Marketing Monday

What a gloomy, gloomy day outside. It's raining. We had so much snow for several days, and now it rains. That seems so strange to me. Winter means snow, spring means rain, but that's not how it works in Oregon.

The publishing industry is still in holiday mode with most companies closed until January 5. So there's nothing to report this week. Karin Tabke's First Line contest continues and the next announcement of finalists for the 3rd round won't happen for another week.

Okay, I've been thinking a lot about my goals for next year, and I'm hesitant. Will I fail to reach them? I'm trying to put myself in a mindset that it's okay to fail, but if I do that, then I'm giving
myself permission to not meet my goals. But if I don't leave myself the option to fail, then I feel pressured and it stresses me out. Aargh! Maybe this whole goal-setting thing isn't for me. Sigh.

Here they are anyway:

• Finish Mystic Taxi by the end of January
• Enter MT in the 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Contest before February 8
• Get a multi-book contract for Knight's Curse (actually, that's my agent's goal, but it's one we share since we're in this together)
• Attend RMFW conference in Sept.
• Write and submit a novella for Silhouette Nocturne Bites
• Write the second book in my Knight series
• Write 1000 words a day
• Keep up with my blog by posting Monday thru Friday
• Lose 25 pounds
• Teach Kinsey to run and hike with me

I think that's it. I can add to them whenever I want, right? The thousand words a day thing is a bit ambitious, but I'm really going to try. My days are filled with interruptions lately, so staying in the flow of a good writing session has been challenging. Now, while the puppy is sleeping, I'm going to attempt to add to the WIP. I'm coming up on a scene where Henry and his nephew are hunting ghosts to catch and use as an ingredient for a spell. It will be a fun one to write.