I mean, I assembled all of my short stories from college into one collection (and published it), then wrote and published a novel, and am in the final stages of editing/revising a second novel for publication.
I have several more in the works, either in planning or early drafting stages. Off hand, I’d say I might manage to get two or three more written.
I suppose next year is going to be as eventful–possibly more so.
What goals? What time does anyone have over the couple of weeks around Christmas to set and achieve goals? I was an idiot to try. Because I accomplished exactly bupkiss.
Doesn’t mean I won’t try to do better. Hades is talking to me again, so I’m going to see how that pans out. And that’s all I’m planning for next week, while I clean up after Christmas, and attempt to recover from the round of routine-breaking, discipline-FUBARing, family visits and celebrations.
1. Finish outlining/start writing new novel.
2. Outline next Modern Gods novel.
3. Outline “Detritus”–write, if possible.
4. Set up timeline to write the next Modern Gods novel, next Pendragon novel, other stuff I have ideas for.
Sunday night, I outlined a set of goals that I just realized were very ambitious. I have met some of them, but not all.
1. I will finish revising the first draft of The Last Pendragon (and outlining it to make sure there’s no glaring plot holes)
I almost finished that one. I would have been finished last night, but wound up with a monster migraine knocking me out of being able to focus on anything other than how much my head hurt, and making sure the kids didn’t kill themselves/each other.
2. I will finish the outline for my new novel idea, tentatively titled Little Girls Lost. It’s an idea that’s been done to death–a woman who happens to be a vampire rescues a woman from a near-rape, only to make friends, hunt down her maker, and scare the living shit out of near-victim-friend’s emotionally abusive family–but I might as well write one, and have fun in the doing.
Did a good bit on that one, but not quite sure of some of the rising action, or of the climax.
3. I will write the outline for The Godshead‘s sequel, tentatively titled either Road Trip or Highway to Tartarus.
Yeah…Hades is telling me the story, but it’s not quite ready for outline.
As for the rest of my goals (more patience with my son)…that was majorly derailed yesterday with the migraine (and with him pulling down his curtain rod and fixture hardware about an hour after my husband had left for work). I’m trying to be a better mommy to both kids, and they really don’t usually make it as difficult as it was yesterday (though, both of them kept coming up, kissing my head, and saying “all better” (daughter) or “that helps” (son)).
Don’t forget–I’m giving away Survivors next Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
I’m running a free book promotion for Survivors (linked over to the right), again, starting Monday and running through Wednesday. I’ll mention it a couple more times between now and the end of Wednesday.
It’s really different from The Godshead. Where The Godshead is fun, with more than a bit of snark, Survivors, as a collection of stories, touches on the darker side of human interaction. It’s what I wrote in college, while I was dealing with recovering from childhood abuse (not that anyone ever completely recovers, but I like to think I’m doing better than some). Some of the stories deal with the loss of a loved one (one to Alzheimer’s–I lost my grandmother to that horrible disease some ten years before she actually died), some deal with the aftermath of abuse. Some deal with abandonment. Very few are particularly happy stories–I like to think most are good, regardless.
There have been a couple of reviews written on other blogs. They’re linked up in a tab at the top of the main page.
What have you got to lose? It’s free.
I don’t have a story ready for you guys, this week–I’m a little busy working on editing/revising my current finished novel, trying to get it ready for a beta reader or three. I’ll try to get something ready–maybe an excerpt or side-story or something–next week.
Thanks for leaving a review on The Godshead on Kindle. I am thoroughly happy I was able to entertain you for a while.
…and lives in the Joplin, MO, area, there are hard copies of my books at Changing Hands Book Shoppe, and at Always Buying Books. The copies are about the same cost as Amazon’s hard copies (linked at the left), and the ones carried by Always Buying Books are signed.
If anyone outside the area wants a signed copy, leave me a comment. I’ll figure out something.
I am holding a hard copy of The Godshead (linked over at the left) as I write. It looks really nice–the cover is a glossy, not matte, black, and the paper between the covers is good quality.
I’m pretty happy with it. I’ll be putting about five copies in two of our local book stores, with the rest sitting in the trunk for opportunity’s sake.
I’m trying to start setting goals, both in writing and for other things. I’m going to be starting small, though–real, concrete goals, not just huge, overarching things like “write a novel” or “lose weight.”
And, since I’m done with grading, now, I’ll start with writing goals:
1. I will finish revising the first draft of The Last Pendragon (and outlining it to make sure there’s no glaring plot holes).
2. I will finish the outline for my new novel idea, tentatively titled Little Girls Lost. It’s an idea that’s been done to death–a woman who happens to be a vampire rescues a woman from a near-rape, only to make friends, hunt down her maker, and scare the living shit out of near-victim-friend’s emotionally abusive family–but I might as well write one, and have fun in the doing.
3. I will write the outline for The Godshead‘s sequel, tentatively titled either Road Trip or Highway to Tartarus.
As for my life goals for the week, I’m going to work on getting the kitchen cleaned up, and finishing the vest I’m knitting.
And as for my goals for my family, I’m going to be trying to be a little more patient with my four year old son. The weather sucks balls (we dropped from the upper forties for a high, today, to a last recorded temperature of thirty-two farenheit, with a wind chill of twenty-one, a projected low of twenty, and a hard north wind–and tomorrow’s high is two degrees higher than the last recorded temperature of an hour ago). My son is, like all boys, a bundle of energy, with no way to burn it off, in a 1300 square-foot house, with no garage like at his grandparents’. And he expresses the frustration through acting up, driving me up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the other side.
Thank God my mom has agreed to babysit both kids for the day on Wednesday. I could use a day doing nothing but spending time with my husband without little creatures hanging off my elbows and chirping at me. As adorable as it is, I do miss grown-up time.
The Godshead Tavern 