Fireworks (c) RAWKU5

Before we begin anew, I want to say goodbye to 2012. Many amazing things happened this year.

I won my first writing award.
I sold my first novel.
I sold my first short story.
I attended BEA and spent ten fabulous days in NYC.
I traveled just because.
I made new friends!

All in all, I call that a very successful year, but did I meet my own goals?

Last year, I posted about New Years resolutions and how bad I am at keeping them (like many others, I think). I set ten goals for myself last year and this is how my list looks now:

1. I will redesign my blog with a custom template. (Done!)

2. I will finish book 2 of my current series. (Progress! Closing in on the halfway mark! :D)

3. I will polish and shop book 1 of my current series. (Begun June 2012 Sold to SHP July 2012!)

4. I will attend at least one conference. (Yay! BEA was amazing!)

5. I will post in this blog at least three times a week. (Good enough, I’d say! I was really close to doubling my count from last year)

6. I will develop the storylines for at least one additional series. (Two different series are in the works with Lani Woodland)

7. I will figure out how to make myself work out… somehow. (Yeah… this one is still an epic fail.)

8. I will develop some kind of a social life, even if it is a sporadic one. (The success of this one has been hit or miss, but I did get myself out of the house more often!)

9.I will budget better so I can either take my dream vacation or move to New York within three years. (Uhm… Yeah. Progress has definitely been made–I’m officially out of debt!–but this goal is still a LONG way off.)

10. I will not let more than two days pass without writing something, even if it’s only jotting down an idea that passes through my head. (The productivity of this year is kind of amazing, so I mark this one done!)

Fireworks (c) RAWKU5

Overall, not too bad, right? Seven complete victories, two partial wins, and one epic fail. It’s a lot better than I’ve done in years past, I can tell you that. But now that I’ve made this much progress, where do I go from here? You always have to have goals or you’ll end up drifting and getting nothing done. So, my new goals for 2013:

1. I will finish two first drafts (of non-co-written books).

2. I will rewrite my book tentatively titled Pyrrhic Victory.

3. I will continue to work on getting myself out of the house to have some kind of social life.

4. I will not let more than two days pass without writing something, even if it’s only jotting down an idea that passes through my head.

5. I will attend at least three conferences/events this year.

6. I will keep trying to make myself work out.

7. I will keep up my blog schedule of posting three times a week on average.

8. I will start promoting Sing Sweet Nightingale — OMG YAY!

9. I will keep saving money to put toward moving out of Florida or taking my epic vacation. Or both.

10. I will take the next step toward becoming a full-time writer.

Some of the goals are the same, but that’s okay. Aiming for productivity is never a bad thing and I really do need to figure out how to make myself work out. I’m really excited about some of the other goals and I know 2013 is going to be a FANTASTIC year!