

So far, I've published 3 items, a total of 5 short stories in those publications. I've also posted 21 chapters of Chains of Nect to Wattpad and my blog. Here's hoping I can keep the momentum going through the next year.

Of course, I had to sit down and reassess some things. The Baker's Dozen Experiment will continue, however, I've decided to pause my progress and posts on Chains of Nect. I have other projects that I feel need to be moved to the forefront, especially since my reception on Wattpad hasn't been strong. This doesn't mean I'm not willing to change my mind, if enough people request for me to continue Chains of Nect. Feel free to post here or use my contact form to request I continue it sooner rather than later. If enough people ask for it, I'll definitely shift things around!

I will have one final chapter of Chains of Nect that will be posted to Wattpad on January 1, and subsequently posted to my blog on January 6.

Aside from that change, here are some highlights of my goals for 2016:

❧ Publish 9 more short stories for the Baker's Dozen Experiment
❧ Publish my novel Mind Behind the Mind to finish off the Baker's Dozen Experiment
❧ Complete a revision of Dead As Dreams
❧ Write a Fractured Fairies Christmas story for next December
❧ Start writing Thorns Entwine the Blade, the sequel to Mind Behind the Mind
❧ Draft 2-3 other short stories
❧ Find some beta readers for the Mind sequels (if you're interested please contact me for more info - you do not need to be a writer to be a beta reader!)
❧ Blog once per week - stay tuned for The Adventures of Karriya the Wizard!
❧ Continue critiquing, participate more in Broad Universe and on Kboards
❧ Read, read, and read - I'd be happy to take any recommendations

So, here's hoping 2016 is as productive as 2015. May the toddler be an angel, the eldest child not whine, and the kittens become fat, lazy non-tree climbing cats. Oh, and the house self-clean itself. Too much to ask for? Nah, I don't think so (as I listen to the toddler freaking out at her older sister).

Also, if you're a writer who would like some camaraderie while working toward monthly goals, please join us in the Writing Quest group on Facebook. I'm now running it as a group instead of separate monthly events, and anyone is welcome to join!

I hope everyone has a happy start to 2016. What are your hopes and dreams for the year to come?

Rolling Into 2015

Oh, here it comes...my annual goals post! It wouldn't be a new year without one. ;)

Looking back at 2014 briefly, I'm at least happy to see that I've made progress. I'm through Ch. 24 on my first revision of Dead As Dreams. Nice progress for someone chasing around a 1-year-old all day, dealing with the needs of a 6-year-old, attempting to give attention to a husband, and making sure the house doesn't fall down around all of us (I'm not sure how successful I've been on that last one - something always suffers - ha). Along with revisions, I wrote a few chapters on a new novel, got back into the swing of critiquing, and re-did my website. Go, me!

I'm hoping I can keep up the momentum for 2015. And yes, I do have my 2015 One-Year Plan drawn up. Here are the highlights:

❧ 5-10 Writing Related Hours Per Week (this is a lot while tending to that aforementioned 1-year-old, honest - more hours per week as she gets older)
❧ Read 3 Hours Per Week
❧ Complete 1st Revision of Dead As Dreams by July 31, 2015
❧ Complete through Ch. 27 2nd Revision of Dead As Dreams by December 31, 2015
❧ Synopsis of Dead As Dreams
❧ 10,000 to 20,000 Words Added to Another Novel
❧ Edit and Revise Current Completed Short Stories
❧ Complete 3-4 Short Story Rough Drafts
❧ Keep Short Stories in Slush Piles
❧ Indie Pub 2-3 Short Stories by Year's End
❧ Add 1 Part to 1 Ongoing Story on Wattpad Per Month
❧ Keep Critiquing
❧ Blog Once Per Week

Not too crazy of a list, I hope. I've mostly been hitting my monthly goals lately, so I'm confident I can manage most of the above. I'll try to do a rejections gathered tally when I do occasional updates here - I want to see how high I can get!

I'll of course still be running Writing Quest. January is already up! Come join us if you have some writing goals of your own.

What are your hopes and dreams for 2015?

NEXT UP: Lavender Legacy - Ch. 4

Finding Time to Write!

Recently, I've picked up the book Time to Write: Professional writers reveal how to fit writing into your busy life. Heck, finding time to read the tips is a hard enough feat!

But the truth is, for all of us that have that drive to write, time is always a factor. So many things want to interrupt writing time, seem more important than that writing time. Before you know it, a year has come and gone with little to no writing because you let everything else get in the way.

If you're Born to Write, you'll find the time, even if you do have productive periods and unproductive periods like I do. That drive, that need, that yearning will overcome you, and you'll jump off that writing cliff. The thing is, we all need to strive for more consistency. We need to stick to it if we intend to produce words on a regular basis. Get in a schedule, a pattern, and learn what is the best environment and time to write. We have to make writing a habit. This is something I've yet to succeed at, but I'm still trying.

Time to stop making excuses and make time to write! It's easy enough to say, not so easy to do. So when you scrub out those excuses and get in the good habit, make sure you're proud of yourself for doing just that - it's a lot of hard work. Writing isn't easy, nor is making the time to do it.

There are several links below with many tips on finding time to write. Bookmark them if you don't have time to look at them now. One small bit of advice just might be exactly what you need to get your writing gears turning and your fingers flying.

So, when do you make time to write? What are your usual roadblocks, and what do you think you can do to overcome them?


Finding Time to Write: Making Writing a Priority
Five Tips for Finding Writing Time
Finding Time to Write When You Have No Time to Write!
Why There'll Never Be a Perfect Time to Write
Make Time to Write: How to Find Time to Write


UP NEXT: Classic Fantasy

Big Hairy Audaciuos Goals

I apologize for the delay of this post. It seems planning and preparing for my daughter's third birthday derailed everything else I needed to get done! Anyway, I hope you'll forgive me. On with the topic!

Big Hairy Audacious Goals. We talked about this a couple months ago in one of my Writing Popular Fiction class chats.

Sometimes, it's hard to find the time and drive to write, and we need to trick ourselves into pushing on, continuing with our writing goals. This is where the Big Hairy Audacious Goal (BHAG) comes in.

What you do is think of your one big dream when it comes to writing. No, don't just think, "I want to be published", or "I want people to buy my book". Think bigger and more specific. Pick a dream that may be far out of reach, even one that you may only be able to admit to yourself (we all have those things we'd be too embarrassed to admit to other people). Something like: "I want to have a book on the New York Times Bestseller List!"

Then imagine it comes true. Don't tell me that's too hard, either. I mean, we're writers, we imagine things everyday, writing those imaginings down in long (or short) stories. Close your eyes and really see your BHAG coming true.

The power of positive thinking a bit difficult to accept and wrap your head around? For some it is, and I struggle with it as well. It can be hard to think positively when there are so many hurdles to jump over when it comes to starting a writing career.

If you have a hard time with the BHAG, try taking things one small step at a time. What do you need to accomplish this week, today, or even this hour? Break things down, make a small list if you have to, then start working your way down that list. Maybe after some time, the BHAG won't be as daunting.

What's my BHAG? My ultimate one is really hard to admit to myself, let alone others. OK, OK - since you are all such loyal readers, I'll reveal a bit of my soul. My BHAG is to be able to show the people throughout my life that have told me I couldn't do it, that didn't think my writing (or the SF/F/H genre in general) is worth anything, that I can do it. I want to have the proof in my hands (and maybe, just maybe rub it in their faces a tiny bit *blushes*).

Enough about me. What's your Big Hairy Audacious Goal?

Note: Much of what I talked about in this post was mentioned in a discussion led by Lee McClain.


NEXT UP: A look at The Eyre Affair.

Born to Write

After years of not doing so, I have finally changed my scrolling marquee. Born to Write. That's my new shtick, and the marquee may remain unchanged again for many years ahead.

Why "Born to Write"?

I was clearing out some old e-mails in my inbox last week, and I came across a couple I had saved from back in 2002 and 2003. There was a reason I saved these e-mails--to remind myself that no matter what, there are other people who believe in me. These e-mails were from my undergraduate advisor (truly more than that, as he allowed me to get away with writing fantasy for assignments in his classes) and in response to applications I had sent out to creative writing graduate programs. I was in quite a miserable state after a couple of rejections.

Well, one sentence in those e-mails struck me again as I read it. He told me: "We both know you were born to write."

It's hard for me to put into words how much I appreciated his support and how his words still touch me. He's right, though--I was born to write.

That sentence was followed by, "Just follow the path best you can through this forest." And that path led me to the Writing Popular Fiction program at SHU, all those years ago (and yes, now I'm back in the program to snag that F). I'm still on that path too. Once in a while the trees close in and I wonder if they'll swallow up the trail, but they don't, and I keep moving.

What does this all mean? That I was Born to Write, of course! So, I'm continuing to slog ahead and push forward. It doesn't matter if I ever get a novel published because that's not going to stop me from writing. I'm going to write until my body grows cold and then is nothing but ashes on the wind.

And I hope, one day, I can touch another writer as I've been touched, to tell someone else that they were Born to Write.