New Year, New Novel?

A post by Mary Fan

Happy New Year, everyone! Mary here, and I'm a day late because... well, I don't have a good reason, actually. I've been behind on various writing projects, and I feel like I've been playing catch-up for maybe a year. I've come to accept that this is my life now. I burrowed myself in the proofreading cave last night in an attempt to get back on track and totally spaced on my post. Sorry! #onbrand?

Anyway, it's the time of year when everyone's setting new goals. Many are health-related... my kickboxing gym was so full the other day, me and this other lady kept round-kicking each other by accident because there wasn't enough space between bags for our flying limbs. For those of us who write things, they're probably more, well, writing related.

Some people will set goals or resolutions based on habits -- something like "write every day." That works well for some folks, and if that's you, then I encourage you to go for me. Me? I'm not a creature of habit. Quite the opposite, really. My productivity is feast or famine... either I'm writing 3,000 words a night or nothing at all. But I'm generally decent at hitting my longer-term goals, such as finishing things and meeting deadlines. Well, the ones that really matter, such as ones tied to events... hence why so many of my goals (actually, all the ones below) are tied to events.

So here's what I'm aiming to do in 2020, roughly in chronological order:

• Finalize and publish WINDBORN, the first novel in my YA epic fantasy series, in time for Farpoint 2020 (this is the thing I was proofreading when I forgot to write my post last night...). Current status: Getting there!
• Crowdfund and publish BAD ASS MOMS, an anthology I'm editing for Crazy 8 Press, in time for Shore Leave 2020. Current status: Already late, but salvageable...
• Publish the fifth (!!!) BRAVE NEW GIRLS anthology, also in time for Shore Leave. Current status: Still on track! Mostly because we're still taking submissions
• Complete and publish SEIZE THE STARS, the third and final book in my Starswept YA sci-fi series, in time for Gen Con 2020. Current status: Also late but salvageable (halp)
• Write a whole new book in time for my local writer group's critique session in November. Current status: I ain't started *sigh*

There are a few other things I want to do as well, but these are the big ones. What are your 2020 writing goals?