Howdy, howdy! Happy Valentine’s day! Or Singles Awareness day, or VD day, or Chocolate Appreciation day, or Wednesday, or whatever. Since it’s a special, lovey-dovey day and I’m sitting over here all single, I thought I would take a moment to treat myself. I know I’ve said it before, but self-care really is important. And I’ve kind of been neglecting myself lately. Sure, I’ve been playing my mindless games, but Sunday was the first time I’ve watched anime in at least a month, probably closer to two. I can’t even remember the last time I read manga. Honestly, I’ve just been a bit blah towards everything lately. I need to change that.
Sounds like a good plan to me.
So, after I write my words, I think I’m going to take the day off from my usual routine. I won’t worry about reading the things I’m supposed to be reading. I might even put writing on the novel to the side and write a random flash fiction piece or something. Instead of worrying about my goals, I’ll write whatever I feel like writing. But I’m coming up to a good part on the novel, so it’ll probably be that (I’m boring, I know). Then, who knows where the day will take me.
I might rewatch some Ouran High School Host Club. That’s about as close to romantic as I get, and it’s mostly because I adore the twins. There’s also Yuri on Ice. I could probably rewatch all of those episodes if I don’t procrastinate on my writing. Maybe I’ll just find something completely new to binge watch. On the other hand, I still haven’t finished rewatching Cardcaptor Sakura, which means I haven’t had a chance to watch the new episodes either. I was super excited when I first heard about the new episodes, but I even got blah over that. Shame on me.
I totally squee-ed a little the first time I saw this, so I’m not too far down the blah road.
Then again, I might not watch any anime. I might decide to read some manga instead. I’m so far behind on it all that no matter what I choose to read, I’ll have to start over again. I could always just stick with some old favorites. It has been a few years since I reread Angel Sanctuary. That’s always super fun. There are a couple of other titles I’ve been thinking about recently too, so I might try them again. Who knows?
The point is, I’m actually starting to miss some of the things that used to entertain me. What better day to get back to some old loves than Valentine’s day? What are your plans for the day? I know it’s a Wednesday, so many of you are probably working, but do you have any tiny (or huge) plans to pamper yourself or your loved one(s)? Feel free to comment here or on my social media pages. Even if you don’t like the holiday, I hope you have a wonderful day full of all kinds of good things!
Howdy, howdy! Welcome to February. Today, I want to share my goals for the month, but I also want to talk about allergies. Down here in Texas, the trees are getting ready for spring by spewing pollen everywhere. Depending on which way the wind’s blowing and which trees are shaking off their dust, this can create a miserable environment for people with allergies. People like me. Which, in turn, makes completing goals hard. So, along with my goals, I’ll talk about how I work them around the worst of my allergy days.
Pretty picture.
So, here are my goals:
1. Finish DS1’s shitty first draft. Writing in general is super hard when your head feels like it’s going to explode and your mucus can’t decide if it wants to hole up in your sinuses or pour all over your face (spoiler: it decides to do both). Sure, you can take a bunch of allergy meds and hope they don’t knock you out before you get your words done, but we both know that won’t work. Instead, I try to make sure I work as much as possible on the days I feel okay, so that I don’t feel too guilty for slacking on the days I feel like crap. That’s really all we can do to get the writing goals done during allergy season.
2. Submit stuff 8 times (2 every Monday). This is the kind of thing I do regardless of whether allergies are kicking my ass or not. My cover letter is already written and my manuscript is properly formatted. All I have to do is double check submission guidelines, make any formatting tweaks, and send stuff out. It doesn’t take much energy or time, so if I’m feeling really bad, I can put it off until the initial medication drowsiness has faded.
Just add some snot and drool and it’s close enough.
3. Write 1 flash piece OR short story. For those days you feel good enough to write but don’t have the brain function to focus on your novel. I don’t know about the rest of you, but sometimes I just need something quick to distract me from all the plot lines I have to keep straight in the novels. Especially when my brain already feels fuzzy from allergies.
4. Read 2 books. I tend to save reading for the days when I just can’t bring myself to write, but feel like I should be doing something productive. If it gets too hard to focus, I can always switch to Netflix.
5. Make time for people/leaving the house. I’m always bad at this whether allergies are involved or not. But I do have a tendency to say yes to leaving the house (running errands with Dad) when I don’t feel up to writing. It makes me feel productive in a different way and I don’t have to worry about the allergies making my words come out weird.
It really is.
Those are my goals for February. I figure it’s easier to stick to a few just in case my allergies get evil. What are some of your goals this month? How do you work around your allergies? Or do you prefer to push through them?
Howdy, howdy! It’s the last Wednesday in January, which means it’s time for another book review. This time, I decided to go for something I wouldn’t usually pick up. It’s called The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, and was released on January 9th. It received a lot of hype and a friend recommended it to me as she had also been able to pick up an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC). Yes, I got another ARC from NetGalley, so I must thank them and St. Martin’sPress for allowing me access to the book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Let’s get to the reason you’re here now!
The Wife Between Us is a domestic suspense novel that follows a woman, Vanessa, as she stalks her ex-husband’s (Richard’s) new fiancé and tries to prevent their marriage. Sounds simple enough, right? It’s not. The blurb on the book tells us all the things we’re supposed to assume as we’re reading, then tells us to assume nothing. That was a huge red flag for me, basically saying “hey this book is going to be convoluted and annoying!” But I chose to read it anyway.
I admit that by the end of Part One, I was really disappointed. I had figured out the big reveal within the first few chapters and kept telling myself I couldn’t have guessed it that easily. The book promised twists and turns and unimaginable things. So, when I turned out to be on the right track, the book became less fun, because the “aha” moments became “yeah, and?” moments. Part Two was a little better with the twists, but it was still pretty easy to decipher what was going to happen. Though, I admit that the last big reveal was something I didn’t see coming. But at that point, I had stopped caring about the characters I was supposed to care about. I mostly wanted to know what was going on with Richard and his sister (the one connection the authors didn’t over-explain). That was the creepiest relationship in the whole book.
Pretty sure that was the face I was making the whole time.
Even though I mostly figured things out ahead of time, I admit that it was a fun, quick read. The writing style was able to draw me in and the conversational tone allowed me to stop and let the narrator know she was being an idiot (yes, I talk to other people’s characters too) without interrupting my reading flow. So, I’m not say it was bad, just predictable.
The major thing that I didn’t care for about the book was that it felt like two different stories mashed together. It was as if one author wanted to write about a woman escaping an abusive relationship while trying to prevent her ex from abusing anyone else (a good premise), and the other author wanted to write about a woman whose mistakes in college haunted her the rest of her life (another good premise). But, instead of trimming things away to make a nice, cohesive story, they just stuck everything together and hoped it worked. Most of the time, it was okay, but there were parts that I kept looking at and asking myself what the point was.
Not an uncommon reaction while reading this.
Ultimately, The Wife Between Us was an okay book. I’m not upset I read it or anything, but I’m not going to rush out and look for everything else by these two authors. It simply wasn’t my cup of tea for the reasons listed here.
Overall, I’d rate it a 3 out of 5. If you’re into books like that, you will probably love it. If you’re not, skipping it isn’t going to hurt your reading list.
Hello, hello! On Monday, Dad surprised me with a trip out to Irving to see the Moody Blues. They’re a band that Dad and I both enjoy. I was raised on them. They played a lot of songs I knew and a few I didn’t. Of course, Dad sang along to all of them. We both had a lot of fun, though Dad couldn’t figure out how all the other fans had gotten so old while he stayed young. But I wanted to talk about the venue, the Toyota Music Factory, and our experience there.
Still love their music!
According to their FAQ section, “Toyota Music Factory is an experience – with 25 restaurants and entertainment concepts, an Alamo Drafthouse Theater, and the Pavilion – an 8,000 capacity indoor/outdoor, state-of-the-art concert venue, Toyota Music Factory is the new soul of the DFW Metroplex. From power lunches to happy hours, date nights to show time, it’s sure to satisfy any taste in food, music, movies, and more.” But is it really?
Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a fabulous concept. Being able to arrive a couple of hours early and stop for dinner at one of the on-site restaurants is great, especially for people who don’t know the area well (like us). And since it’s not even a year old (it officially opened in September of 2017), minor problems are to be expected. Case in point, the security people on parking duty had absolutely no clue about handicap parking. Even the valet people seemed confused, but there was one cripple spot left up front, so they told us to go ahead and park there instead of in one of the garages. And that was once we were there. The signage to get to the place was absolutely horrible. But I don’t know if that’s a venue issue or a city of Irving issue.
Borrowed from TMF’s website.
The Pavilion (the music venue itself) was a nice place, but I wouldn’t call it state-of-the-art by any means. It was stark, all concrete and wood. It actually reminded me of some of the small venues I’ve been to, only ten times the size. There wasn’t an actual elevator. Instead, they have a “lift,” which is a base with a wall on either side, but the front and back are exposed to the concrete/doors of the shaft. So, while it’s moving, you better keep yourself away from the front and back. Then there was the seating. Handicap seating was fairly close (second section) with a barrier that didn’t obstruct the view. We were in the center. There was also some handicap seating up in the third section. But even though the floor seating was the same as the companion seats in the cripple sections, easily removed folding chairs (seemed kind of chintzy for “state-of-the-art”), there weren’t any handicap tickets available down there. It wasn’t a bad venue by any means, but it certainly wasn’t what they advertise it to be.
The lift was something like this, encased in concrete.
Overall, it’s a venue I wouldn’t mind going back to if a band worth seeing comes through. All of the staff were friendly and helpful, which goes a long way to balancing out the not-so-good aspects of the place. However, it’s definitely not going to be the “new soul” of DFW unless they make some significant improvements. Plus, it’s all the way over in Irving, so the bands will have to be really good to make me go back.
Hello, hello! The past few weeks, I’ve been really diligent about submitting to at least two magazines or anthologies each Monday. This means that I’ve been going through Duotrope, Ralan’ssite, and random calls for submissions. In my searches, I came across a really neat anthology that I will likely submit to if I can come up with a story that falls in the realm of Sci-Fi, but something about their call rubs me the wrong way. They’re looking for people who “identify as disabled.” I had to read their call three times before I realized it was that exact phrase that made me twitch every time. Something about it just irks me.
If I could tilt my head, this would’ve been my reaction.
The anthology is being put together by people with disabilities and will be comprised of stories/essays/poems/etc. by people with disabilities, so I want to be clear that I think it’s a wonderful thing and I look forward to reading it. The thing that makes me pause and overthink everything is the concept of choosing whether or not to identify as disabled. It’s something I never really thought about before, because my crippleness is so apparent that not having it as part of my identity was never an option. In my experience, people are either disabled or they aren’t. They don’t really get a choice.
Sure, some disabilities are less severe than others. Some are even invisible. But a disability is a disability regardless of whether outsiders can tell it’s there or not. If you’re disabled in a way that isn’t apparent to others and you choose to keep it to yourself, that’s your prerogative, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re disabled. If you don’t have a physical or mental deficit/difference, even if you want one (which apparently is a thing, though I have no idea why anyone would want to be disabled), then you aren’t disabled. You could become disabled in the future, but you aren’t right now. Disabilities don’t care how you identify. They either happen to you or they don’t.
From Ctrl+Alt+Del. I still laugh when I come across this one.
I suppose my biggest issue with the idea of choosing whether or not to identify as disabled is that it implies disability is some kind of social construct that people can opt into or out of whenever they want. It’s not. Disabilities are diseases and abnormalities that people have to deal with every single day. It’s not a choice. It’s not politics. It’s the hand life decided to deal us.
But I also know there are a lot of people who struggle with the idea of whether or not they’re “disabled enough” to claim the title. That’s why the anthology uses the concept of identity in its call. They want to include as many people as possible and they want people with disabilities to know that they aren’t judging what counts as a disability. They want people to feel welcome to submit no matter the type of disability or severity. In my head, I know and understand this. I even think it’s a diplomatic way to handle a tough situation. It’s just something that made me stop and think.
I do this far too often.
I’m going to stop rambling now. Feel free to leave your thoughts or comments here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! Today, we have a guest blogger (kind of… technically, I wrote it, but I did so from someone else’s point of view at their request). Normally, I wouldn’t post something so far outside of the realm of writing or crippleness, but it’s for my dad, Gary. Say hi to Dad! Anyway, he enlisted me to write a review of the heart monitor and exercise app he recently started using. So, here are his issues, written out by me.
Dad and I at a Christmas party a couple of years ago.
The Polar H10 and Polar Beat App
The Polar H10 heart rate monitor paired with the Polar Beat training app is a fabulous combination if you’re a technophile and exercising/training is a major part of your life, but what about everyone else? What about the people who just want to track their exercise because their doctor said to lose a few pounds and to work some cardio into their schedules? What about the people who aren’t techno-savvy and just want to jump on the treadmill without having to mess with an app on their phone both before AND after a workout, but still want to track their progress? Honestly, the Polar H10 and Beat App aren’t designed with everyday people in mind, so if you’re not interested in becoming a hardcore workout enthusiast, save your money. They aren’t worth the $100.
One of the features of the H10 that Polar touts on its website is the ability to connect to gym equipment (treadmills, ellipticals, etc.) via bluetooth. As someone who admittedly doesn’t know much about computers and data transfer, I mistakenly believed that this meant the heart monitor and my treadmill would share information in order to provide me with the best exercise summation possible. Unfortunately, after my first workout, I noticed that the Beat App didn’t track my distance or my pace (both things that my treadmill tracks). I learned from Polar’s customer service that the H10 doesn’t sync data from the treadmill to the Beat App and the app can’t track distance and pace without the phone’s GPS (which is useless for indoor exercise). In other words, the H10 gave me the same information my H1 gave me. It was an extremely disappointing revelation.
At first, I thought maybe I had just pulled my own ideas of what the H10 should do out of thin air. But then I reviewed Polar’s advertisements for the H10 and Beat App. While they don’t technically say they can track distance and speed, the advertisements do imply that they can. On the website, there’s a picture of the open app nestled behind the H10 strap. The app is set to “running” and the one visible completed exercise routine lists duration and, underneath that, kilometers traveled. Granted, the completed exercise is “mountain biking,” but a quick glance (which is what ads rely on) implies distance tracking. Then, there’s the video of the “crossfit” training that gives you a glimpse of the Beat App in action. There’s a spot for distance on the screen, which I picked up as I watched the video, but the screen disappears before the brain can register that the distance is 0, unless you pause it and really study the screen. It’s not technically false advertising, but it is highly misleading.
The picture I mentioned.
Because of the lack of distance and pace information, my daughter (she’s the techno-savvy one in the family) has to manually input my information. This would be fine, but once she inputs a new training result, she has to delete the entry from the heart monitor so that I don’t have multiple workouts listed and skewing my data. That means I lose the actual tracking of my heartbeat anyway. If it were possible to edit/add data to a completed session, it would make life much easier.
Along with all of these issues, there’s also the fact that the connection between the Beat App and the H10 is iffy at best. I’ve used the strap and app six times now and twice the app informed me that I had no training sessions stored on the monitor after I finished my cardio workout. The first time, I chalked it up to me making a mistake during the startup, but then it worked fine for a few days before saying that I had no sessions once again. I know I did everything properly that second time. Needless to say, I was more than a little peeved that day.
Speaking of the H10’s session storing capabilities, I find it really odd that the strap supposedly holds up to 30 hours of information, but will only store one training session. I don’t know anyone who trains for 30 hours. Maybe in future incarnations of the heart monitor Polar could replace some of that useless storage power by figuring out how to transfer data from gym equipment to the Beat App instead.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not someone who buys something without doing as much research as possible, then complains when things don’t meet my unrealistic expectations. I tried to find out everything I could about the H10 before I bought it, but there is very little information available. I’m a larger man, so I didn’t want to buy it only to find out the strap didn’t fit me. It took me three different Google searches to find something as simple as measurements for the strap. Finding reliable information about the actual abilities and limitations of the H10 and Beat App was virtually impossible.
Despite the lack of information, I went ahead and purchased the H10 and downloaded the Beat App. Why? Because I’ve owned three Polar watches as well as the H1 and have never had issues with the brand in the past. I trusted that the H10 was an improvement over the H1 and that it would do what the advertisements implied. Unfortunately, it doesn’t meet my needs or my expectations.
Like I said, if you’re super into working out and you want to keep track of your heartbeat and burned calories (but nothing else), the H10 and Beat App are perfect for you. If you’re just looking for an easy way to track your exercise while you lose a few pounds, I suggest just sticking with a fitness watch or something like that.
Hello, hello! Welcome to 2018. I hope everyone has a wonderful year. May the year be filled with everything you need and something you want! A few weeks ago, I talked about my goals for the new year (here). So, I thought I would go ahead and share my January goals this week. Even though it’s only been two days, I’ve been doing pretty well so far. Let’s hope the rest of the month is just as productive!
Definitely not the view here in Texas.
So, here are my January goals in no particular order.
1. Get DS1’s (the current novel attempt’s code name) shitty first draft to at least 60,000 words. It’s currently 44,000 and I’m aiming for a complete draft of 70-75,000ish words. For a month, 16,000 words is a pretty reasonable goal. Hopefully, I’ll get further, but it’s always a good idea to stick with tough but reasonable goals.
2. Submit stuff 10 times (2 every Monday). This refers only to short stories, flash fiction, and poetry. Not agent searching. Last year, I focused primarily on my novel and neglected my other work. I don’t want to do that this year. Sure, it means more rejections, but I can’t get any acceptances if I don’t submit, right? (More positive thinking is also something I’m working on this year.)
Sounds like a bunch of mumbo-jumbo, but I’ll try it.
3. Write 1 flash piece OR short story. I should probably include poems in this, but it’s been so long since I’ve written any poetry that I probably suck at it now. That’s not negative thinking, it’s just the truth. I’ll probably set aside some time for writing poetry when I start focusing on my revisions. For now, I’ll stick with short stories and flash fiction.
4. Read 2 books. I recently joined GoodReads to try to keep better track of what I’ve read throughout the year. I’m a slow reader, so my goal is to read 24 books in 2018. I’m currently halfway through a book I started a week ago, so I guess technically my January goal is only 1.5 books. Is that cheating?
5. Stop dwelling on rejections and sucking and just do the damn work. This is where the positive thinking really comes in. I’ve been down about all the agent rejections I received last year. After 100 rejections (or just flat out being ignored), it’s hard not to think it’s me and my suckiness. But! I just need to suck it up and move on. I’ve got other projects that might interest people. It’s time to focus on those!
6. Make time for people. I always say that I need to talk to more people and I always fail. But I will keep adding it to my goals until it actually happens! I used to be so good at keeping in touch with people back when Yahoo chatrooms were a thing. I don’t know what happened to that me.
This is not wrong.
7. Turn 32. Yup, I’m a January baby. In about 9 days, I’ll be turning 32. I’m old. But I’m okay with that.
That’s my plan for January. What about you? Do you have any goals for this month? What about goals for the new year? Feel free to share them here or on my social media pages!
Hello, hello! We’ve reached the last Wednesday in December (the last one of 2017). Can you believe that? And that means it’s time for my monthly book review. For December, I chose a cozy mystery (think along the lines of Murder She Wrote, only this heroine is a young librarian). I was looking for something light and fun this time, and A Murder for the Books by Victoria Gilbert, which was published on Dec. 22nd, popped up in my recommendations list on NetGalley. Yes, it’s another advanced reader copy (ARC), so I must thank the publisher, CrookedLaneBooks, and NetGalley for giving me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. Now, let’s get on with the actual review.
An interesting cover, but the more I look at it, the less it fits the book.
A Murder for the Books is the first in a new cozy series collectively known a the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries. It follows Amy Webber, who has moved in with her elderly aunt Lydia under the guise of taking care of Lydia (who doesn’t really need much in the way of help), but is actually fleeing her old life after making a public scene when she found out her long-term boyfriend had been cheating on her. She’s gone from being a librarian at a major university to being one at a small town public library. Plus, she’s self-conscious about her weight and wary of anyone who shows a romantic interest in her. Cue the entrance of Richard Muir who is a dance instructor at her old university and is new to her little town. He asks for some help researching an old murder and that’s when they stumble upon a fresh murder and things just get weirder from there.
After the last three ARCs I got turned out to be less than satisfying, I had very low hopes for this book. But I went into it with an open mind and, to my surprise, I liked it quite a bit. The characters were relatable (if somewhat over the top occasionally). And the plot was fun. It was a little predictable at points, but the main antagonist turned out to be a bit of a surprise. I figured they were somehow involved, but I didn’t think they’d actually do their own dirty work. So, it was fun.
And they did it.
That being said, I did have one major issue with the plot. Every time Amy painted herself into a seemingly inescapable corner, instead of finding a logical way out, the author employed a deus ex machina (plot device where something is magically cleared up by the intervention of something random). A book that’s been lost for years shows up even though they had done a complete inventory of the library earlier that year and no one had found it, another book randomly falls off a shelf at her house… twice, a shadow in the woods spooks the killer into running away, a gust of wind on an otherwise calm day knocks the killer off balance, etc. These things are explained away as the possible actions of a ghost, which would be fine if this were a paranormal series (I love ghost stories!). But it’s not. The whole prospect of ghosts doesn’t even come up until more than halfway through the book, so it feels like a lazy escape method from having to find logical alternatives.
A little too convenient.
Beyond that, the writing was good. There was a little too much focus on description. I didn’t really need to know what every house and garden Amy went in looked like in full detail. That made it drag a little bit in places. And there was a lot of hair twirling and similar actions that could’ve been left up to the reader’s imagination. But none of that detracted from the fun of the story itself, so I’ll let it slide.
Ultimately, I was satisfied with A Murder for the Books. It was interesting and fun enough that I’ll probably pick up the second book when it’s available. Hopefully, there won’t be as much deus ex machina in the second one.
Overall, I’d rate it 4 out of 5 stars. If you’re looking for something nice to snuggle up by the fire with, this one would be a good choice.
Hello, hello! Last week, I asked a friend to suggest a topic for my next blog post (I’m running low on ideas, so feel free to suggest some topics or ask me questions) and she brought up short stories vs. novellas vs. novels. She wanted to know my preferences based on being a reader vs. being a writer. So, I thought I would use today to talk about the lengths of the things I enjoy reading as well as of the things I enjoy writing. It seemed like a good topic since I haven’t written many writerly ramblings lately.
These are the general guidelines.
First, I suppose I’ll approach the topic as a reader. If I’m looking for something quick to distract me for a short period of time, I love digging into a short story. But, most of the time, I prefer to read novels. I like being able to get lost in a new world and getting to know the characters in a way that shorter works don’t allow for. As far as novellas go, I don’t actively search them out, but I don’t dislike them for any particular reason. One of my favorite stories is “The Body” by Stephen King, which is a novella in his collection Different Seasons. Overall, I suppose I’d rank my reading preferences as novels, followed closely by short stories, then the occasional novella.
As a writer, things are a little more complicated. Let’s look at novels. I’m still fairly new to this particular form and I’m not entirely comfortable in it. Though, I will admit, as I work on each new novel, I’m becoming more and more drawn to it. At first, it felt like I was rambling. I couldn’t get a grasp on the idea of the slow reveal and how to keep it interesting while my characters were going about their days. I’m two-thirds of the way through writing my third novel and I’m finally feeling like I might semi know what I’m doing. So, writing novels is growing on me.
Me when I look over my novels.
Short stories, on the other hand, are where I feel most at ease. I enjoy the conciseness of the short form. It’s easier to keep track of one or two plots and characters than it is to keep track of a novel full of them. I’m not constantly stressing because I just know I forgot some minor detail that will inevitably turn into something major. Don’t get me wrong, I forget stuff in my short stories all the time, but it’s much easier to catch those things when it happens in 20 pages vs. 300 pages. It’s also much easier to keep the writing motivation going for a week or two instead of three or more months. Plus, I have a lot of fun with short stories. That’s why they will always be my favorite to write.
Well, that was a short story.
Then, there are novellas. I honestly haven’t ventured into this realm yet. I stopped working on one of my fetish fairy tales because it was leaving the territory of a short story and becoming a novelette/novella. I thought maybe it had too much backstory and I needed to cut stuff out. But recently, I decided to just let it go where it’s going and figure out what to do with it later. I have at least one other story that needs to be expanded into a novella, so I might try my hand at it one day, but today is not that day.
In the end, I suppose my writing preferences would be ranked short stories, novels, and novellas in a distant third. What about you? Do you have a preference when reading vs. when writing? Is there an equivalent option in your craft if you’re not a writer? Share your thoughts and comments here or on my social media pages!
Howdy, howdy! A couple of months ago, a friend asked me if I would be interested in creating some writing goals for the new year and sharing them with each other for accountability purposes. I agreed, because accountability is the best way to motivate me. So, since we’re (not so) slowly making our way through December, I thought I would go ahead and share them with everyone. As I’ve probably said before, I don’t care for the idea of making resolutions, because they’re usually vague things (eating healthier, exercising more, going out more, spending less, etc.) that people keep up with for a few days or even weeks then forget. Goals, on the other hand, tend to be more specific, thus easier to keep track of and definitively complete. So, here are my writerly goals for 2018.
Pretty much.
1. Finish the first draft of DS1 (code name for my novel-in-progress). I probably should’ve finished this by the end of December, but I hit a road block and decided to work on my fetish fairy tales for a little while. I’ll finish the fairy tale I’m working on this week, then get back into DS1. I should finish that by the end of January/middle of February.
2. Revise LR1 (code name for the shitty first draft of the last novel I wrote). I’m actually really interested in getting back to this one. No idea if it’s still as awesome as it felt while I was writing it (first drafts never are), but I’m looking forward to tearing it apart and making it better. Hopefully revisions won’t take me more than two months, but we’ll see. I’m not the best at revising things.
It’s not wrong. Though, I’m still using .doc instead of .docx.
3. Revise DS1. Despite getting a little stuck on this one, I still absolutely love the idea and the characters. I hope I feel the same way after I finish it. My biggest problem is that I know the ending, I just don’t know how to elegantly connect it to what I have thus far. I guess I’ll smash it all together and smooth things out during the revision process!
4. Query 100 agents for LR1 or DS1 depending on which is better. I’ve decided to put G&G away for a while and focus on the other two novels. Hopefully one of them will have more appeal for agents. I can always go back to G&G later, but after 100 rejections, Bailey definitely deserves a nice little break.
5. Write 10 short stories/flash pieces OR 1 new novel. I really want to use 2018 as the year of revision. But at the same time, I also want to keep producing new work. I’m leaning more towards the short stories/flash fiction option because I could take a couple of days off of revision each month to work on something fresh, but like I mentioned above, I don’t really know how long revision will take me. If it doesn’t take too long, I wouldn’t mind working on another novel.
6. Submit short stories/flash pieces (2+ subs a week). I admit that I’ve been neglecting my short story submissions this year. I want to change that in 2018. Maybe I’ll eventually snag someone’s attention!
Maybe. I doubt it. Reassurance, please!
And those are my writing goals for 2018. Do you have any goals for next year yet? Feel free to share them here or on my social media pages!
Shawna's Blog of Doom 