2017 goals

Time once again to think about the coming year. Yes, a lot of people do this on New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, but, well, I did nothing much at all yesterday morning and most of the afternoon was shopping and cooking for my son, whose birthday is Jan 1st. And yes, that was an exciting New Year's Eve for me: lying on the couch, watching TV, having contractions every 12 minutes.

What are YOUR goals for this year?

Anyway, I prefer to think of them as Goals and not Resolutions.

1) Find a paying job. Full time would be best. I have some resumes out there, but haven't heard anything. Ah no, writing is not (yet) paying the bills.

2) Write more. 1000 words per day. Edit faster. Specifically:

• Historical: edit and submit Francoise (Chateaux and Shadows Book 6). Finish Dario (book 7) by ....April? Turn that in by summer. Assess the future of writing about 17th century France. I keep having these plot bunny ideas, but many would work in a different era.
• NA Contemporary: Finish Hot Rocks, Edit Big Chill and get edits/beta read from critique partners. I'm seriously thinking about self-publishing with these, especially because I'm not sure what genre they are. Or rather, I know they are buddy stories and concurrent romances, but I seem to confuse people when I talk about the book. So maybe the fault is with my message?
• Contemporary: edit/rewrite Harriet, adding to the conflict. Query agents. Write second  contemp book.

3) Volunteer with the library again. I've not been doing this since the summer. I need to find a time.

4) Find better ways to advertise my books. What I've been doing so far has not been effective.

5) Shove my oldest son through learning to drive and getting his license. Also lean on him to decide where to apply to college so we can visit places over the summer and do applications in the fall.

6) Walk more. I've slacked off lately. It's hard to get started most of the time, but I'm always glad I went when I'm done.

7) Declutter. One room at a time. One space at a time. I'll start with th pile of papers on my desk, the kids' toys, and my room.

8) Sew more. I have a partially-finished quilt for my daughter to finish and I haven't made a quilt for the Linus Project in over a year. And I have six tons of fabric.

9) and all of that leads to time management. I'm sure I'll think of something.

And, of course, I'd love for you to read my French historical novels. 

Henri et Marcel is coming in just a couple days!