My 2013 writing goals

The 13th Floor series: This is going to be my main focus for the year. I have four novellas to write, five tours to run, and all the promoting that comes with it. I put myself on a tight schedule for it. Maybe too tight? Being sick has already put me behind schedule. I keep telling myself it will be okay if I'm not rigid and strict with myself, because life happens and self-publishing gives you flexibility. That's why I decided to take that path after all. So yes, you'll be hearing A LOT about the 13th Floor series from me in 2013. How convenient the year matches my series!

The A to Z Blogging Challenge: You may have noticed I didn't schedule a book release in April for this very reason! *winks* I love the Challenge. It was incredible last year. So many original posts from people. I wrote Fearless, and I self-published it. It's been a huge success. (Almost 700 downloads just this month!) I've gotten a lot of requests for another book. You might scream and protest, but Abby, Demetrius, and Tawa's story is done. I'm not going to do another with them. BUT I might do another story about a different Fearless. There are hundreds of these warriors around the world saving children from the monsters. I haven't any ideas yet, but I'm a pantser. It'll come to me!

NaNoWriMo 2013: I considered doing Camp NaNo instead, but November wouldn't be the same if I didn't participate in this challenge. Besides, I have a book tour in June. I have no idea what I'll write, but that's okay. This is one thing I want to do every year for the rest of my life. It doesn't matter if I publish every book or not. It's the rush of the challenge and the creation of a new story.

Short stories: I'm not going to do the write 1 / submit 1 this coming year. It was an excellent exercise and I encourage writers to try it, but I need to concentrate on the 13the Floor series. Yet if I am inspired, I still would like to try to do six in 2013. I would love to get something accepted by a SFWA approved publication. That dream hasn't faded.

Revise and query one novel: I have several completed novels. All of them need to be reworked and polished. I hate revising but love writing first drafts! I want to find them homes. I'm not sure which one I'll work with. This won't be until the latter half of the year after all my work with the 13th Floor series is complete.

What are your writing goals for 2013?

Books read in 2012

The number surprised me too. I know I'm a fast reader, but I didn't think this fast! That's just over ten books a month. This doesn't include any short stories or novels I've beta read or critiqued.

I'm not going to set a goal for next year, but I'd still like to read 100 books. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me now. Most of these books were print copies. I rarely get the chance to use my Nook or sit at the computer to read. I'd love to be able to read more ebooks, but it's difficult with a toddler who loves gadgets. Maybe when he's a bit older and doesn't have to have every toy Mommy is playing with.

How many books did you read this year? Are you fast or slow reader?

How I did with my 2012 goals

Short stories - write 1 / submit 1 every month

I did it! My stories have gotten shorter as they year went on, but I'm happy with how they've turned out. I've learned a lot about writing short stories and flash fiction this year. Even if I don't get any more accepted, I feel I'm a better writer for having done this challenge.

 

Paranormal romance series

This is my 13th Floor series. I originally intended to write the first drafts of all six novellas this year, but you can never predict how life is going to change. I have the first two written. I planned to write the third this month, but with the holidays and sickness, I'm not going to make it. I'm very happy with how they're turning out and how the overall concept is coming together. This is the series I'm going to use to represent me as a writer. So it's probably for the best that I didn't rush into writing all six of them.

NaNoWriMo 2012

Yay! On November 26th, I reached over 50,000 words! I'm a 2012 NaNoWriMo winner. I wrote a superhero story called "Super Famous." I'm not sure I'll do anything with it, but it was a lot of fun to write.

 

Witch's First Rule revisions

This is a paranormal romance novel. The first in a completed trilogy. I queried the book three years ago and it got a lot of attention, but in the end, agents and publishers passed on it. I could never figure out why. Recently, I realized I was marketing it all wrong. The story started in the wrong place too. I've done two major revisions. The first chapter has been rewritten five times. But I had to put it aside. I still wasn't completely happy with the new beginning. It's starting in the right place now, but I'm not wild about the first chapter. I'm giving myself some time apart from it and maybe next year when I come back to it, I'll be able to write a first chapter that will wow me. I believe the protagonist is unique and her story fantastic, but I need to get it right before I start to query it again.

 

Projects I didn't plan

Fearless. Well, I did plan to do write it for the A to Z Challenge this year, but I never thought it would be so popular or that I would publish it. I'm very happy that everyone encouraged me to do so. Fearless continues to do very well. Thousands of readers have picked it up.

L'il Gal Al and the Zombies of Amarillo. I never thought I'd do anything with this story either. It was originally a short-listed story for an anthology, but was rejected in the end. Since it is on the longer side of short stories, I had trouble finding it a home. I wanted to get another story out there before I started publishing my 13th Floor series, and I wanted something different than paranormal romance. L'il Gal Al was perfect for the job.

 

Join me on Monday for my 2013 goals.

The Winners of The Marquis Giveaway

Thank you to everyone who entered the big Marquis giveaway. I wish everyone could win. Here are the three winners:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As the first place winner, Lynda as won a digital copy of The Marquis,

an ARC of The Alpha, and a signed copy of Fearless.

As the second place winner, Rosemary has won a digital copy of The Marquis

and an ARC of The Alpha.

Finally, as the third place winner, Trisha as won a digital copy of The Marquis.

Emails have been sent to the winners.

Another big thank you to Shannon Lawrence for hosting the giveaway for me.

The wicked neighbors post was so much fun!

Last day for the big Marquis giveaway

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We had a nice, quiet day. It took the boy two hours to open all the presents. He'd open one, play with it, and then move on. He was very excited about the playhouse we bought him. He played in the garage a lot yesterday.

A mean little virus has taken me down today. I can't think. I can barely look at the screen. We're snowed in and there's a state of emergency. I hope it isn't something dire!

There's less than 11 hours left to enter the big Marquis giveaway! There's three awesome prizes! Check out my guest post on The Warrior Muse's blog and tell us about your experiences with bad neighbors. The giveaway is open to everyone around the world.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy Christmas 2012!

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!

 There's my gorgeous son sitting with Santa.

He was happy to sit on his lap this year.

I just wish the photographer centered the photo properly!

Have a wonderful holiday season.

 

The Alpha blog tour and the 13th Floor tours in 2013

A great big thank you to everyone who participated in The Alpha's cover reveal. And I'm blushing at all the wonderful comments too. Thank you so much.

A few of you asked if I made my own covers. Yes, I did. I bought the model images from Dreamstime, and I played around in Photoshop with them until I had exactly what I wanted. I wanted something simple yet intense. I have the first four covers of the series done. The fifth one is giving me trouble. I have a definite image of Harriet (the banshee) in my head, and I can't seem to find any models that suit her. It's a case of wishing I could've had the cover done first and then come up with the character.

The Alpha's blog tour is scheduled for January 13th - 17th. If you'd like to host me on the tour or any of the tours next year, please send me an email at christinerains [dot] writer @ gmail [dot] com. All the dates for the tours and cover reveals are listed on my 13th Floor series page.

Please add 1302 - The Alpha "to read" on Goodreads.

Another huge thank you to everyone who hosted me on the 1301 - The Marquis blog tour. You guys are awesome. The final giveaway is still going on until the 27th. Check out The Warrior Muse's blog for details.

One final bit of exciting news: Fearless got a massive boost during my blog tour. It's still sitting in Amazon's top 100 free ebooks for paranormal under fantasy. It made it as far as #27. My brilliant editor added the first chapter of The Marquis after the end of Fearless. Hopefully this will help push up sales for it. So if you don't have your copy of Fearless yet, grab one, and get a preview of The Marquis too!