Looking Back at 2016 Goals

In a post dated 1/6/16 I noted my writing goals.

My 2016 goals are: 

1.) Finish Persephone #7.

2.) Hopefully spend some time doing the 'author/editor back and forth dance' on an unrelated fantasy novel that *should* come out fall of 2016.

3.) Finish and find a home for unrelated modern fantasy A or unrelated modern fantasy B. Or both. A has a good start, but short. B is 60% done...but the ending wasn't coming together...until, while watching a speculative TV show, something they said sparked a wild idea that over the course of an hour blossomed into the ending I'd been searching for.

Results:

1.) I did not finish Seph #7 but I have completed the plotting and did get it up to about 50k. I told people it would be out late 2016 or eaerly 2017, as my plan then was to self-publish. But other things have come into play with another publisher and until that is decided, no Seph. /sorry, I want it too!!!/

2.) I have done the dance. Publisher went through some internal changes to spring from just ebook to include print and distribution, so their pub dates were pushed back. I will do a cover reveal in the weeks to come for the book to be released in May 2017. -SQUEE-

3.) I have worked on both A and B and garnered some interest in both but, alas, I have no specific news to report on either.

While 2016 was not a rousing career related success, it was a spectacular success on the personal front.

At the onset of 2016, my goals seemed like a study of character internal and external motivations.

I was a single mom with a slightly-better-than-minimum-wage job with no hope of income growth. Although my workplace was a positive place to be, I was actively looking for something with better pay and benefits. I was also the only employed person in the house with two boys, a live-in mother and my nephew.

Something had to give and, honestly, it was me. It was always me. The octogenarian mother wasn't going to work. That was a no-brainer. The children weren't going to work. That only left me and a lot of weight on my shoulders. Looking back, I completely understand the inability to sleep and the depression.

My personal goals were:

Internal  I wanted love in my life. Someone to hold on to and be held by, someone to share everything: the good the bad, the laughter and the tears, the joy and the burdens.

External   I just wanted the time and focus to write well and the chance to continue building the career I wanted, the career I had for a time and seemed to have lost.

Neither seemed possible. Right after Christmas, with the taxes and the homeowners insurance bills looming, a leaking hole in the roof forced me to take some kind of action. After consideration, I had two options...and I pursued both. 1.) I worked two jobs in February and March. It felt like I would never get to write again...but people were fed and the house payment made, the leak fixed, and the heat was still on. That was most important, right? And 2.) I did something I didn't ever want to do: I hired a lawyer and sought child support for the first time. I had to assume that it would ruin the 'hospitable' relationship with the ex. With my boys "in the middle" that was not a decision I made lightly.

For the vast majority of creative people, this is the very thing that restrains: life and the the day-to-day responsibilities. Stress eats creativity like a ravenous animal with a delicacy -- no savoring, no consideration, just a one-gulp devouring of that stuff of dreams.

But I am stubborn. A writer is who and what I am. I cannot not write. But having touched the profession and being unable to maintaint my grip in that world left me feeling inadequate, fraudulent, and a failure. But, let me say it again, I am stubborn. I want what I want. And there are some things my spirit has not the capacity to give up.

That persistence served me well. Things began to turn around.

Concerning the external frontier, Ragnarok bought one of my older novels. It's been reworked a bit and will be released in May 2017. It is a story I am quite proud of.  The other books will be getting attention soon -- a lot of attention. I am once again in a position to write during a majority of my time. Now settled into the house and the new{old} routine, its all coming back to me.

Why? How? That al stems from the internal...

Concerning the internal frontier, a man I loved twenty years ago re-emerged into my life. This time, everything fell into place and fit like puzzle pieces. We got married and bought a house. It has been a whirlwind year, and I couldn't be happier (ok, well a NYT bestseller could make me happier, but yanno).

I love and am loved. I have met goals and made new ones. I know joy and I try like mad to spread it around. I wish this for you all, right now.

May you have the Merriest, Happiest, and Most Joyful Holiday with the people you love most around you, laughing, hugging, and making memories you will cherish.

KAK's 2016 Goals in Review

Ah, the 2016 Goals. I was so ambitious. I came close to achieving some of my Big 5; others I missed by a mile. Fortunately, there's always 2017, right?

End of Year (EOY) progress updates in-line in purple italics.

1) Achieve Balance -- This is a lifestyle goal that affects my writing, both in quality and quantity. As a control freak, it is very easy for me to obsess to the point of counter-productivity, even harm. Balance is my go-to word, my mantra reminding me to back out of the weeds and end the vicious cycle. Balance in all things. Mind & Body. Active & Repose. Creative & Analytical. Social & Solitary. Spirituality Without & Within. I've reached that stage in life where it's not about More being More or Less being More, it's about achieving Balance and living joyfully within its fluid state.

EOY: While I'm better at this than I was at the beginning of the year, I didn't come as far as I'd hoped. I'm too much a devotee of sloth and distractions.

2) Write Four Novels -- Three released during the year, one in the throes of professional edits by EOY. As an author-publisher, I can control 90% of the timing of the releases. The catches, however, are goals 3 & 4.

EOY: Oh gods, I really wished had nailed this one. Instead, I completed writing/editing one book (still have to go through the cover art process), have another ready for CP review (one step away from professional edits), and a third chasing its tail in the draft of the first arc. I tracked the had babits that derailed me, so at least I'm wiser on that front. I also learned I can probably do three novels in a year, but not quite four. We'll see if I'm right about me in 2017.

3) Establish More Realistic Estimates for Writing an Editor-Ready Novel -- I'm a slow writer who has yet to establish a baseline of time needed to write a 125k novel.  I've written one in as little as 45 days and another in as long as 7 years. Thanks to the advice of my fellow bordello-mates offered in posts here on the blog, I've a better plan of attack.

EOY: That referenced plan of attack? First casualty of the year. I think I made it to March before it went up in smoke. Mores the pity, because my fellow SFFers are pretty damn smart and very open about their processes.   

4) Be in the Black for the P&L of Publishing -- This one I can only somewhat control. Much of it depends on the sales of published book(s). It's one thing to write two, six, or twelve books a year; it is something else entirely to finance the all the bits that come between writing and release day. Owning the costs, of course, is the downside of being an author-publisher.

EOY: If I didn't hit Goal #2, I had no chance of hitting this one. I have a feeling I won't hit this goal until 2018.

5) Complete a Reasonable Number of Honey-Dos -- I've a long list of Want To Do, Like To Do, and Need To Do things that take time away from writing, yet are necessary if I want to avoid turning feral. This ties back to the goal of Balance. I won't bore you with details of caulking, decluttering, etc., at least until the end of the year.

EOY: I did well on this one. Perhaps a little too well since I didn't hit the writing goals. Reckon this goes back to Goal #1. Looks like I have another point of balance to strike. 

Cheers to Health & Happiness in this new year!

And in 2017. May we all survive the coming apocalypse!

2016 Goals-Hits and Misses

I hit most of my goals.

Understand, I tend to be relatively nice to myself. Most of my goals are fairly simple, like sell a novel. Write a novel. Make sure you remember to take the trash out at the right time. Pay my bills on time. Mostly easy stuff.

Maybe a little harder than that. I tend to want to write four novels a year. and sell four novels a year.

Written: Well, I'm on novel number four TIDES OF WAR: FALLEN GODS. I'm behind on that, so this post will be short. I have to finish a short story for a top secret project (I really do prefer saying what it is, but there are contracts and handshakes and promises not to tell everyone the cool stuff until the publisher gets a chance.) Then back to the work in progress. This is, of course, the sequel to THE LAST SACRIFICE, which is out in about 12 days.

That's when it's due, by the way. About 12 days. Will I make it? Who can say, but I'll try.

I finished work on the mosaic novel INDIGO. Ten authors, most of them far more successful than me, one guy editing Christopher Golden, in order to make sure that everything makes sense. Then novel is done and comes out next year. it's a hoot. The authors? Charlaine Harris, Christopher Golden, Kelley Armstrong, Jonathan Maberry, Kat Richardson, Seanan McGuire, Tim Lebbon, Cherie Priest, James A. Moore, and Mark Morris.
Seriously, a blast. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to holding the actual book in my hand as I always do.

I've done several short stories this year, done a few personal appearances and worked on my author profile, so, you know, maybe people know who I am.

It's that time of year. I won't run across you before then so here's hoping all of you have wonderful holidays! Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah, the whole nine yards. Oh and may the new Year bring you joy, prosperity and good health!

2016 Goals - Hits, Misses and Surprises

As part of our end-of-year wrap-up, the SFF Seven are Looking Back on 2016's Goals: How'd We Do? What Was Our Biggest Deviation from the Goal or Plan? Why? Most Satisfying Accomplishment?

I always find it interesting to look back on what I thought would happen during the year, then compare it to what actually occurred - and try to parse why. It helps me plan for the coming year.

It was a particularly interesting year for me in that it was my first full year as a full-time writer. Since getting laid off in October 2015, my biggest goal was seeing if my husband and I could make it without me having to get another job. Our situation is compounded by the fact that he doesn't have a salaried job either. So this meant dealing with fluctuating incomes and me paying my own health insurance.

Biggest hit? Nailed it!

I almost can't believe, but we're making it. And things are getting better all the time. Whew! Huge win right there.

The biggest miss is that I thought I'd be able to write about 25,000 words/week. I had a good reason to believe I could, as 5,000 words/day is doable for me. Instead, the graphs look like this:

 While I did hit 20K/week a few times, my average for the year turned out to be about 7,000 words/week. Very surprising to me. In fact, my overall annual word count went down for the first time in four years.

Now, I still wrote over 400,000 words in 2016 (with a couple of weeks left), so I'm not beating myself up about it. I think a few things happened to account for this:

1. I blogged a LOT less, a number I had always included in my word counts. Some of this is because I quit a couple of group blogs that felt like they weren't doing much for me - a refocusing of effort on my part - but I also posted less to my personal blog. Conversely, I posted to social media more, word count numbers I don't track. This felt like a natural drift to me.
2. I taught more, which means stuff that I used to write for blog posts, I wrote for online classes, and I didn't track those word count numbers.
3. I spent more time on business and business-related activities.
4. I wrote in a more focused way, not playing around with stuff, but concentrating on producing specific stories.
5. I did a couple of major revisions, including revising an entire novel I would have been better off simply rewriting. That project accounts for the low word counts of August-October. 
6. I went to a lot more conferences.
7. It seems to continue to be true that I pay for high word-count productivity with rebound phases. I'm not sure I can escape that. Notice that my high-count weeks are followed by low-count weeks.
8. Finally, related to #7, I tried to be kinder to myself. If I needed to take days off, I did. For the first time since summers off as a kid, I didn't set an alarm in the morning, which meant I found my natural sleep calendar and that felt really good. In fact, my Fitbit graph shows a very interesting seasonal rhythm to my sleep cycle, which I had already suspected might be the case. 
   

The most satisfying accomplishment was also the surprise from 2016. I got serious about self-publishing, in order to establish a more regular income,

With the two-month lag in royalty payouts from retailers, along with time for me to get previous obligations handled, then new projects written and edited, the ramp-up was slow. But, once it kicked in, son of a gun, it worked! Having this option for authors makes a huge difference in whether we can make a living at this profession. 

I think the take-home from this is that we can set goals, but we can't always be sure what will really pay off. Which keeps life interesting!

Finally, to compare to what I set for goals at the end of 2015 in this post, I said:

1) in 2015 I made twice as much from writing as in 2014, but in 2014 I made five times as much as in 2013. Since I'm no longer working the day job, I *really* need to make a living wage from writing this year, so I really want that every-other-year thing to kick in. Five times what I made in 2015 would be awesome. Putting it out there.

I did not make five times what I made in 2015 - what a dreamer Past Jeffe was! - but I did make over twice as much. So, go me.

2) My agent has a book out on submission for a new epic fantasy series. It's a rework of the second novel I ever wrote and I love so much about it. In 2016, I want to either see it published or firmly in the publishing pipeline.

So did not happen. For Reasons. This is still a plan for 2017.

3) We're also going out on submission with a new contemporary romance, the first in a trilogy. That one is getting published in 2016, one way or another.

And... no. What it got was the Revision That Would Not Die. But it's a way better book now. My agent said: "Words cannot express how impressed I am with this new draft. You have taken something I thought was enjoyable and fun and turned it into something raw and meaningful and powerful." 

I'm still calling that a win. 
4) I have a third series that's been parked for over a year. The first one is going out in 2016 or it's in an amazing confirmed pipeline. Enough already.

Also did not happen, but mostly because I decided to back-burner it in favor of another project, which is the one that accounts for most of the self-publishing sales, so I think it was a good choice.

5) I'm making this last one vagueish. I have numerous plans. Hopeful plans to help secure the future for me and my hubs. This is the blogging equivalent of throwing my prognostication penny in the well of good fortune. I totally promise that, at the end of the year, I'll report back on what worked. But I'm too superstitious to unveil them beforehand.

Totally worked! Woo hoo!!!

For 2017, I'm mainly going to work on evening out my production. I'd like to see if I can consistently produce at 15,000 words/week, which works out to 3,000 words/day, which seems to be more sustainable for me. We shall see!

What about you all - what was a surprise win from 2016? Goals for next year??

My Three Most Memorable Reads of 2016

When I'm talking about memorable books, I go by two things: do I still recall large chunks of the plot and details of the romance long after I finished reading the book? Or even better, has it become one that I reread when I'm in just the right mood?

Being a voracious reader, I go through tons of books during a given year, usually on my trusty kindle.

In no certain order then, here are my most memorable of 2016 (I tried to stick with books released in 2016 since like Jeffe mentioned earlier in the week, I often read ARC's of future books that aren't out yet and/or I read books that have been out forever but I just found them):

Michelle Diener’s Class 5 Series (three books): Dark Horse, Dark Deeds, Dark Minds. Although the first book was released in 2015, the other two came out this year and the series as a whole is excellent. I’ve written about, talked about and recommended these books everywhere. I loved the three smart Earth women heroines and the spooky smart Class 5 Artificial Intelligences, AND the alien heroes were excellent stalwart military dudes with sexy Tolkien elf-like pointy ears. Definitely in my "I remember the book" and the "I reread the book" category.

Writings from Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson. I do plan to get back to writing new books in my

paranormal series set in ancient Egypt, hopefully in 2017, and the author has translated all kinds of highly useful and fascinating writings  of all types. Reading through the selections gives good glimpses into daily life and the way people felt and believed. Yes, I write fantastical adventures, not historical novels, but I like to do as much research as I can and this book has been terrific.

OK, I do really badly with these numbered lists because there are so many good books.....I usually cheat and list more than I'm supposed to...

But (I'm heaving a DEEP sigh here), ok.....for my third choice I'm going to list A Faerie Tale: The Enchanted and A Faerie Tale: The Beloved, both by Genevra Thorne. Her use of language is wonderful and really put me into the world of the Fae. Her plots were cool and twisty and I wish there were more in the series. I didn't expect to fall so much in love with the characters and the settings and then I did. 

But in fairness, I must also mention our Jeffe's Pages of the Mind, which I adore, and  Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs and Dark Planet Warriors by Anna Carven.

OK, I'll get off the stage now!

Levity, Science, and a How To for 2016

Have you ever had one of those weird prescient moments where someone recommends a book and you get it even while thinking, heck, none of this applies to me and then WHAM. So relevant it gives you migraines? That was the first of my most memorable books of 2016.

How to Care for Aging Parents by Virginia Morris

Not the kind of adventure I'd wish on anyone, much less recommend to anyone. However. We all end up here at one point or another if the parent(s) have survived into old age. I read this a good five months before Dad suffered his heart attacks. This book gave me very accessible, easy to understand and implement advice on dealing with my father's doctors, his nurses, my father and my mother. It's a great book for pointing out options you might not know exist (I didn't.) So while I hope no one needs it, I am eternally grateful I'd read it before Dad's health challenges. The coping skills suggested in this book gave me the fortitude to be Dad's live-in care giver for the first three weeks of his recovery without being a nag, and no matter how badly I wanted to, I didn't try to wrap the man in bubble wrap. Very valuable book. Hope y'all can wave it off for many years to come.



Do you read less than you used to? I do. Used to never be without my nose in a book. Then we moved aboard the boat and I had to convert my paper books to Kindle versions. Paper and water, you know. Not to mention storage space and that whole 'no sinking the boat' rule. I kidded myself that I'd just run out of time for reading, but a part of me called bullshit on that. I knew I'd stopped reading. I just didn't know why. Then someone loaned me a print book. And I inhaled it in a day. It's possible a tear was shed when I realized how much I'd missed reading. Turns out, I can't see the Kindle print very well. Yes. I need glasses. No. It doesn't seem to be a monetary priority. So they go unpurchased. But it means that the deterioration of my eyesight made reading on the Kindle harder and less enjoyable to the point that I just quit without realizing WHY I'd quit. Until the experiment with a paper book. When I can see the damned print, I adore reading. To celebrate finding this out, I bought myself scifi. Because scifi. And this turned out to be one of my fav reads this year: The Martian by Andy Weir. What's to say? Mars. Left behind. Certain death. Science!

My last book is a bit of a cheat because I haven't gotten to read it yet. But I am SO looking forward to reading it that I'm including it.

The Angel Wore Fangs by Sandra Hill

The hero is a Viking, Vampire Angel. An angel. Who's a vampire. And a Viking. Seriously. How could you not love this? I am counting on this book to be a complete send up of every romance trope available to the market. Counting on it. This is slated to be my guilty pleasure holiday read.

It was this or stock up on Chuck Tingle titles. That may yet happen. Either way. I'm looking forward to some levity.

Great Books for 2016?

This is the time of year where one is supposed to talk about the great books of the past year, the things you read, the things you recommend for awards, and so on.

I have to confess, this year?  I got nothing for you.

This year I did a lot of starting-books-and-bouncing-off-them.  The things I did read to completion?  They were... fine.  Nothing that I'd be "You Must Read This Book!"  (Or, at least, none of it was from this year.  I don't exactly keep records of my reading, but I think I read The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson and Rules for Werewolves by Kirk Lynn in 2016, but they were both 2015 books.)  

Other than that?  The best thing I read I actually can't recommend because it's an unsold, unpublished book that I read for blurb-giving purposes.  

But part of that is because, as I said-- start-and-bounce.  A lot.  That isn't something that should reflect on those authors, and I won't call out people whose books I didn't get into.  Because that's about me, not them.  Their books didn't click with me.  That is OK.  Not every book is for everyone.  Heck, if you start-and-bounce with my books?  That's fine.  Really.  I mean, don't go giving them one-star reviews or anything.  That's not cool.  

I know at least part of my bouncing on other people's books ties to what I'm doing, writing-wise.  I have a lot of stuff to keep track of, a lot of process and writing craft stuff going on in my head.  I can't read without going into diagnostic mode now.  Again-- this is on me, not the writer.  I can be all "Oh, that's a really well crafted thing they're doing", and I make no emotional connection to the story.

So I'll throw it out there: what should I have read?  What should I be reading, especially if I'm going to be doing any award nomination stuff?

My 2016 Recommendations

Linda's 2016 Recommendations

The Red Queen  (link here) by Victoria Aveyard

A well reviewed debut novel that got my attention. In this world people have red blood or silver, and the silver-blooded are royalty and have power. Mare, the main character, is a red blood who ends up in front of the Silver court and there discovers she has power ofher own, which, of course, the king wants to hide from other red bloods.






The Silent Army (link here) by James A. Moore

I love this series and Moore is a great guy.

I recommend this one on audio book. There are many odd words/names/places which I adore in fantasy, but if you have any qualms about such, then the audio book smooths that right over. Also, the narrator for this has his narrator voice and gruffer voices for character dialogue which suits this telling well. Check the link above and click the listen button under the cover image.

A Curse on the Land (link here) by Faith Hunter

First in a new series set in Faith's Jane Yellowrock world.

I also recommend this one on audio book. Check the link above and click the listen button under the cover image because the reader has a southern tonality that really sells this story/character.