Holiday Toasts

May the New Year bring you joy, prosperity, and good health and may you have infinite reasons to smile.

A Holiday Toast

I'll keep it simple, as my Grandmother would always say...

Happy Days!

Status Update on the GOALS

Time to examine the year in retrospect and see how I did against the goals I’d shared here at the end of 2015, when we were still Word Whores LOL. The goals for 2016 and my comments on status, which are in italics:

1. Release four books and two audiobooks.

Released five books and one audiobook, plus participating in three anthologies with original short stories or novellas.

•   I have one completed and fully edited manuscript - Lady of the Star Wind, a portal fantasy romance at about 125K words. It's on hold for the moment while I work on the next book in my Star Cruise series. I think my readers would prefer to have that SFR next, you know? I got Lady of the Star Wind released…

•    As far as Star Cruise: Outbreak is concerned, I'm at about about 20K words on the first draft and moving forward. I have a cover! I got Star Cruise: Outbreak released….

•    I want to write the sequel to Wreck of the Nebula Dream this year. I want to write the sequel to  Dancer of the Nile this year. I want to write the story of Johnny, from Mission to  Mahjundar. I have oh-so-many other ideas but those are the ones I plan to TRY to get done. Unless I fall madly in love with some brand new plot. I make no promises!   I wrote and released Star Survivor, the sequel to Wreck of the Nebula Dream and I wrote and released the story of Johnny (which became Hostage to the Stars). I also wrote and released Trapped on Talonque, which is a scifi take on Sleeping Beauty. I didn’t get to the sequel for Dancer of the Nile although I did develop the plot.

•      My wonderful audiobook narrator Michel Riffle is beginning work on Star Cruise: Marooned now so I will have that one released in a couple of months. I think before 2017 rolls around we might get another one done. We did release Star Cruise: Marooned but didn’t get to the second one, partly because the way Amazon now prices its Whispersync feature at $1.99 or $2.99 makes it extremely difficult for the author to recoup the production costs, let alone break into profit territory. Audiobooks run $2K and above to make, depending on the length. Readers are asking me for more audiobook versions, which is GREAT, but we’ll have to see in 2017. The audiobooks do sell at full price on iBooks and Audible.com, which helps matters. (OK, rant over.)

2. Meet tons of readers at the RT Booklovers Convention in Las Vegas! I'm doing a panel on science fiction romance; co-hosting the Intergalactic Bar & Grille event with other authors and doing the big book signing. Fun will be had! Fun was had! And I also got to be on a fantasy romance panel with Jeffe and other lovely authors…

3. Make it to Romance Writers of America Nationals in San Diego. I didn’t go to San Diego – travel takes a toll on my health and while my daughter went with me to RT and helped me out so much in between her own author activities – she’s also a published romance author – there wasn’t anyone available to go with me to RWA. There’s always the future J.

4. Continue to blog for USA Today Happily Ever After and also Amazing Stories, where I just joined the team. And I'd never give up being the Saturday Word Whore, or my Here Be Magic group. I did continue to blog for these four platforms and I recently joined Heroes & Heartbreakers as well, to talk about science fiction romance on a regular basis. I also do a guest post once a quarter for Romance University.

5. Surprises and adventures! I got to record the part of a Starship Enterprise Red Shirt Crew Member on the audiobook version of Harlan Ellison’s “City On The Edge of Forever,” which became an AudioFile Magazine Best of 2016 selection (but not because of my 7 words of dialog, I assure you). I was privileged to interview Michelle Lovretta, the creator and showrunner of “Killjoys”, as well as a number of the actors from the show and the “Dark Matter” cast too. All thrills for this science fiction fan! On the personal front, my older daughter got married….

6. The two goals ALWAYS on my list but not in my personal power to achieve? Win the big Lotto jackpot and see one of my books made into a movie! (Hey, a girl can dream big, right?)Um, ok, nothing happening here that I’m aware of. But I’m always hoping for the phone to ring! And I did win $20 on a scratcher Lotto card yesterday…

So there you have it. (Jake the Cat says to tell you his goal is to be petted, amused and fed, and have warm places to sleep by the way. Keanu the Cat wants much the same but also to NOT have his photo taken or ever be required to darken the vet's door again.) Jake accomplished his goals except for one  reluctant trip to the vet for an ear problem. Keanu totally declared victory and wins 2016. (Well, yes, I did take his picture...)

Sum Total of the Goals

I hope a bright and happy solstice was had by all and that the forthcoming holidays will also delight you and yours.

Do y'all remember back to January of this year? I only barely do. Apparently, I went on a rant against the abomination that is Western Civilization's obsession with New Year's Resolutions. It was my screed against listing out goals for other peoples' consumption and/or guilt-making. And though I was ranting against the load we seem to want to place upon ourselves with goals and resolutions and all manner of betterment (as if we aren't enough in and of ourselves) it turns out that ranting against goals is actually making them. They went something like this:

1. Pledge to be gentle with yourself - adopt a policy of nonviolence in thought, word, and deed concerning yourself. Seriously. Just listen to how you think at yourself. You will be horrified by what you hear.
2. Make time and space for doing nothing at all. It needn't be much time. Fifteen minutes a day. Not for meditation. Not for reading. Not for yet another course on how to do or be The Thing. To do nothing. Most of us have forgotten leisure and how to be alone.
3. Vow to help someone else. Whether you volunteer on a regular basis or just offer a cup of coffee to the homeless kid on the corner once in a while - totally up to you. But if you want the cure for a bad day, bring a smile to someone else's face.

How'd I do with these? Erm. Uh. Okay? I guess? The first one lasted for maybe a week before I fell back into old, nasty habit. I am still working on that. Too much research in the world proves that negative feedback does not produce results. Being mean and calling yourself names in your head does not do the job you want it to do. It produces little to no motivation. Positive motivations (having something to shoot for that matters to you) is far more productive. Reprogramming one's brain to DO that is not the easiest. Let's call this a work in progress.

I did nail the last two. Self defense on finding time to do nothing. Migraine sufferers know something about that - usually after a major migraine, you spend several hours, one the pain and sickness are gone, just looking around. Going through life gently. Yes. It is in fear of the migraine returning. But the point is that taking a few minutes each day to do nothing is now part of my self-care.

Helping someone else - Ballard has a population of homeless folks. You get to know who they are and you get to know their needs. So making sure that there are extra hot drinks on cold days, or a box of feminine hygiene products left for the young woman on the street with her partner - those things are easy to do. Supporting Best Friends and Big Cat Rescue with 10% of every dime I make is my other thing. But my favorite was seeing a young woman walking the street in the greatest, should be in a movie, velvet trench coat (bright scarlet). I was behind her and her friend. They went into a restaurant. I followed and touched her elbow. The two women turn to look at me. Faces blank. I said, "Truly epic coat." The gal's friend grinned, pumped her and crowed, "Told you!" The young woman in the coat lit up. Lit up so bright it brought tears to my eyes. Dumb, huh? But it happened. I liked that. Think I'll put it on my list for next year - to see if I can make someone's day like that at least once.

STATE OF THE WRITER: Goal Completion for 2016

So, let's take a look at my stated goals for 2016:

COMING OUT IN 2016First, there will be the things I have coming out in 2016.  The Alchemy of Chaos, of course, comes out in a few weeks, and the second Maradaine Constabulary book, An Import of Intrigue, comes out in November.  So that right there are two big things.

Well, that was a goal I made, obviously.  Both books came out, and I finished all the things involved in getting them out.  (Of course, when I wrote the goal post last year, there was nothing left to do on Alchemy but wait.)  But the point is: I said two more books would come out in 2016, and I made good on that.  

Next part:

WRITING IN 2016
Here’s where I need to be vague.  Over the next twelve months I will need to:
Polish “Manuscript X” and turn it in.
Finish draft of “Manuscript Y”, edit it, and turn it in as well.
Finish draft of “Manuscript X2”.
Polish outline of “Manuscript Z” and get started on it.

So, at the time I couldn't talk about this stuff, but now, of course, I've been talking about it plenty.  Let's decode:

- Polish "Manuscript X" and turn it in.This was The Holver Alley Crew, which was, of course, polished and turned in, followed by the copyedits and proof checks to hit your hot hands in March.   (Of course, if you're on NetGalley, you can read it now, and then tell the world your thoughts...)  So: Accomplished.

-Finish draft of “Manuscript Y”, edit it, and turn it in as well."Manuscript Y" was The Imposters of Aventil, which: finished, edited, turned in.  All that's left is the post-"final" draft work (copyedits, proofs, cover, etc.)-- but the creative work is done.  And that'll hit the world in October 2017.  Accomplished.

-Finish draft of “Manuscript X2”.
This is Lady Henterman's Wardrobe, and I haven't quite hit the goal on this.  As of this writing I'm just shy of 100K and have five more scenes to write (and three more to rewrite based on some beta comments), and then I'll send it to Sheila for her thoughts.  So, not fully accomplished, but close.

-Polish outline of “Manuscript Z” and get started on it.
So this is referring to A Parliament of Bodies, and I've gotten started on the re-outline process, but there's still a lot do to to fix the outline of this.  And therefore, I've not properly started the manuscript for it yet.  Partly because I've not finished Lady Henterman, and also because of the thing I've been doing that wasn't on this goal list:

-Rewrite "Manuscript W" Manuscript W?  What the heck is that?  Well, I've been less that circumspect that there is a fourth Maradaine series in the works, and that's exactly what this is-- the first novel of the Maradaine Elite series.  For various reasons, it was important for me to get it nailed down before finalizing the outline for Parliament.  Now that's nearly done as well.  (Minor rewrite notes on a couple chapters, rewrite notes on three scenes, and one completely new scene.)  I'll be submitting that and proposals for the other Maradaine Elite novels in the near future.  

On top of all that, various other things have been in the crockpot of creativity.  We'll see that stuff come into fruition, hopefully with more news in 2017.  

And speaking of... time to get back to work.

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!