This year, I resolve to:
1) Have no tight deadlines
2) Not write 1,000,000 words to get a 100,000-word novel
3) Not be constantly behind on laundry, yard, and house cleaning
4) Not exercise only when I have trouble fitting into my clothes
5) Not neglect this blog for months at a time
I remember reading somewhere that Jenny Cruisie said that characters shouldn't have only negative goals, i.e. read above. So I have also made a few positive goals.
1) Spend so much time with Hubby that he runs away when he sees me next
2) Get my bike repaired and serviced so that I never drive my car again for distances less than three miles, which should cover the grocery stores and the library and the most of the rest of my life when I'm not working my accounting job (which is 10 months out of 12).
3) Improve my grasp of the languages I already know.
4) Learn Spanish.
5) Make some money from writing. I made a grand total of $1,450 in 2007, from the Russian sale of Private Arrangements.
6) To make 5) happen, I should sell 4 books on contract.
7) Have five foreign sales. I had three in 2007--Russia, Germany, Spain. Foreign rights sales are the awesome. Every one is like a little Christmas.
8) Become a better person. I'm actually not a bad person at all, but there is always room for improvement. (And I wonder what it says about me that this resolution is way down on the list. Ha!)
9) Buy a pair of skinny jeans. By the time this happens no one will be wearing skinny jeans anymore. But I'm patient. I'll hold on to them until they come back into vogue again.
10) Care enough to be upset when my resolutions languish from casual neglect. :-)
In other news, DELICIOUS is finished. Yet again. But I like it this time and sent it out last night with excitement rather than half-dread. We shall see what my editor says.
Also, I'm thinking of a Pay-It-Forward kind of contest, even though I didn't win the one at Bettie's blog. Alas, I have very few practical skills. But I do write effective query letters. I'm also pretty good at helping people craft a pitch. Would there be any interest on the part of folks in such services? Or other suggestions on how I could pay it forward?
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13 comments:
Or you could do a first page contest. You do those awfully well too. :o)
5) Not neglect this blog for months at a time.
I'm glad you'll be blogging again. You are one of those people who always gets me thinking. I have a "Yeah, What She Said!" Post waiting with your name on it, only, you gotta blog more.
And, ok, this suggestion is completely selfish and self motivated because I'm dying to read Private Arrangements and I hate, hate, hate waiting, but, why not give away an ARC?
""But I do write effective query letters. I'm also pretty good at helping people craft a pitch. Would there be any interest on the part of folks in such services? Or other suggestions on how I could pay it forward?""
In a word - yes.
As for further suggestions an ARC of PA would be the best. Or give a crit of someone's writing? Or do a guest-blog entry?
That's a lot of resolutions BTW.
Maria,
Thanks. But recently I sat with a friend and worked on his law school essays--and quickly realized how easily it is for one person's voice to overpower another's. That happens a lot less with pitches/queries as I'm not working on language, all I do is try to extract the essence of the story out of the writer, which is sometimes better done by a third-party who comes to the story with a set of fresh eyes.
Bettie, Tumperkin,
Yo, ladies. Alas, ARCs of PA are as rare as virgin-heroes these days. I'm down to my last couple and my publicist wants them too. :-(
I will give out copies when I get the my hand on the real ones--the kind they put in stores. I assume I'll get it sooner than the general public.
That's a lot of resolutions BTW.
You can probably tell I don't take them too seriously. :-) They are more a wish list than anything else.
I will be happy to pimp you out. Hmmm I don't think I have given an author's services away as a prize yet. Damn I am disappointed in me.
Hey my blog might even be working long enough to do it. It could happen.
Glad you turned in DELICIOUS with excitement, even if there was bad weather ;).
And don't forget! You're awesome at helping others pinpoint conflict! "But what's the conflict???" you kept asking at our pitch session in May. As I work on my latest manuscript, I hear your voice in my head almost as much as my characters' voices!
You're back!
I found your blog right before you went into hibernation and thought you were really smart and witty and I'd like to read your book... and then you dropped off the face of the blogosphere! So I've been checking beck every now and again.
Good to see you.
And I'd be interested in first page or query or pitch or anything contests. *nods*
First page or query contest would be good. It'll be informative, whether readers submit or just come to read and learn. Great idea.
I don't wanna burst your bubble or anything, but getting groceries on your bike is kind of hard. I do it sometimes and invariably end up wobbling around on the ride home like a drunken two-wheeled sailor. Balance gets thrown off easily, even if you weight yourself down with a bag on either shoulder.
However, I applaud your resolutions! They all look good, and doable!
And yeah, I'm certain we'd all love any contests/help/insight you have to offer re: queries or pretty much anything else like that.
Happy new year!
Contest? What contest? Did someone say contest?
Since an ARC is out of the question...how about an autographed copy of PA upon its release?
Would love a pay it forward contest.
2) Not write 1,000,000 words to get a 100,000-word novel
This one is a really, really GOOD one. Share again how you plan on doing this?
I notice you have Spymaster's Lady under "Currently Reading." I hope you love it as much as I did. That one and Private Arrangements were the two books I was most excited about getting my hands on this year. [g]
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