First off, I’d like to mention that friends of mine, Kathy Love and Erin McCarthy have created a blog/website for promoting their vampire/paranormal books. They even have a ‘vampire’ band. Check it out here.
After reading Patrice’s comment in my previous blog entry, I decided to take her advice and count my accomplishments…instead of worrying about the goals I didn’t meet. I may actually do this every year, since it feels a lot better than staring at a list with only one tick mark on it. *g* (Oh btw, you all need to go over to Patrice’s blog and congratulate her. She’s a finalist in the Prism contest. YAH Patrice!!!) Thank you again for the suggestion. 
Anyway with that in mind, I took a look at this past year. In Jan. I had my fourth Atlantean novel come out (not counting the quickie I wrote). I also sold two more stories to Ellora’s Cave. In addition, in January I mailed off the Harlequin Blaze that was requested. In May, I finished writing RED. In June, I parted ways with my old agent. In August, my current agent offered to represent me. In Sept. Phantom Warriors: Bacchus was released. In October, Tor bought my series. In November, Phantom Warriors: Saber-tooth was released. I’m still waiting on one more project. No idea if I’ll hear anything before everyone breaks for the holidays. My guess is not, but I suppose you never know. I actually have no attachment to outcome on this submission. All in all, it looks like I’ve done quite a bit. Strangely, it doesn’t feel like it.
Julie (her book, The Bargain ROCKS!!!) mentioned in the comments that her agent had written a blog on business plans. I went over to their blog to check it out. There was definitely some solid advice in the article. I know I’ll apply a couple of the suggestions to my 2007 Goal/Accomplishment list.
So what advice have you been given that has stuck with you through the years? (It doesn’t have to pertain to writing.)
Archive for December, 2006
Everyone who’s been talking about writing and publishing lately should check out Chey’s latest blog entry. There’s some good advice there.
I’ve been thinking about goals ever since Charli brought it up in one of the comments. I pulled mine out and wasn’t happy with what I saw. Out of the several things listed, I’ve managed to accomplish one. ONE! ONE! How pathetic is that? I believe part of the problem is that I write my goals down, then put them away. I can’t even remember what I ate two days ago. How can I expect to remember my goals, if they aren’t in front of me? Sigh.
I spent this evening looking at my 2006 goals. Well, more like mourning them. I would like to start 2007 out with a better understanding of what I’d like to accomplish. So how many things have I come up with so far? Zip. Nada. Zero. I’m staring at the page like it’s a WIP. 
Sadly, I think the problem is that I have no idea what I’d like to accomplish next year.
What about you? Any ideas for 2007? 2008? The next six months?
I’m blogging two different places today. You can find my first entry here at Fangs, Fur, and Fey.
We had friends over on Friday night. It was a low key evening of pizza and wine. Too much wine, but that’s another story. We played with the Nintendo Wii and then started a conversation (ie argument) about making a living through art.
Why were we arguing (other than the fact that we enjoy arguing with each other)? We were arguing over what ‘types’ of dues an artist has to pay in order to make a living through creativity. That morphed into a heated discussion over what it means to be a success. Now this is where it gets weird. *ggg* He was arguing ‘for’ my success and I was arguing ‘against’ it. (Yes, you need to read that last sentence again.)
Here’s the thing I realized once we finished. He considers me a success because I’m multi-published. I don’t consider myself a success because I can’t support myself yet from my writing. I know we’ve had a few discussions throughout the years about success. I also know that the success finish line moves rather regularly. Right now, on this day, what would make you feel successful in your career?
I love the radio stations this time of year. A couple play continuous Christmas music. I find myself singing along, even after they start repeating their program. *g* I’m still addressing cards. It takes a long time to get that many signed and stuffed. I haven’t managed to get the tree up yet either. :-O Going to have to remedy that soon.
Where are you all at in your holiday preparations?
Several years ago, my mom and I went to Hawaii. We stayed on the island of Oahu. Had a great time. Met many wonderful people. Could’ve moved there with a built-in circle of friends after the week we spent.
While we were there, we did all the typical tourist things: went to a luau, toured the island, snorkled, took a submarine ride, and visited Pearl Harbor. I have to say that the latter touched me deeply. It’s a strange sensation to stand over the top of a rusted battleship that you can see clearly in the water and watch fuel continue to float to the surface…knowing that there are still sailors inside.
My patriotism tends to ebb and flow based on the country’s leadership. But at that moment, standing over that ship, looking into the depths of that clear blue water, I was humbled by the sacrifice those men and women made on that day. The sacrifice they continue to make so that I can live my frivolous life of dreams. Thank you. I know the words seem pale in comparison to the selfless acts, but they are heartfelt. Thank you all for everything you did–and continue to do.
Before I jump into the above subject, I’d like to wish my Aunt L a Happy 80th Birthday!!! May you have many, many more.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program. Maybe it’s the time of year or the fact that the year is winding down, but I’m not getting jack done. I feel like Charlie Brown heading for the football that Lucy’s holding. I mean I get a few things accomplished with the manuscript, but no real ‘guts’ writing accomplished. This will NOT do. I cannot afford to do this with all that I have on my plate. Sigh.
Dh says I need to step back and do something completely different, so tonight I plan to work on the new website. I did finish the X-mas letter that I plan to stuff in all the cards, so that’s one thing I can tick off my list. I’ve noticed that a lot of my friends seem to be in edit mode at present, which is great. I’m wondering with the holidays fast approaching if that’s about all I’m capable of. God forbid I suddenly turn into a deadline writer. (You all know who you are.;) For those of you who don’t know what I’m rambling on about, a deadline writer is the type of writer who only writes when they have a deadline. A ‘real’ deadline. A publisher set deadline. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s just winter malaise and not that. I don’t think my nerves could handle it. I’m bad enough with my self-imposed stress. I don’t need outside help.
What kind of writer are you?
What does that mean? It means that Pirates are here. YAH! Shiver me timbers. Drink up, me ‘earties. Yo ho! (wg) What can I say? I turn into a kid every time they release one of these movies.
Dh is making a lot of changes behind the scenes to my site in order to combat spam. Right now, your links aren’t showing up, but he plans to fix that tonight. Hopefully when he’s done, it’ll take care of the bulk of the problems. Until then, I appreciate everyone’s patience.
Now that the car is running, I decided I should get it washed. Filthy doesn’t even begin to describe how dirty my vehicle is at present. I plan to take my notebook with me, so that I can work while I wait. (Hey, it worked yesterday.) Still haven’t managed to finish the X-mas cards yet. They’re waiting on the kitchen table, glaring at me like a pissed off gorilla. I have to write a holiday letter before I can get to them. Gulp.
How many of you send out cards? If so, do you include a holiday letter? I didn’t last year and kind of felt bad about it.
I finally broke down and had my car towed to the dealership. Apparently, ‘under warranty’ doesn’t mean as much as it used to. Snort. Turns out, they sold me a bad battery. Grr…
The upside to sitting at the dealership for an hour or so was that I managed to break all my urban fantasy index cards into chapters. I also charted out part of what my next website will need. How sad is that? I don’t get hardly anything done for a week, then plow through my work in an hour and change somewhere else. Hmm… Kind of makes you wonder. :-/
I broke down and went to eBay for the Wii. It was becoming too much of a pain in the arse. Seriously. I spent hours and hours phoning stores and talking to customer service reps about ‘potential’ delivery days. Not worth it.
Tomorrow, I’m going to get the car washed, then head to the coffee shop I think. The latter depends on what I need to do next on the book. If I’m going to edit, then that will be fine at the coffee shop. If I’m going to write, then probably not. I need to hear those voices in my head and they can’t compete with frantic shoppers.
A quick reminder: Pirates comes out tomorrow. YAH!!!
I swear getting a hold of a Nintendo Wii is harder than wrestling greased seals. Every store is allotted some stupid number like 3. Yeah, that will go far. Then there are the usual scalpers, who have jacked the prices up. They’re now starting at $500+ for a machine that costs $250. Sigh. It doesn’t look like Santa will be bringing this game console this year.
We went out yesterday for a small wander around the stores. Dh isn’t feeling well, so we didn’t stay out long. (Have I mentioned how much I HATE crowds?) Sadly, it has just dawned on me that Christmas is in three weeks. I haven’t bought ANY presents yet, nor have I addressed a single X-mas card. Yikes! Yikes! And double Yikes! I’ve been so caught up in this book that I haven’t thought of anything else. Sigh. Looks like tomorrow I’m going to have to put together a list of everything that I need to do. So not looking forward to that.
I’m not in a bad mood or anything remotely like that. Just feeling a little overwhelmed. What do you do when you’re feeling overwhelmed by the holiday season?
I spoke with my agent yesterday about the changes that I’ve made to the urban fantasy. We’re hoping that I can get the publishers an updated version. I REALLY hate doing that, but I feel that this version is so much stronger than the original. Keep your fingers and toes crossed for me.
With that in mind, I decided to read through my newer version last night. Big MISTAKE. By three in the morning, I’d finally managed to finish my ‘tweaks’ and check the changes. Sigh.
This morning I received an email for a cover request from Ellora’s Cave for Atlantean’s Quest: Fall From Grace. I don’t want you all getting excited yet. No one has given me an update as to when this paperback (which includes Atlantean’s Quest 3: Redemption, Atlantean Heat, and Atlantean’s Quest 4: Return) will be released. As soon as I have more information, I will announce it here first. 
I’m off to do my Japanese and row. Hopefully when I am finished, I can get more work done on the urban fantasy…or take a nap. Whichever comes first. Have a great day.
