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Posted by Moira on Jan 6, 2012 in
Goals,
Writing Yes I'm bucking the tradition! There will be no resolutions made for Moira this year. Not a single one. Nada. Zilch. Zero. That's it, I'm putting my foot down.
Every year people rush to make their resolutions. I resolve to get in shape, to lose weight, to finish that manuscript from 1988 about the robots from outer space who come to Earth because of Boy George and Cindy Lauper.
You know what happens to about 98.7% (a figure I made up just for this post) of those resolutions? They get forgotten. The pressure becomes to much and they barely make it past the first month. We forget about them.
No longer will this be the case for this zombie slaying, faerie loving, kilt obsessed author. Oh no. Starting with the year 2012, this will now become the time that I set goals. Small or big it matters little. I know I can hear you back there. "But Moira aren't goals the same thing as resolutions?"
To that I say… bah! The word resolution seems to be steeped in a cloak of negativity. They seem destined for failure. In all actuality, the word just seems to damn big. Perhaps resolution needs to go on a diet?
Okay I'm off my soapbox. My goals for the year have been set. They aren't huge. They are attainable…for the most part. Some might need a little push from cupid, others might need the every present and helpful support of my PC Girls to see come to fruition, but all in all they are goals I can live with. Goals that can be reached. So who's with me? Who is bucking the Resolution tradition and climbing on the back of the Goal Bandwagon with me? Bethanne's got the coffee back here. Silke brought-well if you want to know what everyone brought I guess you will have to just climb aboard and share!
Moira spends her daytime hours as a typical 9-5 slave chasing the almighty dollar, and raising twin zombie sons. During her evening hours, she can often be found steeped in homework, watching an episode of the Walking Dead, or penning her latest novel. She is an author of urban fantasy with a romance kicker, a woman with a penchant for men in kilts, lover of shoes, and connoisseur of Guinness! In other words...Moira is a complete mess.
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Tags: goals, Moira Keith, New Year, Resolutions
Posted by Bethanne Strasser on Nov 22, 2010 in
Challenges,
Goals,
Writing It's that time of year again…
New Year's coming and changes are inevitable. My husband is leaving for a long time. [
Oh crap. I just got a little teary-eyed.] I want to get ready for something NEW–new experiences, new emotions to deal with, new schedules… more time to myself, more time for my work. But I need to clear my desk of any current projects.
So I've come up with Pre-Goal Goals… New Year's Resolution Resolutions. 
With two novellas, both rejected by two different publishers, I'm going to finish some revisions and edits first, then attend that Swingers party with them and send them both off to the other publisher… ha!
GOAL: January 31st, complete revisions and edits and submit
If I can get those submissions out the window, my new year looks good for the next big project. I've been putting off starting another single title. Gun shy, if you will. The last one I did went through agent submissions and failed, not miserably, just in the normal, this-is-life kind of way. 
But I do need to get off my hesitation and have another go of it.
No matter how many novellas I sell, I'll never find myself on display at B&N if I don't write a full-length, Single Title novel and submit it.
Would love to hear how you're getting ready for the New Year. Or do you sit back and wait for the new year, using the new year as a chance to clean house? Tell me everything!
Mother of FIVE smarty-pants and married to her Love for twelve years, Bethanne spends her time writing stories that always--without a doubt--end happy.
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Tags: Resolutions, revisions and edits, Romance, Writing
Posted by Silke on Oct 5, 2010 in
Life I haven't been sleeping much lately.
I get up early, and go to bed late. Very late. Very, very, late. (2am is normal, 3:30 happens, 4:30 is rarer, but it also happens.)
Personally? I want to know who decided the day only needs 24 hours. I'd like to meet that person and shove their head into… something. It won't be nice. I'm feeling very violent right now — probably because I'm tired.
I'm sitting here yawning, and I have a million things to do.
I work full time. 9-5 (sometimes later), like most of us.
Yes, I have Thursdays and the weekends off — but I am also sharing a horse, which likes to get out on those days. Rain or shine. It's a bit of a drive to get there, then you go get the horse from the field, groom, ride, groom again, chuck her back in the field, clean the tack — before you know it, 5-6 hours are gone.
I have a commission for some artwork at the moment. Chalk up another few hours to work on that. Judged a contest, another few hours done. A few hospital appointments where they make you wait for hours… a trip to London to find out the office you need is closed… you name it. It all eats into your day.
I can't sleep unless I write at least a little bit. The trouble is, I can't just write a "little" bit. It's an all or nothing deal with me.
I get up early — and write some, until I have to run to work. Naturally I want to spend some time with my other half, even if it's just watching some TV and talking about our day.
Fact is, I'm always busy. If I want to write, I have to stay up later and get up earlier. Which is exactly what I've done the past few months — and now I'm tired.
I bite people's heads off when I'm tired. I'm short tempered, blow up easily, and I get incredibly frustrated. With everything. And everyone.
Right now, a deadline is looming and I'm waiting for people. And I blow up when they don't hurry up. I don't mean to (well, I do, in a way), or rather I don't mean to be nasty, but I can't help it.
I think I need a holiday where I can just… sleep! (Yeah, like that's going to happen.)
I'm planning to have an early night. Like I plan to have an early night, every night. It just never happens.
I'm going to sit down next week some time and prioritize. How do you manage your time?
Or don't you? (Like me!)
Silke writes paranormal romance, and knows a thing or two about things going bump in the night. Although it is usually her, creeping to the kitchen at O' Dawn Thirty to score another cup of coffee.
She grew up in Germany, but her home of choice is in the UK, where she lives with her partner on the outskirts of London.
Her first book Smitten is now available from Decadent Publishing.
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Tags: Resolutions, Writing
Posted by Silke on Jan 2, 2009 in
Challenges,
Life,
Writing 
I thought Bethanne made a pretty good post reflecting on what she has achieved. I wish I’d managed half as much!
My little list is much shorter, I assure you. Though I didn’t get pregnant in… ever. 
Still, her list prompted me to wonder… what do I want to achieve in 2009?
Apart from the obvious — to have a book bought, and published.
I’d like to be more assertive. I really suck at it, I think.
So what kind of resolutions do writers generally make? Write more, read more, submit, query… We all make those resolutions, I’m sure.
A friend of mine once said: "A New Years Resolution is a To-Do-List for the first week of January."
Considering that’s about as long as most people stick to their resolutions, he’s probably not far off.
Here are some of mine which may not be on the general "Writers Resolutions" list.
- Critique more. (I have been terribly slack!)
- Be more helpful. (I think sometimes I could help more. I’ll make a point of it this year.)
- Be more open to other people’s writing. (I’m talking genres. I hate chick lit, for instance.)
- Be more vigilant when it comes to the tone of my critiques. (I can sound very very harsh without meaning to.)
- I need to query and submit the books I write. (Yeah, yeah, I know… but it scares me.)
- I need to finish the damned things, too! (Well, one is, but I need to finish the other one.)
- Get more organized. (I’m the queen of messy desks!)
- Write at least 250 words a day, every day. (It’s not a lot, I can do this! More if I can, but never less.)
- Keep my darn blog up to date! (Wow I haven’t blogged much there at all lately!)
- Stop procrastinating and finding excuses for why I couldn’t write. I’m only lying to myself, after all.
So… there you have it.
But my Number 1. resolution isn’t on that list.
It’s "Be nice to everyone, regardless. Don’t whine, don’t complain. Shed the old negative self."
It’s a tall order, believe me!
Silke writes paranormal romance, and knows a thing or two about things going bump in the night. Although it is usually her, creeping to the kitchen at O' Dawn Thirty to score another cup of coffee.
She grew up in Germany, but her home of choice is in the UK, where she lives with her partner on the outskirts of London.
Her first book Smitten is now available from Decadent Publishing.
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Tags: Lists, New Start, New Year, Resolutions
