Monday, January 7, 2013

Bring It On, 2013!

I'm back from spending the holidays in Hawaii with the fam to consistent subzero temperatures at home...but that's okay. I'm refreshed and ready for the new year and everything it will bring.

I sure wish it was this kind of ice we came home to. :)

I've been reflecting on all I've accomplished last year and what I hope to this year. I even found this post with my 2012 writing goals. Here's how I did:

1. Read 50 books--Yep. Got that one in just in time.

2. Query 2 books--Yes. And the second one landed me an agent, so yay!

3. Draft 1 book--Done. In fact, I ended up drafting 2! :)

4. Study/read writing craft books 1 hr. a week--Um...no. I only read 4 craft books in all. BUT I attended 3 writers conferences, critiqued tons of manuscripts, and spent an embarrassing amount of time online honing my craft, so I don't feel so bad about this one.

Not too shabby, I think. My writing goals this year are simple:

1. Revise my Nano book.

2. Draft 1 book.

That's it. No specific reading goals (except to try and not feel so guilty when I take time out to read). I already signed up for the Storymakers conference in May...so excited for that! Since I'll probably be going on submission some time this year, I'd LOVE to get a book deal, but since I can't really control that, I'm gonna focus on writing and enjoying it.

What are some of your goals for 2013? I hope your dreams come true--Bruddah Iz style...

35 comments:

Jeremy Bates said...

Hey, did you see Barrack and Michelle while there? lol

Nice to have a vacation there over the holidays. I spent 2 weeks in Arizona visiting my parents and now it's back to Manila weather and time.

Cheers to you and yours in 2013.

Tonja Drecker said...

Glad you enjoyed your vacation... and yep, I'm jealous ;)

Suzi said...

One of my goals is to finish my NaNo project too. Get it ready for querying. Maybe by mid-summer. But we'll see.

jaybird said...

Welcome back!! That is my fav version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Love it!

So glad you met all of those goals for 2012! I know you will accomplish even more this year.

Glad to have you back! Missed you here in the blogosphere.

ilima said...

Jeremy-Haha. Not up close, but I did see a caravan of a million dark-windowed cars and police, so... Glad you got to spend time with your family too.

Tonja-Thanks!

Suzi-Yay, let's shiny up those Nanos together. :)

Jaybird-Thank you, I've missed keeping up with everyone on their blogs too. Hope you had a great holiday.

Kathryn Purdie said...

I love this song!

My 2013 goals are the exact same as yours: revise my latest draft and write a new one.

I'm so excited for you to go on sub!

Emily said...

You freaking nailed your 2012 goals. Good job! I think my goal for 2013 is to write a book.

Also, wish I was in Hawaii over Christmas too! So jealous!

ilima said...

Katie-Yay, we can be goal twinners and cheer each other on. I can't wait to read BOTH of those books of yours this year!

Emily-Writing a book is the perfect goal, I think. Next time we should go to Hawaii together! When I land my 6 figure book deal, I'll fly us all over for our next CP retreat. :)

Johanna Garth said...

Sounds like you had a great vacation to top off a fruitful year!

Martin Willoughby said...

I figure if you achieve one goal you've succeeded. I've made a list of things I'm NOT going to do this year, such as not put myself down.

Nicole said...

Sounds like you had a great vacation and an awesome year. Hope 2013 has more in store! I love that version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow. ;)

Jennie Bennett said...

Man, you are amazing! I need to learn a thing or two from you. What awesome accomplishments you had in 2012. Here's to an even better 2013!

Jenny S. Morris said...

Yay! I can't wait to meet you at Storymakers!!! Love that song too. And I think those are great goals for 2013. ;-)

ilima said...

Johanna-I did. I hope this is a great year!

Martin-"Not put myself down" should be on my list. It's so hard.

Nicole-2012 really was fantastic. I hope 2013 is just as great.

Jennie-Yes! Let's make 2013 rock!

Jenny-Storymakers is going to be writer heaven this year...so many people I'm excited to meet!

Kelley Lynn said...

YAY Storymakers!!! I'm gonna be there. SO excited :)

Leigh Covington said...

Good job on your goals! I wish I got to spend the holidays in Hawaii. So jealous. I am not loving the temperatures here!

ilima said...

Kelley-I can't wait to meet the nicest person in the universe at Storymakers...YOU! :)

Leigh-Thanks. The cold just isn't letting up, is it? :(

Tammy Theriault said...

i'm a firm believer that if you're going to post a yummy pic of food and not offer...then that is just wrong! good luck with your goals :D

Suzanne Furness said...

Sounds like a fab vacation. Welcome home and all the best for 2013. Hope you reach all your goals and have tonnes of fun doing it!

ilima said...

Tammy-So sorry. We are trying to figure out how to set up a shave-ice station in our house right now, apparently. :)

Suzanne-Thanks. Good luck to you, too!

David P. King said...

Sweet! Welcome back! All of those goals sound manageable to me, so best of luck showing them who's boss! :)

Tobi Summers said...

Congratulations on meeting most of your 2012 goals! Mine involve a lot of querying and writing and reading, and are perhaps overly ambitious. Good luck with yours!

ilima said...

David-Thanks! I am going to OWN these goals. :)

Tobi-Ooh. Good luck with those goals. Looks like a version of mine last year. :)

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Simple and a short list of goals - sometimes that is best!

Jessica Salyer said...

Sound like some great goals. Good luck with them. I sure with all you accomplished last year, you will definitely be able to reach these.

Carrie Butler said...

Those are excellent goals, Ilima! :) Best of luck with them!

ilima said...

Alex-That's the idea this year...I hope. :)

Jessica-I hope so. Thank you!

Carrie-Thank you! I hope you have a great 2013!

Nickie said...

Congrats on getting an agent and meeting your drafting goals! Let's hope 2013 brings you even more good things :)

Colin Smith said...

Woah--those were some quite awesome 2012 goals... and you met them! Excellent... and congratulations! It's probably wise that you scale back on your expectations for 2013. If you need to do revisions for an editor, that might be time consuming enough! I wish you the very best for 2013, Ilima! :)

Donna K. Weaver said...

Love your goals--and that song is one of my favorites, even before my daughter moved to Kaua'i. Wishin' I was with her right now.

ilima said...

Nickie-Thanks for stopping by. I hope you have a great 2013 as well.

Colin-I would love to have the problem of doing revisions for an editor, haha. Thanks!

Donna-The song just takes you back, doesn't it? Sigh. :)

Emily R. King said...

I'm glad you had a great Christmas! Look at you achieving your goals. Makes me want to make some resolutions for this year. Ha!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the agent! Sounds like you had a great 2012.

My goals for this year are to finish my supernatural YA series and self-publish the first book (and maybe...the second and third :D).

Anonymous said...

I did read your whole post, but I'm still stuck on "just got back from Hawaii." Sigh.

ilima said...

Emily-Thanks, girl. I'm still bummed I missed seeing you over the break, but I can't wait for Storymakers!

Jenna-Putting all those books out this year...wow. Those are some amazing goals. Best of luck! :)

Rebekah-Haha. Me too. :)