Keeping New Year's Resolutions

Every New Year's day I try to make a few promises to myself with respect to what I'm going to accomplish in the new year. Sometimes I'm able to keep these promises and sometimes I'm not, but like most people my intentions are good.

This year I've sworn to get some of my incomplete manuscripts finished and ready for editing. Where I send these new works for publication is still up in the air. I might try sending them to one of my existing publishers or I might self-publish them. But I have to get them finished first.

Another thing I need to do is organize my office. It is cluttered and I'm not using the storage as well as I should. Once the room is straightened out I might even be able to include in the room a futon bed so we have an extra bedroom for visitors. This will be a big job, but one I should be able to tackle over the course of the year.

The last thing on my list of resolutions is to take better care of myself. I get to the gym a couple times a week, try to keep my weight under control, and make sure to get the medical check-ups I need. But more than that I need to take care of the inner me, my mental health. I should get more sleep and watch what I eat or drink in the evening so that I sleep soundly. I also need to stay focused on the joy of living and not let the minor and not-so-minor aggravations of life get me down.

There are probably more things I could add to this list but these items are a good start. What sorts of resolutions do you have for this upcoming year? Use the comments to let us know.

Cheers,

Janet Miller / Cricket Starr

www.janetmillerromance.com

Looking Forward

Happy New Year!

Sometimes, I wish I had a crystal ball. What will the future bring?

Many of us craft New Year's resolutions. I set goals that I hope are achievable. For 2014 my writing plan is to release three books. That could be tough. I write slow. Still, it's my goal.

The first to release will be Sea Panther (A Crimson Storm Novel). A 2013 Golden Heart® paranormal finalist. Later in the year, the third and fourth books from the Highland Gardens series will release. I'm really excited about all three books.

Another goal is to blog more often. I've started posting photos of garden gates for fun. I love garden gates. They inspired the writing of the Highland Gardens series. Stop by my blog on Wednesdays for garden gate photos and other tidbits from the garden. Sundays are for Sneak Peeks. And stop by on Fridays for more Folklore Friday posts. http://dawnmariehamilton.blogspot.com/

What about reading goals? Stop by my blog this week (January 5th - 12th) for the New Year's Reading Resolutions Blog Hop where I join other authors with our top picks from 2013 and our reading resolutions for 2014. I should mention there are prizes.

I'm looking forward to a great year. What are your resolutions/goals?

~Dawn Marie


note: Blogger is misbehaving and won't let me load the photos that go along with this post.

2012 and you

Whether you call them resolutions or goals doesn't matter. It is still what you want to accomplish in the new year. At the end of 2012, assuming the Mayans were wrong and we are still here, what do you want to have achieved?

I started out with a goal of wanting four books published in 2012. One (fingers crossed) to The Wild Rose Press, two more self-published to finish the trilogy of Second Chances, and my zombie romance. But when I looked at the calendar I realized with how much I have finished on each of those stories I was probably only looking at April or May.

Last time I looked, a year had more months then that. LOL So I reset my goals to six books in 2012. For me, that is an ambitious task, but I'm determined that 2012 is the year I take writing seriously and devote hours a day, each day, to the job.

I have other goals, not writing-related that I want to see through in the new year. I want to read more and different genres and to leave reviews for every book I read.

I want to exercise more and get healthy to see many more books published by myself and my friends. I want to eat better and make my husband eat better too. (this may be impossible goal. LOL)

I want to write more letters and send them to our military family members. Mail from home is a gift they love.

I want to be stronger in my convictions and state what I feel without second and third guessing myself with if it is too opinionated.

At the end of 2012, what do you want to look back on and see as your accomplishments?

Jill James
Tempting Adam, now available
Divorce, Interrupted, now available
Someone To Trust, available soon

Looking Forward - Looking Back

December 1st. The time of year to wonder how the year flew by so swiftly, to get ready for the mad dash of the holidays, and to make resolutions for the new year.

I have a friend who is not much for New Year's Resolutions and I'm tending to agree as I notice I start with such great intentions, and then about February 1st they fall by the wayside.

It is much more fun to look back over the year and take stock of the great events, family additions, and accomplishments of the year. What happened to you and your family this year? Even tragedy has a way of bringing families together. Did you add babies or sons or daughters-in-law to your family dynamics? What goals did you set for yourself this year? Did you meet them, or just come close? Did you do Nanowrimo? Did you win? Did you say your would finish a manuscript this year? Or send to XX amount of agents and editors? Or go to one or two conferences? Or maybe, try to shed your shy writer persona?

I decided this would be the year to put myself out there. I would send out queries. I would accept invitations to group blogs, to guest blog, to help out on blogs. I would get my name out there. Maybe it is just coincidence or maybe karma, but this is the year I became a published writer. And that wasn't even the goal for the year. LOL

Take a moment, look back over the year before you march forward into the next.

Jill James
www.jilljameswrites.com