Happy New Year!
There is an online comic strip that I just adore called The Awkward Yeti. It is the brain child of Nick Seluk and one of its features is the Adventures of Heart and Brain.
I love Heart and Brain.
Heart is so fun-loving and eager and ready for whatever happens next while Brain is steady and cautious and hesitant. They are each other’s perfect balance. Yesterday’s comic (seen below) pretty much sums up how I feel about 2017.
The logical part of me agrees with Brain, but the creative part of me is with Heart 100%. Yes, it’s only been a few days since 2016 barreled through all our lives like a steam roller, but I want to believe that 2017 will hold much more hope for everyone. So I’m going to side with Heart on the this one. I’m going to stay positive and look at 2017 to be the year of New Beginnings.
In order to do that, I have got to get organised. I did a little organizing last year (and by organizing I mean I wrote events down in my calendar after the fact), but this year I am determined to stay on top of things. For that to happen I have to write things down. Not type them into Google Calendar like I do with other, less important things (like the Day Job), but physically write them down on a piece of paper. Or, better yet, a planner. I picked up Bria Quinlan’s AuthorLife Planner and have begun to use it. At the very least I have started to enter my schedule into the upcoming months.
The planner really is a work of art. It’s not just a calendar, but a way to organize and prioritize the writing life. From budget planning and tracking, to goal setting to branding assistance. And that’s all before the monthly and weekly pages. I will have to really dig into it this weekend and plan my strategy for the year.
I have a few things in the works for 2017. For one, I am entering Seduction in the Golden Heart Contest again. While most of the story has remained the same, the opening chapters have gone through quite a bit of change since last year and I feel it is a much stronger story for it.
I will officially start The Great Agent Hunt and begin seeking representation for my Reluctant Lords series. I have decided that traditional publishing is the way to go for me for various reasons, so I have been compiling a list of agents who I would like to represent me. I even put them in a spreadsheet so I can track who I’ve sent my query out to. I will also be adding names as they come up. Have I mentioned how much I love spreadsheets? ;)
In January, I’ll have my first speaking is at at the monthly meeting of the San Diego Writers and Editors Guild. I’ll be talking romance and trends and breaking the stereotypes of romance authors. Then in March I’ll be speaking on a Law Enforcement Panel at the California Dreamin’ Conference (there’s still time to register!).
I’ll also be taking a more active role within the writing community. Starting in January, I will be co-PRO Liaison for OCCRWA, and am the 2017 Programs Director for the Beau Monde chapter of RWA.
On the writing front, I will begin work on book 2 in the Reluctant Lords series, and I have a Christmas book in the works that I am planning on getting ready to publish by the end of October. In order to keep on track with all this, I am participating in several online writing challenges. One is an accountability challenge hosted by 10 Minute Novelists that I am really excited about. Another is the three month Savvy Authors Boot Camp on planning, plotting, and peopling a novel. I’m hoping to take away tips and tricks that I can use on all the stories I have planned to write this year.
Along with all the books I have planned, I will still be posting my weekly Sunday Speed Dates and TBR Thursdays, along with This Writers Life and Adventures in Research as they come up.
So far 2017 is looking like it will be a good year. I’ll be busy, for sure, but I live for the excitement of a deadline!
So, Friends, what writing plans do you have for this year?
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