Friday, January 22, 2021

 

BELATED BUT NO LESS HEART FELT

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HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!


And now let's get down to business. Right off the bat our first Round Robin blog for 2021 asks:What is on your writing to-do list for this year? Do you have any long-range goals, or just wrap-ups?


In December 2020, this is what 2021 looked like for me:


And then January 1
st rolled around, and I started filling in my 2021 calendar. In no time at all I was swamped with work. Fun work admittedly but anyone who thinks writing is not work should try it for themselves. Now I need to look for ways to carve out time for myself as well.

Why didn’t I schedule myself more efficiently in 2020 you might ask? As with most people, 2020 hit hard. Losing a friend in February, then family members in May and June, none of them covid related, had their effect but when another friend passed in August my brain gave up. I simply could not find the words to put on the page to finish my novel, so took time to deal with accumulated grief.

National Novel Writing Month came around in November, and I signed on with a target of 50,000 words of a new contemporary western romance, a marked departure from my Regency romance which languished on my computer. Isn’t it said that a change is as good as a rest? November rolled around and I hit my target, so now I had two unfinished novels. That’s good, right?

My first target for 2021 was to wrap-up those two novels. I revived the Regency first and found the break from it had been a boon. I saw plot holes where before I saw none, was able to better flesh out a couple of characters and develop some twists even I didn’t see coming. For that I must thank my cast of characters. One more week and this book will be off to my critique partners. While they work their magic, I will revisit the contemporary western, also the better for being put to one side. Both books are like day-old pizza – the flavour seems better.




Being a writer also means being a reader, so I have committed to reading and reviewing one book a month. I regularly read more than that, but it’s the book I plan to review I’m focusing on. I will also be taking one of my craft books off the shelf and reading it cover to cover rather than having bought it because of a recommendation from someone else, or having read a blurb and thinking ‘I should check that out.’ One step further from reading those craft books is that, if any do not serve my purpose, they will be purged.



The book that I had slated for this year, also a Regency romance, will be my Camp NANO project for April 2021 for which I will also target 50,000 words. Having done it once I’m sure I can do it again. For anyone who thinks the whole program seems extensive, just let me say I am a retired (as in retired from a 9 - 5 day job) senior who prefers to read and write above all else. All I hope and pray is that no more friends and family fall to the extraordinary times we live in. In between all of that, I write two blogs a month, am involved with the Calgary chapter of Romance Writers of America, and since taking to Zoom have probably seen more of our group members then when we had physical in-person meetings.

The plan as it is, is solid. However, if travel and meeting restrictions lift, it might get tweaked a little. After all, there has to be some leeway. To see what other authors have planned, check out my Round Robin cohorts at their links below.


 
Skye Taylor 
http://www.skye-writer.com/blogging_by_the_sea
Marci Baun  
http://www.marcibaun.com/blog/
Beverley Bateman 
http://beverleybateman.blogspot.ca/
Connie Vines 
http://mizging.blogspot.com/
Dr. Bob Rich 
https://wp.me/p3Xihq-2bY
Anne Stenhouse  
http://annestenhousenovelist.wordpress.com/
Diane Bator 
http://dbator.blogspot.ca/
Fiona McGier 
http://www.fionamcgier.com/
Judith Copek 
http://lynx-sis.blogspot.com/
Rhobin L Courtright 
http://www.rhobincourtright.com

   


18 comments:

  1. Morning, Victoria. those look like some serious goals. Good luck with them. So sorry to hear about the deaths. We had some difficult news, too. Some virus related and other age related in the nature of life. Together with the babies we haven't met yet and the newly-weds we haven't congratulated yet, it takes a huge emotional toll. anne

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    1. Thanks, Anne. Yes, I don't know anyone who has not been majorly impacted by one thing or another. It must be very hard for you to have not seen the babies and newly-weds, but that is something to look forward to when we move ahead into the new normal.

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  2. 2020 was a difficult year for everyone and losing beloved family and friends is always devastating. I'm sorry for your losses. Good luck with your NANO projects and let me know when your Regency novel is published!

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    1. Annus horribilis as HM said in 1992. And, yes, I will indeed let you know when my Regency is released.

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  3. I’m so sorry to hear about your losses, Victoria. It has been a difficult year, and grieving is hard enough without having to do it alone. Hugs to you. You’re goals are ambitious, but you can do it. I’ll look forward to your new books coming out.

    Marci

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    1. Keeping busy isn't always the way forward as I learnt a while ago, but now it's time to pick up the pace. Thanks for your support, Marci.

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  4. Victoria, maybe you can get some closure by including those departed people as disguised characters in your stories?Then they can live on.
    And I do enjoy the pictures you chose to illustrate your post.

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    1. I hadn't thought of disguising my friends and family as characters, but what a good idea. Thanks for that, it is a comforting thought. Happy to hear you enjoyed the pics too.

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  5. Seems we are on the same wavelength with reading and reviewing other author's books as a part of our own writing goals. I can so relate to the mental exhaustion that sets in along with grief. I pray your 2021 is blessed with health and far less grief.

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    1. Thanks, Skye. Yes, the reading and reviewing is a definite target this year. Grief is such a huge topic, but learnt so much when my husband passed twenty years ago. I kept going for three years and then it was like having the rug pulled out from under my feet. Recognizing it and then dealing with it is all a learning curve. Let's hope for a better 2021 for everyone.

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  6. You had me nodding in agreement until you said, "Both books are like day-old pizza – the flavour seems better."
    Bleah! I love pizza, but only on the day it's made. After that I won't even look at it. My husband is glad, since left-over pizza is his (and our kids') favorite for breakfast, lunch AND dinner.

    Seems we all had the writing "blahs" this year. But I've been reading a whole lot of books that I'm not enjoying, as a reviewer. Only a few stand-outs. I think readers may be thinking that all books are as bad as the ones they've read, which debases the whole genre. How to get noticed is still the biggest problem. The Holy Grail is tapping into the "universal zeitgeist" to become THE book that everyone reads. It's my favorite dream.

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    1. Oh, Fiona, you really made me laugh! I could almost see you pulling a face at the thought of day-old pizza! And I'm nodding in agreement with you on the quality of some of the books I've read this year. Right now I'm reading A Murderous Procession, Book 4 in Ariana Franklin's Mistress of Death series. It's historical, set in the time of Henry II and features a female coroner from the medical school in Salerno, Sicily. I have enjoyed the whole series and believe I have one more book to go.

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  7. Sounds like a good solid plan. Good luck. And I totally relate to the reading and craft book goals.

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    1. Craft books are so sneaky! Sometimes I think they are like weight loss products, buy me and I promise you'll lose 10lbs. Craft books are like, buy me and I'll make you a better writer. If only! Thanks for dropping by.

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  8. I love the boost Nano gives me each year. So far I've published 1 out of the 3 Nano novels I've written but the other two will come. They aren't my usual genre so I may decide to self-publish. Happy writing!

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    1. Thanks for the endorsement on NANO! I have another writer friend who has always self-published and releases a book a year (sometimes two) because of the impetus NANO gives her.

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  9. Victoria, I'm so sorry to hear of your loss. 2020 has been a brutal year filled with many challenges. Hugs to you and congrates on your NANO dedication. Ah, yes, your mention of the dreaded plot-holes--made me laugh.

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  10. Oh, those plot holes! Sometimes we can't see them even if we step right into them. Happy to hear you laughed. We can all do with more of that.

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