I’ve made one goal this year – write every day.  So far (all two days of it!) I’ve kept it.  The actual word counts haven’t been stunning, but it’s all about the habit forming.

I’ve also set out a pretty impressive project schedule for the year.  Several new short novellas to start the year, two full length books to be ready by GH, and several more shorts to end the year.   Most of the shorts are theme stories – Halloween, wedding, dragons, and more.  There are so many publishers with great theme lines going, it is hard to pick which one to go with.  But I’ve narrowed it down to what I think may be doable – especially if I can keep to my goal, and write every day.

2007, hang on tight – we’ve got a long road ahead of us.  :thumbup:

And, I’ve still got to write about 30,000 words on Krissy’s Story.  Deadline on the Golden Heart is creeping up on me.  Did I say creeping? I meant thundering up and biting me on the ass.  Ouch, ouch… ‘k, I’m writing!

And because I don’t put enough deadlines in front of myself – one more contest I’ve planned to enter this year has a deadline coming up soon.  The “Linda Howard Award of Excellence Contest” is the contest for Southern Magic, the Birmingham chapter of RWA.  I want to enter for purely selfish reasons – if I final, I can justify going to the conference.  If I don’t even enter the contest, I don’t go.  I think Krissy’s Story has seen enough contest action, so if I’m entering this contest I really need to get it in gear on my next book.
Guess I better get writing.

Ok, enough about whether I’ll be able to get online at the conference.  Let’s talk about deadlines.  Do you like them?  Hate them?  Do you work better or worse under the pressure?

I love them.  I love to make plans, but nothing gets me fired up more than having a drop-dead goal and knowing that it’s up to me to meet it.  So, I’ve got one week to finish up both the short I’m pitching to Ellora’s Cave, and a brand new pitch for the Blaze pitch party.  I’ve got the basics for the Blaze storyline, although I can tell already I’m going to have to merge a few characters – or maybe put them in a second book.  The short story just needs me to buckle down and finish it.

So I’m off to write.  Hope you’re meeting your goals and deadlines as we count down to conference!

The RWA conference is now less than 3 weeks away, so it’s deadline time. I’ve got some work to do between now and then writing!

So :
1 – 10,000 words a week on Krissy’s story
2 – rework the first chapter of Desire

Still not sure which story I’m going to pitch at my editor conference. I think Krissy’s story is the stronger one, but I want to pitch a completed work, not something that isn’t done. So if I can’t finish Krissy’s story by conference, I’ll pitch Desire – it’s finished, just needs a new opening.

19 days to write!

So this morning I’ve decided to go one week at a time. 1000 words a day, and see where that gets me.

Babysteps!

Sunday – finish polish on first chapter of Warrior’s Mate; write cover letter for The Knight Agency

Monday – send first chapter and cover letter to TKA; Hit 10,000 words on Warrior’s Mate

Tuesday – Hit 11,000 words on Warrior’s Mate

Wednesday – Hit 12,000 words on Warrior’s Mate

Thursday – reread and print out so it can be laying around in case Sis has a few minutes to read this weekend

There will probably be no writing after Thursday; I begin WOFATTAS – my Weekend of Fun at the Theatre and Such. Sis will be here from Friday until Monday; Tuesday is Brainy Boy’s birthday, and we’ve promised him much fun. Wednesday will be May 31 – I’ll have new goals then. And hopefully a clear direction of that still murky project I want to have ready to pitch to Nocturne in Atlanta.

What are your goals for the week?