Saturday, December 31, 2016

Reflections on 2016 & Goals for 2017





  
Reflections on 2016

2016 was an amazing and blessed year. Yes, there was a lot of struggles, such as illness (I suffer from a severe case of gastroparesis and full GI tract motility, as well as severe spinal disc degenerative disease and fibromyalgia.) So I’ve spent many days in the doctors or hospital/ER. However, 2016 was also filled with so many blessings despite my illnesses. I turned 40 this year, which is awesome, as I was born a premie (Three months premature) and wasn’t even expected to live more than two days, but here I am at age 40 and loving life!

I’m very grateful for my dad and my sister; I don’t get to see them much, due to living so far away, but they are still a huge part of my life. I’m also grateful for the wonderful doctors I have and have come to know in 2016. I have a new ortho doc that rocks and I just got a new GI doc, so hoping lots of good comes in 2017 in regards my motility conditions and that we can get me on the road to stabilization (there is no cure).

Another huge thing that I’m grateful for was my decision to finally write for publication. Yes, it’s a huge daunting task ahead of me, but it’s also so fulfilling and exciting! I’m looking forward to this journey and to publishing my first novel in 2017! I’ve been writing off and on for years; in school and on my own, and have had the idea of writing a novel and especially in the historical romance genre.  However, I was always too timid to go for it and also other life things took precedence. I thank you for joining me on this journey!


Goals for 2017

These are some of my personal as well as professional goals for the overall year. They will be broken down into smaller goals every two months.

  1. Every two months, write new goals and strive to achieve them.

  1. Keep track whether or not I’ve obtained my goals.


  1. Put 100+% effort into the writing courses; my own created writing course I’m undergoing during January & February, in addition to the online course I’m taking.


  1. Begin outlining the first book in my Wexford Sisters in mid-February; if not sooner.


  1. Begin writing first draft of my first book in my Wexford Sisters no later than beginning of March.


  1. Stick to a set writing schedule. Strive to write 3000 words per day.


  1. Keep to release schedule as best I can and have the first book in the Wexford Sisters published by end of May or no later than June 1st.


8.   Begin learning all I can about author platforming and creating my author brands. Look into companies to help start this.

9.   Set up a professional author website.


10.                Stick to my blog schedule (What’s Marie Reading Mondays, Write Your Heart Out Wednesday’s, Author Tag Thursday (once every two weeks for this one) and possibly add in another Sensational Historical Saturday’s (share lots of historical tidbits or this day in history, etc.)

11.                Learn Calligraphy with my new Quill Pen Set that I got for Christmas! I can’t wait to send out Christmas cards in 2017!

  1. Eat healthier or as best I can in regards to Gastroparesis.

  1. Return to Ballet.

  1. Get up earlier every day.

  1. Try to get better sleep (this is important for everyone, but especially writers in order to keep the creative juices alive and flowing.)

2 comments:

  1. You have some wonderful goals. I need to actually make some goals in 2017 instead of just floating around. The only advice I would give you is to try and do as much of your platform work on your own. Paying for an editor if you self-pub is a must do and that costs enough. :) From one preemie to another, I wish you a lot of success in 2017.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, my friend! This is wonderful advice and I'm going to begin looking into good editors! How premature were you? I was three months and was in the hospital for over 6 months. I barely weighed 2 pounds, but God is good and I'm alive and thriving :)

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