November is National Novel Writing month and many writers commit to writing a 55,000 word manuscript during that month. Nanowrimo! I watched as several authors I know embarked upon that adventure. I even considered doing the same. In the end, I did not. I wasn't ready for a number of reasons. For one thing, I had a lot of paying freelance writing jobs stacked up and I didn't want to put those off for something that didn't pay (until later if it gets published!) I also had the holidays looming in front of me and a lot going on at home with my two daughters. I couldn't do it. But I could PLAN to do it. So that's what I did.
I already knew what I wanted to do for my next romance novel. I wanted to call it Mamarazzi and base it in Hollywood. Since I admit that I am not good at coming up with names, I did a character naming contest and allowed readers to name the people who would appear in the book. Once that contest was over, I took the holidays off. Now that they are behind me, I am embarking on my own NanoWriMo. Only it's more of a JanoWriMo. I am doing my best to write the initial draft of Mamarazzi in the month of January. So far, I am on track and it is going well.
Mamarazzi is my first goal for 2014 since it is the first thing I am doing in the New Year. Once it is complete, I would really love to try using some beta readers to get some impressions from people before I go through and make changes, edit etc. That is something I have never done before. I do have someone who reads through and helps me with grammar etc, but outside that one person, no one really reads my stuff until it's in print...if it's ever in print. So I would like to try something like that in 2014 and see how helpful it is to me.
This year, I am also going to see "Wrong Place, Right Time" in print in December 2014. The editing starts in March followed by cover design and all sorts of other exciting steps. I consider this book to be my first real published piece. I have several other paperbacks but I have never been an intricate part of the process before. Two of my paperbacks I self-published for fun (not saying anything bad about self-publishing here, it's admirable and lots of work. I, however, did not put the work into it that many do. My self-published novels were more so that I could see it in print and give it to family, friends etc.) The other two paperbacks with my name on the cover were created by Blue Ribbon Books. They bought the stories for ebooks and eventually turned them into paperbacks. I had no idea the books would ever be in print and don't make any royalties from them. So while it's cool to have all of those books out there, "Wrong Place, Right Time" is still what I feel will be my very first.
This year, I hope to get a publishing contract for "Accept this Dandelion" which is currently under consideration with my publisher. With any luck, perhaps I can get a contract going for "Mamarazzi" as well and really get them lined up!
I would also like to set a goal in my freelance writing. I just did my end of the year report and I made slightly more this year than last year. I am amazed because I had a baby last January and there were several months where my grand total income was $0. :) I don't have a number in mine, but I would like to grow my freelance business each year. That doesn't mean I'll have time to write more, but perhaps I can write higher paying things each year. Someday, when my girls are in school, I can write more as well. But for now, I'm thrilled with the way things are going.
Outside of writing, I'd really like to leave the house alone more this year. Haha. With a 4-year-old and nearly 1-year-old I have left the house a grand total of three times in 2013 alone. Each of those three times was when one or both of them was asleep and I was majorly rushed to make it back home before they awakened and terrorized my husband or mom. :) Perhaps sometime in 2014 when they are awake I can venture out alone. Maybe at least once. :)
I don't want to overdo it with goals because I'm not good at backing down once I make them. I feel like these goals are pretty decent and attainable and very exciting as well. I look forward to letting you in on the journey as I go!
I already knew what I wanted to do for my next romance novel. I wanted to call it Mamarazzi and base it in Hollywood. Since I admit that I am not good at coming up with names, I did a character naming contest and allowed readers to name the people who would appear in the book. Once that contest was over, I took the holidays off. Now that they are behind me, I am embarking on my own NanoWriMo. Only it's more of a JanoWriMo. I am doing my best to write the initial draft of Mamarazzi in the month of January. So far, I am on track and it is going well.
Mamarazzi is my first goal for 2014 since it is the first thing I am doing in the New Year. Once it is complete, I would really love to try using some beta readers to get some impressions from people before I go through and make changes, edit etc. That is something I have never done before. I do have someone who reads through and helps me with grammar etc, but outside that one person, no one really reads my stuff until it's in print...if it's ever in print. So I would like to try something like that in 2014 and see how helpful it is to me.
This year, I am also going to see "Wrong Place, Right Time" in print in December 2014. The editing starts in March followed by cover design and all sorts of other exciting steps. I consider this book to be my first real published piece. I have several other paperbacks but I have never been an intricate part of the process before. Two of my paperbacks I self-published for fun (not saying anything bad about self-publishing here, it's admirable and lots of work. I, however, did not put the work into it that many do. My self-published novels were more so that I could see it in print and give it to family, friends etc.) The other two paperbacks with my name on the cover were created by Blue Ribbon Books. They bought the stories for ebooks and eventually turned them into paperbacks. I had no idea the books would ever be in print and don't make any royalties from them. So while it's cool to have all of those books out there, "Wrong Place, Right Time" is still what I feel will be my very first.
This year, I hope to get a publishing contract for "Accept this Dandelion" which is currently under consideration with my publisher. With any luck, perhaps I can get a contract going for "Mamarazzi" as well and really get them lined up!
I would also like to set a goal in my freelance writing. I just did my end of the year report and I made slightly more this year than last year. I am amazed because I had a baby last January and there were several months where my grand total income was $0. :) I don't have a number in mine, but I would like to grow my freelance business each year. That doesn't mean I'll have time to write more, but perhaps I can write higher paying things each year. Someday, when my girls are in school, I can write more as well. But for now, I'm thrilled with the way things are going.
Outside of writing, I'd really like to leave the house alone more this year. Haha. With a 4-year-old and nearly 1-year-old I have left the house a grand total of three times in 2013 alone. Each of those three times was when one or both of them was asleep and I was majorly rushed to make it back home before they awakened and terrorized my husband or mom. :) Perhaps sometime in 2014 when they are awake I can venture out alone. Maybe at least once. :)
I don't want to overdo it with goals because I'm not good at backing down once I make them. I feel like these goals are pretty decent and attainable and very exciting as well. I look forward to letting you in on the journey as I go!
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