Posts Tagged ‘goal review’
How did I do in 2020?
Posted on: January 1, 2021
- In: Dreams | special occassions | Writing
- 66 Comments
I’m sure I’m not the only one who is happy to see this year over. Here´s what the crew of Starship Enterprise felt about 2020.
For someone who loves to set goals and make plans, this has been a tough year. So many plans were ruined and goals not met. But we are safe and healthy and as we speak, our family is OK as well. That is really all that matters at the end of the day.
So, as painful as it is, here is my report on the goals I set a year ago, never imagining a global pandemic!
2020 Goals
- Edit Amanda in Malta:The Sleeping Lady, and send it to the publisher
Amanda in Malta: The Sleeping Lady has been edited, beta-read and with the publisher. It is scheduled for release in May 2021 and is available for preorder. I am so excited about this book as it takes place in a unique country, with tons of history, action and fun. Fans will be pleased to know that Caleb is back too.
2. Write Amanda in France
I am halfway through writing Amanda in France: Fire in the Cathedral. It is coming along slowly. Like many writers, I had trouble concentrating at the start of the lockdown. Amanda falls in love with Paris, Versailles and Giverny and gets to stay at a bookstore!
3. Decide if I should continue writing Amanda stories or venture into something else.
I haven’t made that decision yet. I’ll see how the next two books do.
4. Write more short stories
I did write new short stories and revisited and polished some old ones. Short stories were easier to focus on this year. My short story, Lockdown With Anne, was included in an anthology about the pandemic called, With Love, Comes Hope.
5. Write more travel articles
I didn’t write many travel articles. The fact that we couldn’t travel, didn’t inspire me to write travel articles.
6. Help others with their writing as many have helped me
This is something I did a lot of. I had the time, it could be done online and it made me feel useful. I did some editing as well which I enjoyed.
7. Work on my TBR list, read at least 40 books
Another thing I had time to do and it took my mind off the situation. I read 40 books, many I had wanted to read for a long long time. They are listed on my Goodreads Reading Challenge page
8. Visit Venice
We had planned to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday in Venice. All booked but sadly, cancelled due to a global pandemic.
9. Attend a family reunion in Alberta
Cancelled as well. I was very dissapointed as I love to see my aunts, uncles and many wonderful cousins.
10. Travel to the UK and visit friends
Also booked, plans set to meet up with a number of friends, but cancelled.
11. Organize my office
I did some organizing but more needs to be done.
12. Organize my computer files
Again, not as much as I should have. It´s not like I didn´t have the time!
13. Learn more about writing and publishing a picture book.
Lost interest in this for some reason.
14. Publish an anthology of short stories
I´m working on this.
What I did do was a lot of cooking and baking, walking the dog and connecting with friends and family through social media.
My three words for 2020 were:
support – Support others in whatever way I can, as so many have supported me over the years.
connect – Connect with people, stay in touch, facilitate connections.
motion – Keep moving, physically and mentally.
Little did I know how important these three words would become.
By supporting others, I was able to take my mind off of my concerns. Since I have learned a few things over the years of writing and publishing my books, it has been great to be able to share that knowledge. I enjoyed interviewing and featuring other authors on my blog and helping promote their books.
I connected with so many people, some I haven´t been in touch with for quite a while. These connections kept me sane. Connecting through social media has been a godsend. I Zoom with my writers’ groups here in Spain and in Canada, and video message and Skype with family members and friends near and far. Connecting through blogging has been my social life and I so appreciate those connections. So a huge thank you to all my blogging buddies!
Walking the dog three to four times a day has kept me moving and kept the baking off my hips. Walking has been good for my mental well being as well.
Although many of my goals were not met, it has still been an OK year.
I stole this from a writer/blogging friend, Janet Givens. I love it.
I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Stay safe and well so that eventually we can all travel and meet up again soon.
How did I do in 2019?
Posted on: December 31, 2019
- In: Dreams
- 52 Comments
As the sun sets on another year, it’s time for me to see how I did with the goals set out at the beginning of the year. All years have highs and lows, but upon reflection it wasn’t a bad year.
2019 Goals
- Publish and promote Amanda in Holland-Missing in Action. I am happy to say that Amanda in Holland was released on September 2, 2019. I did a lot of on-line promotion before and after publication.
- Return to Canada in the fall of 2019 to launch Amanda in Holland, organize readings and signings at bookstores, libraries, and schools. I did return to Canada in October and visited many bookstores, schools and libraries. It was a successful tour.
- Finish writing Amanda in Malta-The Sleeping Lady. Amanda in Malta is finished, it just needs to be edited and beta read before sending it to the publisher. It should be published Spring 2021.
- Start Amanda in France. Some rough notes have been made for this book but I haven’t started writing the story yet.
- Do (at least) one thing every day to promote my writing. I do this automatically now.
- Publish an anthology of short stories about growing up in rural Alberta. This has been on the list for a couple of years and I still haven’t done it!
- Try writing a picture book. I have made some notes for a picture book but feel I need to learn more about this genre before I attempt it.
- Visit a part of Spain I haven’t been to before. I visited Tarragona, Reus, Lorca, Aledo and Montserrate for the first time. All fascinating places in Spain.
- Attend a Moors and Christians Festival. I didn’t do this, but I did attend an amazing Easter parade in Lorca and a Candle Night Festival in Aledo.
- Go on a cruise, visiting Venice, Rome or Greece perhaps. This didn’t happen.
- Read at least 30 books. This was my Goodreads Challenge and I did it. In fact I read 31 books!
- Take an online course. I didn’t do this but did learn some new things by reading informative blogs.
- Make new friends, online and in person, and stay in touch with longtime friends. I have made some new friends, a few in person and many online. I have made a concerted effort to keep in touch with old friends as they are gold. Seeing many of them on my return trip to Canada was the best.
- Celebrate my birthday in style. I had friends over for a sunny March afternoon tea on my terrace. Hubby purchased a special cake for me. A good time was had by all.
I usually like to pick a word or three for the year. I decided on action, learn, listen for 2019. I believe I did listen better, which in turn enabled me to learn more and take appropriate action. I seldom look back at these words but having written them down, they seem to become imprinted in the back of my mind and affect how I live my life. Funny how that works.
I have just realized we have come to the end of the second decade of the 21st Century. Incredible. It would be worth reflecting on the past ten years. Perhaps in another post.
I wish all of you a fabulous New Year’s Eve, whether you go out and celebrate or have a quiet evening at home with a loved one or a good book. See you in 2020 with a new list of goals.
- In: Dreams
- 32 Comments
Happy New Year to all my readers. Thank you so much for your readership, likes, comments and most of all, your friendship. You have been so encouraging over the past year, I could not have done it without you.
We celebrated the New Year by attending a dinner party at a friend’s house. Flat Ruthie came with us and had a great time. She was the life of the party. She enjoyed the appetizers a lot!
As it is the end of another year, it is time to see how I did with the goals I set last year at this time. I posted them for all to see on my blog https://darlenefoster.wordpress.com/2012/01/03/a-new-year-a-new-list/
1.Finish writing Amanda in England-The Missing Novel for publication this summer by writing a chapter a week for the next three months.
Check. I finished the book and it was published in August!
2.Find ways to make more money with my writing by setting up readings, writing magazine articles and entering contests.
Check. I did do some readings and wrote magazine articles as well as entered contests. I would like to do more of this though.
3.Blog at least once a week and double my subscribers
Check. I wrote 72 posts this year and went from 30 to 130 subscribers!! I had 10,000 views from 107 different countries. I am very happy with this result.
4.Learn to manage my social networking by improving technical skills
Check. I have learned some new things about social networking but would like to learn more.
5.Reduce the clutter in my house, computer and mind
Fail. I have not only failed to reduce clutter I have added more.
6.Spend as much time with Mom as possible in person and on the phone
Check. I call Mom at least twice a week and went to visit her in Alberta three times in one year.
7.Find a reasonable cleaning service
Check. I had to break my ankle to get a cleaning service but I now have one.
8.Meet other authors to share knowledge and support
Check. I have become active in a couple of local writer’s groups and met some amazing authors, three of whom have become mentors. I have also met many wonderful authors through my blog and other social networking sites. It is all good!
9.Take a trip to Europe
Check. Had took trip of the lifetime which included in Spain, Germany, Austria and Hungary as well as scenes along the Danube River.
10.Take time to breathe
Check. I was forced to take time to breath as I recovered from my broken ankle.
All in all, I am very pleased with how I met my goals from last year. OK, now for 2013 goals:
1. Reduce the clutter. I will take a page from Lorna at Tea Room Delights where she has decided to get rid of one thing a day for the entire year, for a total of 365 things. This may help me get this done! Today I got rid of the old calendars.
2. Complete Amanda in Alberta-The Writing on the Stone and have it published before the end of the year.
3. Take a trip to Alberta to do research for Amanda in Alberta with my eleven year old grandson.
4.Ensure my foot returns to normal.
5.Continue to look for more outlets for my writing.
6. Write more travel articles.
7.Contact schools to do readings.
8. Consider working part-time in order to spend more time on my writing.
9. Take a nice holiday with Paul (without injuring myself)
10. Practice kindness with everyone I meet, no matter how my day is going.
We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.”
– Edith Lovejoy Pierce
I wish all of you a wonderful New Year with many accomplishments no matter how small. Just getting up in the morning or smiling at a stranger is considered an accomplishment in my book.
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