2015 Writing goals, hopes and dream...

I am guilty of blog neglect, but what better way to get started again than to think about where I have been with my writing and where I want things to go for 2015. First goal of the year is to do better with this blog in 2015. I will see what I can do, but my writing must come first for the most part.

As I look at me and my writing, it is difficult trying to find the time to write, what with a full time job and a family. The last few months have been full of family medical issues which do not lend to finding the words late at night when I do have time to write, but this too shall pass and I am hoping with the new year things will get back to normal.

Since the height of October's Moonlight and Magnolia's event with SAWYER'S ROSE receiving an honorable mention, a few things have happened. I got the manuscript off to seven different editors and agents, some asking for partials and others for a full. I managed to get them all off in one night of serious determination long before November. The verdict so far? Two rejections, but a couple of promising emails that leave me hopeful for a couple of the others.

Rejections come hard. The height of hope comes crashing down, but I've managed to take a deep breath and pick it up with fresh hope each time. I am reminded of a couple of quotes from writer friends. One is that "it all boils down to the right editor/agent at the right time." The other is that it is "the journey you must remember to enjoy." So what did I do when I absorbed these rejections? Well, I jumped right into the November challenge to complete a book. The result was about 80,000 words into Wyatt's Bounty. :)

I started writing for publication in mid 2011 and I remember being so lost in the characters of that first story that I could hear their voices and sagas in my head all day long. But I remember the joy of coming home from work, handling the children and all the daily chores and then later excited to find myself alone again with my laptop and my story. It was fun, and it still is. I don't want to lose that. Another writer friend has reminded me that writing before publication is sometime when you have the most fun, because there are no pressures and time lines you have to meet. Your story is your own, your time frame is your own and you decide. Maybe she is right as I kind of call my own shots now on how it gets done. But then again, I can push myself harder than anyone else might ask me to do. I don't set hard daily number counts and while I do try to set a goal of when I will complete a rough draft, sometime I meet it and sometimes I don't. Usually when I don't there is a good reason and the writing will win if I give it more time.

So my plans for 2015:
1) Complete Wyatt's Bounty Full Manuscript
2) Enter Wyatt's Bounty in the GRW's Gin Ellis Critique for some feedback
3) Enter Wyatt's Bounty in the Maggies-even with the upped deadline
4) Keep the blog updated at least monthly
5) Stay hopeful Sawyer's Rose will get it's chance
6) Start on Dawson's Haven, once Wyatt's Bounty is complete
7) Enter All But the Fall, my contemporary in the Maggies
8) Maybe enter Sawyer's Rose in the Golden Heart next time

While I set new years goals carefully most of the time, I never have been one that is rigid about them. Life sometimes gets in the way and you have to give yourself a break here and there. And so there you have it, at least for now. Stay tuned to see how things go in 2015.