New Year, New Goals, New Post

Another new year is upon us. I, like most people, look at January as a time to make a fresh start, but I don't make resolutions anymore.
This year, I'm making goals for myself. I recently read a blog post by Nina Amir, where she talks about SMART goals and how to ensure your success. You can read the article here.

Source: NinaAmir.com

I've already got a few irons in the fire that will help me toward a more productive 2016.

-I've temporarily stopped querying agents and hired an editor to help me make THE CLOVER KEY a better manuscript.
-I'm setting up a blog calendar for this blog, and I'm in the process of starting a blog for our automotive business.
-The chosen attendees for The Work Conference will be notified on January 15th. I'm nervous and excited for the results, but in the meantime, I'll be working on the second draft of my second novel.
-I know I have to lose weight, get organized, etc, etc, but I'm also working on making time for fun with family and friends.

Baby steps, small attainable goals, and a strong desire to make 2016 productive, happy, and less stressful should help me succeed.

What about you? Do you set goals or make resolutions?

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Happy Thanksgiving

Thursday is Thanksgiving. It's also Make Your Own Head Day. Feel free to combine those two holidays any way you see fit, and if you're feeling particularly artistic, by all means take photos and send them to me.

Right now, I'm neck deep in the first draft of my new novel, Halcyon Dream, and frantically trying to get to 50,000 words or more by midnight on Saturday. I'm fairly confident I'll make it to the finish line this year. When the first draft is complete, I'll print the whole mess out and then put it away until January. When I look at it with fresh eyes, I'm sure I'll shake my head quite often, wondering what the heck I was thinking when I wrote it. For now, I just want to get done so that I can enjoy the Christmas season. By enjoy, I mean pulling my hair out every time I think of all the things I need to do. In any case, I'm not there yet.

I've been thinking about what's in store for this blog in 2014. As soon as I figure it all out, I'll let you all know.

The Four for Friday feature was fun, but I'd like to do something new next year.
The Fun Facts feature needs a new theme for 2014. I think I have an idea, but we'll see.

Coming up with fun and interesting posts can be difficult during the best of times, but I find I sometimes devote more time to the research for a post than I do to my manuscripts. The most writing I accomplished in 2013 was my 50,000 NaNoWriMo words. I've noticed a number of blogger/writers with the same concern. I may cut down on the frequency of my posts so that I can be more productive with my writing in 2014.

I'm interested in how you all cope with blogging and writing, especially if you work a full-time job.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that I'm thankful for each and every one of you, and to wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving Day.

Paying It Forward--Cross-Promotion is a Wonderful Thing!

Paying it forward has made for a very busy week. 

The Best Indie Book Festival is over.

but the afterglow still lingers.

More than 60 authors and bloggers joined Melissa Foster's Awesome Support Group. 

(Do you see me?)

AKA #GoTeamPIF

We interviewed and promoted 10 amazing authors and their award-winning books, helping to increase their sales and exposure.

All bloggers have reported an increase in traffic and some have even been contacted by other authors, requesting interviews!

On a personal note, I've interacted with some great authors and even got to interview Kathie Shoop! 

(Did you see it? It's right HERE!)

I also came away with about 15 books to read, increased my Twitter followers, blog traffic and 

Facebook author page fans. 

I've gotten so much exposure through the event that I know would have taken forever to get on my own. 

I've gained a little more self-confidence and so many opportunities and possibilities have become available through the World Literary Cafe.

But more importantly, I've met so many awesome people (especially Melissa Foster) from all over the world with the common goal to support authors and 

Pay it Forward.

Who knows? Maybe some day soon, they'll all help promote my novel...