New Year’s Resolutions

Captain's Log, Stardate 01.06.2009

I don’t know why people don’t like making New Year’s Resolutions. I love it! I don’t always keep them, but I like making them.

Camy’s Resolutions for 2009:

1. Lose weight. I say this every year, but somehow this year it’s been sticking more. I want to lose 15 pounds by May 1st.

I started exercising 30 minutes everyday starting December 5th and only skipped 3 days so far (for Christmas). It’s mostly been walking the dog, but I’m pretty happy I’ve kept it up. I think this is the longest I’ve consistently exercised.

This month, I started tracking what I ate and I’m appalled at the calorie count each day. The sad thing is, when I try to eat less, I’m still hungry, so I guess I need to reduce my portions more slowly so I don’t feel so deprived. Eventually I’ll get used to the portions and not feel hungry.

I also want to exercise 30 minutes a day at least 5 days a week, even if it’s only walking the dog.

2. Read more. I’m woefully behind on reading my Love Inspired Suspense novels (I get them as ebooks on Fictionwise.com) and there are tons of books I want to read but haven’t made time to do it. So I want to try to read a book every week.

3. Stick to some solid writing goals. Pam Hillman did some great, specific goals separated by quarter, so I’m going to do the same:

1st Quarter:
1. Finish line edits for Deadly Intent, due January 7th (yes, that’s tomorrow).
2. Write proposal for next romantic suspense novel.
3. Complete Marketing Info Sheet for The Year of the Dog by March 1st.
4. Coordinate the American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Genesis contest for unpublished writers.
5. Prepare for my HeadStart mentoring group for Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. (If you’re a beginning writer, and if you can swing the cost of the conference, the HeadStart program is a great way for new writers to get all the information they need to jump start their writing career. Learn from my mistakes!)

2nd Quarter:
1. Finish writing The Year of the Dog by May 1st.
2. Write my next romantic suspense novel (assuming the proposal is contracted—crossing my fingers).
3. Work on “The Lone Rice Ball,” the fourth book (novella) in my Sushi series (it’ll be available as a free ebook download to members of my newsletter YahooGroup).

3rd Quarter:
1. Launch a website contest to celebrate the release of Deadly Intent.
2. Work on a third novel for the year, whether the next book in my Zondervan contract or a newly contracted novel (again, fingers crossed).
3. Work on a third romantic suspense proposal.
4. Prepare for the 2009 ACFW conference in ~~Dallas, TX~~ (I don't know what I was thinking. It's in Denver, CO this year).

4th Quarter:
1. Write a third romantic suspense novel, assuming the proposal is accepted (see 3rd Quarter).
2. Continue working on third novel (see 3rd Quarter).
3. Brainstorm a new story or novella to offer free to my newsletter YahooGroup subscribers.

Whew! Just looking at that makes me tired.

How about you? What are your goals/resolutions for 2009?

No Cold Bums toilet seat cover

Captain's Log, Stardate 08.22.2008 I actually wrote out my pattern! I was getting a lot of hits on my infamous toilet seat cover , and I wanted to make a new one with “improvements,” so I paid attention and wrote things down as I made the new one. This was originally based off the Potty Mouth toilet cover , but I altered it to fit over the seat instead of the lid. Yarn: any worsted weight yarn, about 120 yards (this is a really tight number, I used exactly 118 yards. My suggestion is to make sure you have about 130 yards.) I suggest using acrylic yarn because you’re going to be washing this often. Needle: I used US 8, but you can use whatever needle size is recommended by the yarn you’re using. Gauge: Not that important. Mine was 4 sts/1 inch in garter stitch. 6 buttons (I used some leftover shell buttons I had in my stash) tapestry needle Crochet hook (optional) Cover: Using a provisional cast on, cast on 12 stitches. Work in garter st until liner measures

I joined Sweet Romance Reads!

I just joined Sweet Romance Reads, a group of authors who all write sweet romances in a variety of sub-genres. I’m friends with several of the authors from my days writing for Harlequin/Love Inspired, so it’s nice to be able to join their group. If you’re on Facebook, this is their Facebook page , and this is their Facebook group . I posted my introductory post yesterday on the Sweet Romance Reads blog (Blogger), where I listed three strange things about me. Click here to read the post, and tell me three strange things about you!

Year of the Dog serial novel

About Year of the Dog : A month or two ago, I remembered an old manuscript I had completed but which hadn’t sold. It was a contemporary romance meant for Zondervan, titled Year of the Dog . The book had gone into the pipeline and I even got another title ( Bad Dog ) and a cover for it, but eventually my editor at the time decided she didn’t want to publish it, for various reasons. She instead requested a romantic suspense, and so I cannibalized some of the characters from Year of the Dog and thrust them into the next book I wrote, which was Protection for Hire . Honestly, I didn’t take a lot from Year of the Dog to put in Protection for Hire , aside from character names and a few relationship ties. I was originally thinking I’d post Year of the Dog as-is on my blog as a free read, but then it occurred to me that I could revamp it into a romantic suspense and change the setting to Hawaii. It would work out perfectly as (yet another) prequel to the Warubozu series and introduce

AnonymousTue Jan 06, 05:42:00 AM 2009
Great goals, Camy. I have a list of 12 so I'll just share a few. It's funny, I actually broke someout into quarters as well. I didn't know others did that too. LOL

God willing, a few of mine are:
1. Do a daily devotional DAILY **smile**
2. Buy website domains and then launch the website (by the 2nd quarter).
3. Obtain representation for my novels (any time in 2009)
4. Run a ten mile race (by 4th quarter.)
5. Attend ACFW conference in Denver.
6. Go on a short term mission trip (by 3rd quarter)

Well, that's enough space hogging in your comments section. I'll be praying you meet your goals.
ReihaishaTue Jan 06, 04:05:00 PM 2009
Mine are pretty simple-

1. Lose 20 lbs(I lost 17 last year) by August 1st for my family reunion.

2. No dishes in the sink when I go to bed.

3. Scrub my kitchen and bathroom floors once a week.

4. Be gracious to the people who work for me.

5. Read the Bible through at least once.

6. Finish a book on chaos theory by November 10th(my birthday).

7. Start ballroom dancing by Easter.
AnonymousTue Jan 06, 06:16:00 PM 2009
Wow! I have to admit I've never seen resolutions broken down by quarter before. I have several (and getting to all of them would be impossible) but the big one is MAKE PROGRESS on the next book. Real, real progress. I have to turn 2009 into a persona, gigantic NaNoWriMo. (I guess that would be PerNoWriYear?)
AmySun Jan 11, 04:42:00 PM 2009
Can't wait for all those books, Camy! ;)

Search This Blog