Looking Ahead to 2012

The New Year is peeking around the corner. For some of my readers on the other side of the International Date Line 2012 may have already arrived. With the new years comes new goals. The standards are to lose weight, be a better person, or win the lottery. I'm not bothering with that.

Losing weight is a given, I'm having a baby in 2012! I may not be a size two in 2012, but a size two wouldn't be a healthy weight for my height so I'm not worried.

Being a better person is a vague goal. By whose standard should I be better? How do I measure progress? Unless there's a concrete, measurable standard the goal is just wishful thinking.

As for the lottery, well, I don't play the lottery so making a goal of winning it would be hypocritical and impossible to accomplish.

Instead, I'm setting some writing goals, and you can help me accomplish some of them! (Aren't you excited? No? Scared? Yes, probably.) My only requirement for goals this year be that they are concrete and measurable.

#1 - Hit All My Deadlines
Easy enough, but still a goal. I have a book under contract now and I want to finish all the edits by the deadlines my editor assigns.


#2 - Query JANE DOE
Again, I expect to hit this goal before mid-summer, but I'm giving myself a year to accomplish it just in case things get dicey in real life.

Note: This does not mean "find an agent" or "sell JANE DOE" all it means is that I will send queries. I can't control what agents or publishers do. And, as always, I have a back up plan if the query angle doesn't work out.


#3- Write JANE'S SHADOW
I want to have a complete draft of the second book in the Jane series by the end of 2012. I have a partial draft and an outline now. I might be able to write and polish JANE'S SHADOW this year, but it will depend on outside factors, like deadlines for EVFIL and what happens with JD.


#4- Write Another SFR Novella
This is a "Just For Fun" goal. I have several ideas of what I would like to write, and I know at some point I'll want a break from Jane. This is my fallback-for-sanity writing project.


#5- Schedule a Blog Tour for EVEN VILLAINS FALL IN LOVE
This is where you can help! EVFIL comes out in April (provided I don't run into any major SNAFUs), and promotion makes or breaks a book. Copies will be going out to reviewers, I intend to do giveaways and have a party on the blog, but I'd also like to take the book on tour and promote it around the blogosphere.

This means networking and planning, two things I need to work on. It also means that if you have a blog, and are looking for a guest author in the March/April time frame, I'd love to help you out. ;o)

If you don't have a blog you can help out by visiting the blogs where I'm touring. Everyone needs groupies, and other bloggers love the extra visitors that guest authors bring in. So grab your most atrociously matched outfit, a fruity drink, and come play tourist when I go on tour!

What are your goals for 2012?