So, my original 2018 goals included:
(1) Finish Eternal Curse, the first book in my YA paranormal romance series.
Status: GOAL MET!!
My Thoughts: Not only did I finish this book, it made the rounds with several beta readers, and I revised the heck out of it. I'm SO pleased with how this book turned out, and I cannot wait to share it with the world.
(2) Write the sequel to Eternal Curse.
Status: GOAL KINDA MET
My Thoughts: I wrote almost 25k of the sequel, currently titled Eternal Bond, and then I stopped because I wasn't sure what was going to happen with book one. I didn't want to get too far into the sequel only to find out I needed to change a lot of stuff. I do have a clear idea of where the story is going now, though, and so now it's just a matter of writing it.
(3) Write Meet Me at the Mistletoe, a sweet Christmas romance novella for the Christian market.
Status: GOAL NOT MET
My Thoughts: This project is temporarily shelved while I focus on building my YA brand.
(4) Finish Deception, the first book in a new Christian romantic suspense series.
Status: GOAL NOT MET
My Thoughts: This project has also been temporarily shelved while I focus on building my YA brand.
(5) Take an inventory of all my half-started YA projects and see if any of them are worth salvaging.
Status: GOAL MET!!!
My Thoughts: Out of 9 started projects, there are 6 of them I think are worthy of pursuing, some of which will possibly be co-written with other authors.
(6) Query something.
Status: GOAL MET!!
My Thoughts: I sent my first query for Eternal Curse in February, and I've been working at it all year. I've racked up a lot of rejections, but I'm happy to report I have one full and one partial still out with agents. *Fingers crossed*
(7) Keep on Bloggin'
Status: GOAL KINDA MET
My Thoughts: There were some weeks when I was really on top of this, but not as much as I would have liked.
(8) Read
Status: GOAL MET!!
My Thoughts: I'm please with how much I've read this year, which is much more than in past years. Here's what I knocked off my TBR in 2018:
- Camp So-and-So by Mary McCoy
- Evernight by Claudia Gray
- One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus
- The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
- There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
- We All Fall Down by Natalie D. Richards
- One Was Lost by Natalie D. Richards
- The Cellar by Natasha Preston
- You Will Be Mine by Natasha Preston
- The Cabin by Natasha Preston
- Gone Too Far by Natalie D. Richards
- Survive the Night by Danielle Vega
- Six Months Later by Natalie D. Richards
- Campfire by Shawn Sarles
- The Escape by Hannah Jayne
- All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
- Something About Forever by Kimberly Loth
- Bloodlust & Initiation (Vampire Beach 1 and 2)by Alex Duval
- Ritual & Legacy (Vampire Beach 2 and 3) by Alex Duval
- Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles
- Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles
- Chain Reaction by Simone Elkeles
- I'll Be Yours by Jenny B. Jones
Out of 8 goals, I fully achieved four, kinda achieved two, and completely flaked on two. Those numbers could be worse--and they have been in past years. lol. In addition to all of that, there were a lot of other things I accomplished, both professionally and personally...
PROFESSIONALLY:
- I wrote a total of 135,844 words on various projects.
- Between here and the Anaiah Press blog, I blogged a total of 11,941 words.
- For Anaiah, I edited 7 full-length novels and 3 novellas.
- I freelance edited 3 full-length manuscripts.
- I beta read 3 full-length manuscripts.
- I created and legally formed FireChicken Press, LLC, which is my personal self-publishing company.
- I returned to working on my YA contemporary romance series, The Georgia Corbins, and have finally made a publishing decision on that. (More to come on that in my 2019 Goals post)
- I've outlined a couple new YA projects/ideas.
PERSONALLY:
- In January, I saw Black Veil Brides in concert with my oldest daughter for her birthday. I'm now a diehard fan of them, and they almost single-handedly fuel the playlist for my paranormal series!
- In October, I saw Twenty-one Pilots in concert again with my daughter and her friend.
- Also in October, I saw Luke Bryan for the very first time! *internal squealing*
- In November, I saw The Thunder From Down Under.
- I made a couple visits to NY to see my parents.
- My parents came to MI in November to celebrate Thanksgiving and early Christmas with us.
- I got a little red sports car!
Despite the fact I didn't publish a single thing in 2018, and I didn't snag an agent, I accomplished much more than I realized. I'm calling this a pretty good year overall.
What did you do this past year?
Share your success in the comments!
