The latest...

Going a little crazy this time of year, as you can probably tell by thelack of an updated blog. We did move into our new house, but immediatelyfollowing that day (like, three days later) we had our annual holiday party for friends and family. Yes, we are gluttons for punishment. Right now, we are in the midst of buying, wrapping, and sending gifts, preparing to send Christmas cards, making Christmas cookies (my one culinary contribution toour household) and also having our house (the inside) painted. I didn't even plug my computer into the wall--my writing computer, that is--until this morning. I've been making do with the laptop for email and myAlphaSmart for writing...and not much of the latter has been accomplished in the last week and half, I can assure you.

I'm sort of halfway into my new office. I still have boxes everywhere. Most of them sit shunned in the hallway, so I can try to accomplish something. I am excited, though, because this office gets lots and lots of natural light. I just feel so much better and feel like I'm more productive whenthe sun is shining. Though in Illinois in mid-December, that's rare enough as to be unattainable.

There's a boatload of promotional opportunities I need to be following up on and the lack of time is KILLING me. I actually signed up for a free trial offer of Constant Contact (an email program) and I suspect it's going to expire before I ever even get a chance to try it. I'm also due to turn in an interview, information about my covers, and buy some banner ads. I'm also starting some promotion for Bitter Pill and need to make some headwaythere, but I have to find time!!!! This month, you'll find an ad for The Silver Spoon in RT Magazine and a really cool joint ad with Linnea Sinclair in SciFi Magazine (I will try to post a copy here). I'm SO excited. Also, EOB should be up for preorder on Amazon in the next week or so, and I'm due to post a new excerpt from it here on the site. Overdue, actually. Arrrgh.

It's also that time of year when I start to think about my plan for next year. I must admit that my plans usually do not go according to, well, plan. I never know what's going to sell, what I can finish and reasonably polish during the course of the year and what opportunities might fall in my lap.

According to last year's blog, these were my 2007 goals:

So that means for writing projects in 2007, I’ll be:
-finishing edits on the second Zara book (I’m working on those now, and I’m nearly done. Hope to be finished by the middle of January at the latest—yea!).
-editing/revising the second Rennie book.
-writing the third Zara book.
-working on something new!

Well, the second Zara book is done and sold to Echelon, so that's a good thing. Third book, honestly, has not even been started yet because I need a little distance from the second book to see where I'm going next. However, I realized, in discussion with Linnea, that a major character is not going to survive our next outing. That sucks, but the weird thing is, that more than anything else has motivated me to start thinking about how this third (and possibly, final) book is going to come together.

I also sold The Silver Spoon to Echelon this year. Need to cut myself some slack because prior to April or so, I didn't have a publisher for that book, which meant the series was going nowhere, at least temporarily.

Didn't even touch the second Rennie book. However, I did finally drop the vampire mystery that I started, struggled with and ultimately hated. I'm NOT a vampire writer. Very clearly. Lesson learned. *full body shudder* I also wrote a proposal and the first 40 pages for a new book for the Dorchester Shomi line. It didn't go anywhere (at least, not yet), but I'm pleased with the idea and the pages that came from it and I'm definitely going to pursue finishing it. I'm also proud of myself for making time to write those pages instead of sticking so rigidly to my plan as I probably would have in the past. First, because I LOVE what came from it, and second, it was just a really cool opportunity. This was the year of NOW. No Opportunities Wasted, and I like to think I did much better on that than I would have in other years. I think I'm going to make that my permanent motto, actually!

I'm in the midst of working on a shorter SF romance story, probably novella length, though I'm not sure. It leans a little more toward the space opera side, and I'm enjoying the change of pace, both the shorter length and the different twist on things. My goal was to finish the first draft by the end of the year, but I'm going to have to really work hard on letting go and writing a sh*tty first draft if that's going to happen. I'm hanging on just a bit too tight. I know it, and yet, haven't had time to force myself toget over it.

Now, for 2008 goals...I feel like I need a spreadsheet or Microsoft Project or something to try to be more productive and measure out my year in what Iwant to accomplish rather than just making a list and trying to guess at timeframes. I am blessed to be able to work on whatever I feel like instead of obeying set deadlines, which is fortunate, but that also means I can vacillate for days. : ) Anyone have a suggestion on how they make goals and schedule them for completion?