2015 Goal Update

I know I am early with my quarterly review, but with my upcoming surgery at the end of the month I have no idea how I will be feeling later. This quick review will also help keep me on track while I am stuck at home recovering. 

Daily Bible verse reading.

I have failed at this one miserably. Balancing real estate, editing, and family life is proving to be quite a challenge. I plan to take my Bible with me to the hospital and I plan to get on track with this goal while recovering.

Complete editing projects.

One is pretty much done. The second is taking much longer than I planned. I really hope I complete it before going in for surgery.

Complete Amelia's Mission by May 31st.

I finished the last chapter and got it over to my critique group. I'm currently at 20,113 words of my planned 35,000. Amelia just made it to Elms Academy. It doesn't look like it will go well for her.

Reconsider blogging duties.

I still haven't decided what to do about this yet. I currently run the following blogs:

The Book Connection
The Children's and Teens' Book Connection
The Busy Mom's Daily
Cheryl's Christian Book Connection
Books Can Be Deadly
Little Shepherd

I also contribute to the Christian Children's Authors blog twice a month. It is too much to continue now that I am working outside the house. I will probably make a decision soon.

That's it for now. How are you doing with your goals?

Goals for 2015

It's that time of year again! Is is crazy that I look so forward to setting goals for the upcoming year? Even though I often fall short, I'm happy to keep checking my progress throughout the year.

My previous update for 2014 was in October. Here's where I stand to close out the year:

Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m.

I stuck with this goal for a while, but as soon as I started working it fell by the wayside. Though I've read several times since my last posting in October, I'm not reading daily.

Reduce blogging/reviewing duties.

This was an easy goal because I am out of the house so  much I don't get a chance to read as much as I once did.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th.

I'm disappointed that I couldn't meet this goal, but I have plans for 2015 (see below).

Research one new publisher/agent a month. I want to submit more often.

I didn't follow through with this one enough, but I am slowly checking out names and places.

Complete editing projects.

This was an addition in the latter half of 2014 once I received word from these clients they were proceeding. I am currently working on these two projects, but they will overlap into the new year.

2015 Goals

Since I already know that the main focus for 2015 will be on expanding my real estate business, my other goals are very trim. If I find I have more time, they can be expanded.

Daily Bible verse reading.

As long as I read one verse a day, I'll be happy.

Complete editing projects.

Two projects came in at the same time: one moderate and the other substantial. I plan to be done with them by the end of January--God willing.

Complete Amelia's Mission by May 31st.

I have surgery coming up in February, so I'm thinking I might be able to use some down time to complete this story. I'm 15 chapters in, so I really feel that's doable.

Reconsider blogging duties. 

I started two new blogs in 2014 that I would like to post to at least twice a week. I also plan to keep The Book Connection and The Children's and Teen's Book Connection going. I'm considering getting rid of The Busy Mom's Daily or making it strictly posts to its Facebook page.

As far as real estate goes, I've set a monetary goal and I have a business planning meeting all set for next week with my manager. I would like to hire a part-time marketing assistant to help me get my name out there. I've got two listings now--one that will close in January--and another listing on the horizon. I'm also working with some buyers, renters, and landlords, so I know I want to focus on the meeting and greeting end of the business. A marketing assistant will free up more time for me to concentrate on that goal.

Hope you had a wonderful 2014. Feel free to share some of your accomplishments and challenges. Are you setting goals for 2015?

Happy New Year! Blessings of peace, joy, and happiness.

Writing World Update

My last writing update was in August, so I am overdue. I've pretty much stuck to the goals I began with in January, but I removed one of them because I knew it wouldn't happen. Here is where I stand now.


Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m.

I originally set this task for the morning because I knew once I got into my day it would never happen. Since I am now doing my best to get to the office by 9 am, this time frame no longer works. I've tried switching it to just before bedtime, but I'm tired and fall asleep without reading anything. I was able to get some reading in this past week, so hopefully that continues.

Reduce blogging/reviewing duties.

I haven't taken on many new books to review this year, but I have taken a few through December. I pretty much figure that by January I will be concentrating solely on my TBR pile and not take any new reviews until I catch up; especially since spring is a busy time for real estate and I plan to focus on that.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th.

As we all know, this didn't happen. I'm 13 chapters in and meeting with my writing group once or twice a month to see on what I need to change. October's meeting found that perhaps Amelia and the butler are too friendly, so I want to edit that section soon. After that, I hope to keep plugging away through the winter a little at a time.

Research one new publisher/agent a month. I want to submit more often.

I've been using my 2015 Guide to Literary Agents to help with my search. I haven't submitted yet, but I am farther along than I was in the process. I want to be ready once Amelia's Mission is in good shape.

Complete editing projects.

This is a new addition. Two editing projects came my way unexpectedly. I'm thrilled. Not sure on the time frame for both yet, but once I know I'll update my goal.

That's it right now. I am looking forward to the end of the year. The Lil' Princess is turning 11 in a couple of weeks, and soon Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here.

Writing World Update

Time for another writing world update. I already announced this week that my fourth book was accepted by Guardian Angel Publishing; but as you know, I set a series of goals for 2014--some writing related, others more personal. I'm only going to focus on the writing ones this time around. I'll write up a full goal update at the end of the quarter.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th.

This didn't happen. It's nowhere close to done. That said, I have spent any free time performing research for Amelia's Mission. The books are due back to the library by the end of next week, so I need to finish off this part of the job. I opened the manuscript file yesterday to read over the last chapter and make a few edits. The first two chapters were already sent off to my critique group for review, but I'll hold off on any major changes until the first draft is complete.

Research one new publisher/agent a month.

This didn't happen in January or February, but this month I've already researched two agencies and I've requested three middle grade historical novels from the library for market research.

Write one short story for submission each quarter.

I knew this was a lofty goal going in. I haven't written anything yet, but I'm tossing around ideas and wondering if I can still meet this goal. One idea is to write short stories based upon the character of Amelia Ridgemont, my main character from Amelia's Mission. While I think this would be an excellent way to build a fan base for these characters before a full-length novel comes out, I'm afraid of boxing myself into a story line and impacting the novel.

One other thing I did this month is read a book on self-publishing. I'm not certain what the future holds for me and my writing, but self-publishing is something I consider on occasion.

So, while I haven't achieved everything I would have liked to, I still feel I'm focused on the right things. I'll keep praying for guidance and do my best to keep my heart open to God's plans.

Writing World Update

I felt it important to write a brief writing update based upon the goals I set for 2014. Here they are again:


Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m. 

Am I reading every day? No, but much more than I was before; usually four or five days a week I read a chapter. I like posting about it here, too. Not only does it keep me honest, it makes me feel like blogging here more often, which helps me to focus on my intention to spend more time promoting myself this year.

Reduce blogging/reviewing duties.

So far so good. the traffic at my other blogs hasn't suffered much. I'm still blogging a few days a week on most of them. If I end up having to close some of the smaller blogs down, then so be it.

Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical, Amelia's Mission, by February 28th. 

This has always been an ambitious goal; made more so by the fact that I spent the past two weekends in classes training to get my real estate license. I still have major studying to do before I take the test, but at least the class time is out of the way.

I decided to go back to the start of Amelia's Mission and really go through it so I could continue. After some cutting and editing, I added 746 more words to it. Right now, I'm on Chapter Six. I also bought two books for research purposes, which I know I'll use again. Plus I borrowed two other books out of the library. These last two should help me accurately depict Amelia's time at the female seminary her aunt is sending her to starting in a future chapter. I'm excited!

Research one new publisher/agent a month.

Between getting the kids back to school, snow days, early release days, and working on book tours, this suffered in January. I'm still hoping tomorrow or Friday I can check this one off January's to-do list.

Write one short story for submission each quarter. 

Because my focus has been on Amelia's Mission, I haven't thought about this one yet. Realistically, I'll have to come up with an idea or work on something I already have in mind by mid-February to meet my goal. We'll see what happens.

Goals for 2014

Goal setting is so important for writers. I've written numerous articles about the advantages of setting S.M.A.R.T. goals, productivity, and organization for writers.

Toward the end of 2013, I realized I allowed my schedule to get away from me. I overloaded my days all year with tasks that stole my writing time and left me feeling harried. That's when I began to consider ideas that would create a greater sense of peace and accomplishment for 2014. Here are the changes I am making for the new year and the goals I have set so far.

• Daily Bible reading between 8 and 8:30 a.m. I wanted to add daily Bible reading to my schedule this year, but I didn't stick to it. I now realize, if I don't do it first thing in the morning, it won't happen. Once I am on the computer and working, time slips away. Bible reading before I go to my office makes more sense.
• Reduce blogging/reviewing duties. Up until the last quarter of 2011, my blogging and reviewing schedule was manageable. Then I forgot how to say no to people. I took on too many requests. More virtual book tour companies contacted me and I started hosting more authors. That's why this blog--my personal blog--got neglected. That's why I stopped writing new books in June. That's why I planned to participate in Picture Book Idea Month this November and didn't even manage one idea. I simply had too much on my plate. So, I've announced at my main blog that I'm reducing the number of virtual book tours I participate in for 2014 and I'm focusing on my TBR pile instead of taking on new requests. Another advantage to this is I'll have more time to promote my own writing.
• Complete the first draft of my middle grade historical Amelia's Mission by February 28th. This might be ambitious. It needs a lot of work and I haven't looked at it in a while. I'm about 14 chapters in, so I don't think this goal is unrealistic, but I'm also trying to find a part-time job. 
• Research one new publisher/agent a month. I want to submit more often. I've started this off right by sending off a query to my current publisher tonight. I have several picture books already written and a few of them are ready to go. I simply need to find appropriate houses for them or agent representation. 
• Write one short story for submission each quarter. Again, this is ambitious. I'm not really fond of short stories, but they will make me a better writer overall, and they could help me increase my writing income if I follow through on submitting more often. 

If you would like to check out my articles on goal setting, productivity, and organization, you can visit the Time and Stress Management section of Writer2Writer at http://time-management.writer2writer.com/.