Happy New Year, everyone, sorry it’s late. I’m running behind in everything in this brand new year—updating this blog, my writing in general, my life. I like to blame the holidays and their attendant stress, but let’s face it, I’m just kind of lazy. Which is why I’m writing this post. I am not really one for New Year’s “resolutions”, changes in life, losing a few pounds or reading more (I read plenty). But I do always write up a list of goals for the year that I’d like to achieve, goals which sometimes change due to circumstances, new opportunities, or, I hate to admit it, laziness. But I am a list-maker and I always start my year this way.
So I’m asking anyone who reads this to help me stay accountable to this short (but very full) list of writing goals for 2016. Whip me, beat me, humiliate me privately or publicly—whatever it takes to keep me in line. Just help me maintain my sense of discipline.
- I will publish my first novel, Blue, this year, in all formats—ebook, print, audiobook. I am currently starting on its final revision, after three complete versions (I finally got it right) and one big revision already. I intend to self-publish it in April, May at the latest. Ebook first, other formats to follow. Blue, the story of a suburban divorcee who has longed for a life of submission and soon gets more than she bargained for, is the result of over six years of work and learning and is finally exactly what I have hoped to achieve, and it’s time to get it out of my head and into the world. I am self-publishing for a variety of reasons, which I will go into in some later post.
- I will publish my second book, The Villa (does a simple Villa, without the ‘The’, read too much like ‘Vanilla’? I kind of prefer it), in at least ebook form. If print and audio have to wait until 2017, that’s okay. I have been working on this book for over two years, and I just want it done as well. It is over half done. The Villa is not a novel but a set of twelve closely linked stories that is almost a novel. My take on good old-fashioned ‘chateau porn’, it is set in a fantastical world of ultra-wealthy slave owners and their submissives as we circumnavigate the globe, following one character’s adventures into another’s. Unlike in so much recent erotica, however, the wealthy aren’t really people to be admired.
- I will resume updating this blog regularly! Say, one review every two weeks—how does that sound? Did I say I blame the holidays? I have also had trouble wrapping my mind around this next review, but I am figuring it out. Let’s say every other Sunday, a new review. I’ll begin January 17th. Promise.
- This last one is more flexible—I’ll submit short stories to a few calls. I was stressing out about calls. There are so many that I feel like I “should” enter, because it would be good for my career, but I’ve learned that I don’t really like calls. If they’re very much in my comfort zone—BDSM erotica—then yes, I do have a blast writing them and it’s a thrill to get an acceptance. So far, I have had three stories accepted: one published, one soon to be published, and one project apparently cancelled. I’d like to have a long resume. But all too often I see a new call with a theme that doesn’t thrill me; I think I should respond, and I either waste a lot of time thinking about it, or I start stories only to abandon them in frustration. If I am deep into a novel, I have difficulty pulling out (so to speak) and getting into new characters’ head spaces. So, even though it may mean losing out, I will only respond to calls that really thrill me. Otherwise, I’ll just keep working on these first three goals. I need to keep this fun.
So help me out. Call me out. Get on my case, abuse me if I slip up. This is the year I finish up old work, and then I begin with all new erotic adventures next year. And I have a lot of ideas.
I will be ever so grateful.