marzipan77

I hear the football announcer, the stands erupting, those annoying vuvuzela drowning out everything.

I wouldn't actually mind people cheering for me every time I reach a goal, actually. Imagine that. You finish a chapter of your WIP and suddenly there are 80,000 people outside yelling and screaming. Or after you clean the house. Or call a friend you've been meaning to call. Okay, maybe that would get annoying.

BUT, I published my first novel on Amazon this week, so GOAL!!!!! I'd love for more creators, more artists and writers to get the serious love and attention of sports stars who kick a ball into a net, wouldn't you?

I got some great kudos (not on AO3) from my hubster this week. He bought me wine, saluted me, and said, "Wow. Who knew that writing a book could be so hard? I had no idea until I saw you work on it day in and day out for months and years to get to this point. This is an amazing achievement."

Yep, I'm going to hug that little scene to my cold, dead writer's heart for many months to come.



I will admit, my goals for 2021 changed this week. While I still have my writing goals, listed below, I've added others.

1. Finish formatting Child of the Scales for paperback publishing
2. Finish my deep edit of Book 2 in The Heir of Time series
3. Work on Book 3.
4. Publish Book 2 (yep, still dithering on the name) before December 2021
Here are the new ones:
5. Be kind - to everyone. Race, color, religion, political party - who cares? People are people all the way down. More kindness hurts no one and might help us heal.
6. Listen more. My own agenda might be wrong. My assumptions need to be challenged. Listen. Think. Consider.
7. Make the effort to stay close to friends and family - even from a distance. Write letters, emails, call (not my happy place). Check in. Care. Tell people I love them.
8. Life is certainly not progressing as anyone planned. So, maybe less planning, and more living. More experiencing. Eyes open, mind still, ready to receive.

May your hopes and dreams exceed your imagination this year.

Marilyn Monroe said, "Dreaming about being an actress, is more exciting then being one." Dreaming about being an author, published and proud, can be much more satisfying than doing the work necessary to become one.

Day 13: In your own space, set some goals for the coming year. They can be fannish or not, public or private.

Goal 1 - Query 10 agents (or fewer if I obtain interest right away, haha) with my original book, Avatar's Balance. This is work, the hard, uninteresting, uninspiring work of becoming an author. It's my job over the next month or so. This part is not dreaming, it isn't world creation or character development or plot outlining. This is business.

Goal 2 - Edit book 2 in my original fiction series, Heir's Journey. Make it work. Fill in the holes. Make it cohesive and structured correctly. Also hard work.

Goal 3 - Finish my WIP (fanfiction) and post it. It is unprofessional to keep readers waiting.

Goal 4 - Continue my new way of eating, no matter the temptations. Be healthy. Exercise. Get stronger. 16 pounds to goal weight - do it.

Goal 5 - Serve. Serve my friends/family without complaint. Follow through on my responsibilities at church without swerving.

Goal 6 - Worry less. Anxiety is a horrible disease. My goal is to do what I can to mitigate its effects. To breathe more, think on good things, trust God, look at more pictures of doggos than read nasty tweets. It's a good goal - I also recognize that it will be the hardest to achieve.

Goal 7 - Hope.