On Writing in the New Year: Resolutions

Making resolutions isn't something I only do once a year, but the first of January always gives me special occasion to reexamine the previous year's goals and resolutions and to make new ones for the coming year.

Eight months of 2011 were devoted to learning about the publishing industry, learning about self-publishing, and fumbling my way around blogging, Tweeting, and releasing the first few books. I'm coming into 2012 with a little bit of knowledge and experience--and that's only good enough to point me in the direction of more knowledge and more experience.

So here they are, my 2012 Resolutions:

• I will finish every story I start, even if I don't share it. 
• I will take risks, try new things, and avoid The Rut.
• I will finish the vampire novel.
• I will do my very best to offer readers something new every month.
• I will do my very best to blog consistently and offer quality content.
• I will seek out more guest posters.
• I will read one book a month (because a writer who does not read isn't much of a writer).
• I will learn more about publishing, self-publishing, promotion, marketing. 
• I will remember to check my email, Twitter, and Facebook regularly. 
• I will more actively market my work.

This is going to be an exciting year.

Monday Miscellany: Welcome to the New Year

Yesterday, I sat down and listed the projects I have planned for this year. There are eight. Three short stories, three short story collections, and two novels. That number might actually be nine because there might be a third novel, it all depends on how I manage my time. This number doesn't include the half-dozen ideas I have scribbled in notebooks and on dry-erase boards, it only includes the stories I have already outlined, action-drafted, or drafted. Will I be busy? Yes, I think so.

I'm still in the process of editing One Good Cowboy. Finding the time has been a little bit difficult, but things are getting back to normal soon (husband is going back to work, visiting sister is starting to venture out on her own), so I'm optimistic that it can be finished this week.

Over the weekend, I rang in the new year with a cranky one-year-old who refused to fall asleep until she saw her daddy. Yesterday and today, I lost the two most important cards in my life (my ID and my debit card) and I have not been able to find them yet. We suspect the cranky one-year-old threw them away without anyone noticing. So... not the best start to the new year. But I'm not pessimistic!