How's Your Winter Going?

How's your winter going so far? Mine has been full of revisions, queries, and weights (and waits). We've had a little snow, which is a rarity in Missouri. Have you had any snow? Are you a fan? I miss the snowy winters of Iowa (pictured above). I miss the snow hiking and snowshoeing adventures my friend Sunny and I had.

Do you have big plans for 2018? My biggest plan is to be persistent in my querying and start writing a YA that I've kind of started. My other big plan for 2018 is to be healthier. I've had a good start so far. I'm using the My Fitness app to track my calories and I'm tracking my workouts on my Fitbit. I try to hit 10,000 steps a day. I don't hit it every day, but my goal is to hit it five days a week.  There is a great conversion chart here. I use it when I lift weights or do other exercise. It's really handy.

I hope you have a wonderful 2018, filled with love,  good health and success in whatever you are working on.  :)

Do You Have A Plan?

Do you have writing goals for 2012?  

One of my goals is to finish my mg novel NOT A HOLIDAY.   I am going to do is read Yellow Star by Jennifer Roy.  I won an agent critique of the first 10 pages and she gave me some great advice.  She suggested I read this book (by one of her clients).

Lenny and I are going to write a picture book together this year.  He has a great idea for it!  Let's just say...gators rock!

I'm going to keep a daily calendar where I write down what I did pertaining to writing that day.  I think it will show me how much or little I am doing which will hold me accountable. (I don't want any blank pages!)

I will go to at least one writer's retreat/workshop this year.  I'm still wavering on which one to go too.  I want to go to one where I can work with master writers and learn from them.

Do you have a health goal for 2012?

I joined a 10 week extreme fitness program.  I start tomorrow.  I decided it's something I need.
I've put on some weight over the last three years and what I was doing for exercise wasn't working for me.  I'll keep you posted (if you want to know).

In 2012, I'm going to remember to stop and enjoy the small blessings in my life.  Peaches is such a blessing to our family.  She still has a limp, the vet said she probably will always have it.  It doesn't seem to bother her.  She zooms around the house, jumps on Macy and drags toys down the stairs and around the house.

Have you written any goals for this year?  I hope you are going to...I think it makes them more attainable if you put them down on paper.

Happy New Year everyone!

HUGS TO ALL!!!

Sharing Goals For This Week

Last week I submitted two pieces...one to Highlights and one to Children's Writer's Kindergarten Story Contest.  I haven't submitted anything for a while.  I loved both pieces and am feeling pretty good about them.  (Cross your fingers and toes for me, please.)

My goals for this week are to do revisions on a beginning chapter book called BEG, BORROW, AND EARN. 

What did you do last week? 

What are your goals for next week?

Have a wonderful week! (Happy writing, reading, walking, singing, purring, taking photographs, dancing, going to work, mothering, fathering, running, talking, playing, blogging or shopping.)

SETTING GOALS PAYS OFF!

As an aspiring author with no contracts or books on the market (YET) I have to be willing to set my own goals and deadlines.  Last month I entered Jackee's May Scramble Challenge.  We had to set writing goals and blog visit goals.  I was the winner and today this awesome package sitting on my front porch when I got home from the gym.   Jackee inspired me to put my new blog visits and word count goal on my sidebar, but then I took it one step further and began posting my weekly goals (with my progress in parenthesis). 

(Jackee is going sugar free for the month of June...I'm not!  Thanks, Jackee!  I've been desperate to try coconut M & M's.  They taste like...summer!)

Do you keep track of your word count goals? Blogging goals? What about writing queries?  For me, writing queries is a huge struggle...I labor over the letter for days and then who to send it to for weeks.  What about you?  Are queries challenging for you or are they a walk in the park?

P.S. I'm only 814 people away from having a 1,000 followers! Can you believe it? I'm totally stoked and have been thinking of what to do to celebrate when I'm 800 followers away from 1,000. Well, we've come up with a plan...My daughter (now a high school freshman) and I decided to have a Really Random Prize Give-A-Way...one of EPIC proportion! It's going to be sooooo (I could add more o's) much fun for you, me and a committee of judges....

WHAT I LEARNED IN MAY...

Did you participate in Jackee's Great May Scramble Challenge?  I'm pleased to announce that I was the winner (random.org is my friend)!  Jackee's challenge involved setting a word count goal and a blogging goal.  I decided that I would visit three new-to-me blogs a day.  I felt that if I set the number too high, I wouldn't be able to spend time reading the blogs I visit on a regular basis.  I discovered there are all kinds of blogs out there.  If you look at my side bar you'll see I have some non-writer blogs listed.  (Check them out...they'll make you smile too!)  I didn't meet my word count goal, but I did work on my writing in some way every day, so that was a big accomplishment.

I don't know about you, but I realized I need to write down my writing goals on a weekly basis.  Thanks to Lenny, I remembered what SMART goals were and how to set them.  Lenny made a comment about being careful not to set too many goals...Well, I forgot that I took Monday off to ride the Harley, so I did no writing related work and gave myself too many goals...The good thing is I've accomplished part of what I wanted to do (and I still have Friday).  I finished a query letter and sent it to an editor that an agent, I queried in February, suggested and to a publisher in the UK. (I'd love having it published in the UK, then I could visit family and call it work. *smile*) 

I realized that I'm more productive after I have a nap.  I get the kiddo off to school, go to the gym, check my email, take a nap and then start my writing day...

When are you most productive?  Do you have a routine?

The Goal...The Destination...The Library of Congress

We say we write because we love to write (and I'm sure that is true), but ultimately I think all writers want to have a copy of their manuscript in the Library of Congress.

If you are planning a trip to Washington DC, call your congressman and get a tour. It's an overwhelmingly beautiful building. It contains a copy of all copyrighted manuscripts in the US. Isn't that cool? When your book is published, it will be in the company of so many great books. I'm guessing they are organized by last name. So who will you be by in the Library of Congress? Does anyone know how they organize them? Are they by genre? Are they in a file cabinet? These are some of the questions I should have asked when we toured.

The above photograph is of a Christmas card a dear friend sent me after my trip to DC. She knew that tour was the highlight of my trip.


Has anyone else been to the Library of Congress? Do you know the answers to any of my questions? Do you have a manuscript there? Do tell...

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

Why are you walking down this path? Do you seek fame or fortune? What does success look like to you? Is it a novel, a picture book, a magazine publication, an income or even a following on your blog?

For me, I see a little hand reaching for something on a shelf. It's a book. Not just any book. This book's cover is so alluring that no hand can pass it by. Delicate watercolor illustrations decorate this hardback book. (Jerry Pinkney is the illustrator in my dream.) There under the title is a name, my name. When that little hand opens the book, the reader discovers there is more to this book than pretty pictures. It tells a story, a story that touches his heart. It's a story that teaches him about his world and once finished with the book, he has learned a little about himself.

Oh, I'd like to make enough money to pay for a house keeper once a week. :)

WHAT ABOUT YOU?
BTW...My Grandad built the path in the picture.