Monday Musings 12-21-20

The end of 2020 is almost here, and most of us are really looking forward to turning the page on our calendars! The human race has collectively had a rough go of it in 2020. Every year, most of us look back and take stock, maybe reassess, and then set our intentions for the coming year. For me, the new year usually represents all kinds of potential. I like to stand in the beginning of it and imagine all I can accomplish in the coming months. But this year, it feels more like a celebration of endings.

My different mindset this year got me thinking about endings, and the fact that sometimes we aren’t aware that we’ve just experienced something for the last time, or said goodbye to someone for the last time. This has happened often in my life, especially with regards to raising children. I don’t know the exact last time we read a bedtime story, only that one day, it wasn’t part of our bedtime routine anymore. I can’t recall the last time I pushed a little body on a swing, or buckled someone into a carseat. These things just ended, quietly and without fanfare.

My third son is a senior in high school. He was an multi-season athlete and sang in the high school choir. I’ll admit, sometimes I didn’t feel like attending one more concert or one more sports award ceremony, but without realizing it, I’d already attended the last one. The pandemic didn’t allow for all the ‘last things’ we’d planned on.

Last year, Ray and I were together with all our children for the holidays. This year, we won’t be. Hopefully, we’ll have them all together again in the near future, but most of the kids are adults now, with their own lives and schedules, so we really don’t know when it will be. Last Christmas, we had no idea that it might literally be years before we’d all be together again.

Many things during this strange timeline have only taken a hiatus, they aren’t over for good. I fully expect to attend a live concert, travel for book signings, visit family, and celebrate special occasions together with my children again. But living through this pandemic has made me pause and consider how I might approach an experience differently if I knew it was the last time.

Maybe there is a gift buried amidst the angst and loss we’ve collectively endured this year. Maybe we will savor the sweetness of simple things. Maybe we will love more unreservedly. Maybe, because we’ve deeply felt how fragile life can be, we will live more fully in each moment.

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favorite day,” said Pooh.”
― A.A. Milne

Wishing you all happy holidays, and a new year filled with hope, joy, and love.

Monday Musings 1-6-20

It’s the first Monday of 2020. Last week, I wrote about the importance of reflection in my habit life, and how I like to use the time leading up to the new year to take stock both personally and professionally. An honest and thorough review of the past year helps guide me into goal setting for the new year.

So, here’s how I approach the next step…

First off, I identify a series of intentions rather than specific goals. I do this in order to leave room for unforeseen opportunities, or because I’m not sure yet how a particular intention might manifest. For example, last year, I recognized that I missed teaching, and I created an intention to bring teaching back into my life. When I set this intention, I wasn’t sure how it would play out, but opportunities came in the form of leading writing workshops, panels, and conference programs. I was also offered a chance to teach a semester of Latin. While this classroom opportunity didn’t directly relate to my writing work, it nourished the teacher in me and I was pleased to accept the offer.

This year, my intention is to get into better physical shape. With each passing year, my body changes, and with it the things I need to do to support it. I have a specific routine I follow, but it hasn’t been quite the right thing for a while now. I’m going to pay more attention this year and really focus on finding what does work.

Sometimes specific goals are needed…

This year I have a new project with aggressive deadlines. Under the pen name Maggie Clare, I’ll be releasing a romantic suspense series. With this comes building the required author platform including website, social media accounts, and promotional work.

Additionally, under my own name, I’m planning to finish the draft of Dreamwalker, a gritty urban fantasy about a female assassin who almost kills an innocent man. Think Jessica Jones meets Dexter.

And finally, I’ll continue to promote the HORIZON series with a full travel and book signing schedule.

Those are my concrete goals, complete with dates and deadlines. I’ll spend the next few days planning and structuring my calendar to accommodate them. I’ll admit to being a bit OCD when it comes to working with my calendar and to-do lists. But, my method keeps me working proactively rather than reactively, and I feel more productive and in charge of my time.

One last thought as you consider setting your intentions and goals for 2020…

Focus on things you can control. I talk about this a lot with regard to writing. There are many things in the writing world I can’t control. I can’t predict how people will react to my work, what kind of reviews they’ll leave, if sales will be robust, if I’ll make it onto a coveted list, or win an award. But I can commit to improving my craft, learning the latest marketing and promotional trends, behaving professionally, and working hard. So, when I make resolutions around my writing life, I stick to things over which I can have an impact.

I hope 2020 brings you peace and joy. Happy New Year!

Monday Musings 12-30-19

It’s that odd week just before the New Year when I can’t keep track of the days, we’re still on vacation, and time seems to be moving in a strangely sluggish manner. I’m caught between reflection and planning anew.

It’s important that I make space to reflect. When I do, it feels like I’m taking a long, deep breath. By honestly evaluating the past year, I’m able to celebrate my successes, review my short-comings, and begin to form and solidify my intentions for the New Year. Certainly, the New Year is an arbitrary date on the calendar, and we can take stock, assess, and change our course if necessary at any time, but working with a particular habit life or personal rhythm has value for me.

So, here are my writerly reflections on 2019…

It’s particularly satisfying to complete a writing project, and this year, I released the final book in my Horizon series. As an author, this milestone feels pretty significant. I’ve also worked with an incredible voice actor to convert all the books to audio, traveled around the country to various Comic Cons and conferences for signings, sold two short stories to podcasts, wrote a consistent post for Monday Musings every week, continued my work as managing editor for Inkitt Writer’s Blog, and started drafting a new urban fantasy. I’ve also started a project under a pen name and completed three novel drafts for that series. More on that next week. All in all, I’m pretty pleased with my productivity in 2019.

Of course, there’s always more I wished I could have accomplished, but I feel like I was as productive as I could be, and at the end of the day (or year as the case may be), that’s really how I measure the success of my work life.

Last year, on my list of intentions, I stated I wanted to find a way to teach more because I missed being in the classroom. This year, I taught six weeks of Latin to middle-schoolers and loved every minute of it! I also moderated several panels at conferences and Cons, which feels similar to teaching in a lot of ways.

Where I fell short professionally was my work for Book Club Babble. As a partner and senior writer, I really should have produced more content. Luckily, this is a great team to work with. When one of us can’t focus on the site for whatever reason, the others pick up the slack. But, I need to make it a higher priority for 2020.

Five years ago, with my husband’s encouragement, I changed the course of my professional career and became a writer. I had no idea what that would mean, how it would look, or in what direction things would go. I was terrified to put my work out there, knowing that so much of this industry meant facing rejection. I stood at the very beginning of a path, understanding that my learning curve would be huge, and took a chance.

Now, at the end of the decade, a decade where I consciously turned the ship, so to speak, I’ve given myself permission to list all my writing accomplishments in one place. Here goes…

THE HORIZON SERIES (winner of seven independent book awards including the Writer’s Digest Grand Prize in 2016)

HORIZON

INFINITY

EQUINOX

SHORT FICTION AND PODCASTS:

Keeper of the Light from HOLDING ON BY OUR FINGERTIPS

Quest Nine - Starship Sofa

Goodbye, Charlie - Tales to Terrify (Episode 404 - last story of the hour)

Homecoming from SIRENS

NON-FICTION:

Inkitt Writer’s Blog

Book Club Babble

Project 3.8 - collected interviews of children and families dealing with pediatric cancer

If you’re reading this blog, you’ve chosen to engage with me and my creative work, and I am both humbled and grateful for your support. I write because the stories in my head are clamoring to get out, but I also write to share them with you, hoping you’ll find yourself lost in a tale or moved in some way. Reflecting on this year, and on my writing career as a whole, leaves me with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. I am so grateful to be able to pursue this art, and I am so grateful to be able to share it with all of you.

Wishing you all a very happy New Year!