My first day of the New Year was brilliant – I started the year by going for a long, hard walk up fell and down dale.  Cliffs and crags, moors and waterfalls.  Golden mists, sudden rainbows, and the ethereal croak of the Raven…

My second day of the New Year has been characterised by my going, “oh God!” every time I try to get out of my chair.  Nothing like a little muscle stiffness and joint pain to start off your year… 

Methinks I got some proper exercise.  Now to continue the momentum.

As a part of an online goal setting group I belong to, I’ve been setting some goals for the year ahead.  As usual, I can’t set goals for a whole year – you never know what life will bring.  But my immediate goals are:-

1)      Finish revising DANGEROUS LIES and submit on time.

2)      Go through the edit process with RUN AMONG THORNS (not sure exactly when this will happen)

3)      Submit a partial of DANGER: DEEP WATER.

I also have some wider, mistier goals around health and happiness…. not working too hard, getting time for exercise and play, eating well…

You know what?  I’m looking forward to this year.

No, it really is.  We’ve been frozen solid all week now, and while I’ve been trying to wrap up work at my soon-to-be-ex dayjob, I’ve been driving icy roads in the dark in the morning…. and then driving icy roads in the dark in the evening too.

*shiver*

Mind you, I think I prefer cold, bright, crisply frosty days to the wet, muddy, windy ones we’re likely to get for Christmas…  ugh.

While I’ve been so busy at work, I’ve edited writing out of my life almost completely – there’s been no time, and no energy.  I miss it. 

Badly.

I’d like to achieve two things over the Christmas break:  a few walks, because I’ve missed out on exercise during this busy period, too, and a few hours writing.

When I say I’d like to achieve two things, that is, of course, in addition to Making Christmas Happen and all the shopping, cleaning, cooking and housekeeping associated with that.  Which I love, but takes time and energy, too.

But today, on my LAST DAY with an organisation I believe in passionately, worked far too hard for, and a few times put above almost everything else in my life for SIX AND A HALF YEARS I have two simple goals.

1)  Finish my monthly reports.

2)  Go to the work Christmas lunch.

3)  Get pished.

I will report back over the weekend…

Thanks to everyone who signed up for my newsletter mailing list! You are all officers and gentle(wo)men. A special thank you and welcome to any visitors from Coffeetime, who thought they might hang around. Make yourselves comfortable!

I feel a little bit like I’ve derailed all my momentum with my days of rest this week. Fun as they were, I feel a little bloated and sluggish, both mentally and physically.

So, time to get going again, I think.

1) Prep RUN AMONG THORNS for sending in – DONE
2) Final proof read of RUN AMONG THORNS – DONE
3) Edits to DANGEROUS LIES partial – DONE
4) Write Web Content – Okay, so I’ve done three pages out of seven. I’d like to get another two done this week as a minimum.
5) Read through and edit remainder of DANGEROUS LIES
6) Write up notes for WIP #6
7) Finish TAKEN
Do some more plotting of WIP #5
9) Think about a web launch
10) Plan a first edition of a newsletter

It felt fabulous to get RUN AMONG THORNS in, and then post off the partial of DANGEROUS LIES. I need to focus on the web site this week, I think.

Somehow the chat on Coffeetime Romance never got on to the list, when it should have – it was my first ever promotional event!

I have to say, it really felt momentous, the first time I posted an excerpt on a promotional forum, for a book that’s actually going to be published. I snivelled.