Did I achieve my 2020 Writing Goals?

First of all, I'd like to wish you all a very Happy New Year. 2020 has been an odd year to say the least... many of us at some time in the last twelve months have experienced lockdowns, tiers, panic buying, cancelled holidays, not being able to see who we like when we like and shops, pubs, restaurants, cinema and theatres closing. Sadly, many will also have had to cope with illness and bereavement (mercifully, we have escaped this so far).

But there has also been a silver lining to 2020. For one, my daughter who works and lives in London, started a new job which she could do from home, gave up her tenancy and moved back with us at the beginning of March. It's not just because she's good company that it's worked so well, she's a great cook too!

As a writer, I'm lucky that my working life hasn't changed much at all. After an initial first couple of weeks when I couldn't concentrate at all, I found that with less places to go (and less breaks away) I've actually been more productive than usual rather than less. And this leads me on to the main point of this post... to see if I have achieved the year's writing goals I set in January with writing buddy, Tracy Fells.

Here are the results:

Goal: To finish psychological thriller number 4.

Achieved? Yes! Not only did I finish it but His Hidden Wife is going to be published on February 4th. If you'd like to pre-order it here is the link.

Goal: To secure another book deal.

Achieved? Yes! I was offered another two-book deal with my brilliant publisher Bookouture in October and I couldn't be happier. Book five will be published at the end of 2021 and book 6 in 2022.

... and that's it for another year. Next week, Tracy and I will be meeting for a socially distanced walk and goal set which I'll post in a couple of weeks. In the meantime... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Did I Achieve my 2019 Writing Goals?

It will soon be time to say goodbye to the old writing year and hello to the new.

Every year in the first week of January, best buddy Tracy Fells and I get together to set our yearly writing goals. At the end of the year, I look back and see if I've achieved any or all of them.

The one thing I've learned over the years is it's important to have goals that will stretch and encourage but which are manageable too (rather than stressful). The other thing it's important to remember is that luck and life circumstances play a big part in what happens as well and that I should not to be too hard on myself if I don't achieve all my targets. The important thing is that I try.

These are the goals I set for myself:

Goal: To enjoy every minute of being a published author.

Achieved? Mostly! As most of you will know, my debut psychological thriller, What She Saw, was published by Bookouture in May this year (you can read my blog post about it here). It was fabulous... exciting... amazing. The same can be said when my second thriller, We Were Sisters, came out in August. But did I enjoy every minute? Not when I was struggling with structural edits or when I was stressing about whether or not my novels were good enough for people to buy or when I received my first bad review. But all these things come with the territory. It's what happens when you're published. In fact it's proof that you've been published! 

The biggest test is whether I would do it all again... and the resounding answer is YES!

Goal: To secure another publishing deal.

Achieved? Yes! I was delighted when in May my wonderful publisher, Bookouture, offered me another two-book contract. Yay!

Goal: To think about and start novel three.

Achieved? Yes! Not only have I thought about and started novel three, I've finished it and it's with my editor (though the hard part will soon start when I get the first lot of edits back in a few days). I have also started novel four.

... and that's it for another year. Next week, Tracy and I will be meeting to set out 2020 goals and I'll be posting you very soon. In the meantime, I wish you all a very Happy New Year.

2019 Bring it On!

Happy New Year to you all, and I wish every one of you good health and happiness for 2019.

Last week, best writing buddy Tracy Fells and I met up in our favourite cafe, armed with our target notebooks, for teacakes and a spot of yearly goal setting. We've been doing this for six years now - six years! I can hardly believe it. 

In my last post, I looked at whether I had achieved my 2018 goals. You can read it here.

But this post isn't about looking back, it's about looking forward and, if I'm honest, the 2019 goals have been harder to set than previous years. Why? Because where my writing goes this year will depend on how well the two books that will be published in May and August do. If I'm lucky, I might be offered another contract with my lovely publisher, Bookouture. If not... well, I'll just have to cross that bridge if and when I come to it.

There are a lot of things that I will be doing this year now I'm under contract: completing the publication process for book one then starting and completing the editing and publication process for book two. After that, there will be the publicity and the marketing to think about... not to mention the celebrating! But, these are not exactly goals. They're things that have to be done as the wheels of the publishing machine turn. 

It would be cheating to put 'to have two books published' as my goal for 2019!

Instead, I need to think about where I want to go after that and what new things I'd like to have achieved by the end of the year.

So here they are. My goals for 2019:

• To enjoy every minute of being a published novelist .

• To secure another publishing deal (this one is out of my hands).

• To think about and start novel 3 (which is actually novel 4 as my first novel is still awaiting a publisher).

If I can achieve all these things in 2019, I shall be a very happy writer indeed.

What about you? Do you have yearly writing goals? If so, do feel free to share yours in the comments and I wish you the very best of luck with them.

Did I Achieve my 2017 Writing Goals?

It's time to say goodbye to the old writing year and hello to a new one.

Last week I took a detailed look at my writing year which you can read here but, today, it's time to turn my sights to the specific writing goals I set in 2017. In January, best writing chum, Tracy Fells, and I met up in our favourite tea shop for teacakes and target setting. You can read the full post here.

So how did I do?

Well, before I wrote this post, I looked back at my roundup of 2016 and saw that I'd hoped 2016 would be 'the year of the novel'. It wasn't to be and neither has it this year but I've made some big steps towards my goal. Also, my short story sales have moved closer to 300 mark, so overall I'm pretty pleased. Let's look at whether I achieved my specific targets though.

Goal: Complete at least 50,000 words of my new novel by the end of August, for critique by the RNA New Writers' Scheme reader.

Achieved? Yes! I actually finished the 87,000 word novel and, much to my delight, had an excellent critique from the RNA. It also won the Flash500 Novel Opening and Synopsis Competition just before Christmas. It was chosen out of hundreds of novels and this is what the judge, Steph Patterson (senior editor at Crooked Cat books) had to say about it.

'First place goes to The One I Left Behind, which hooked me with a gripping introduction, and a thrilling plot to boot. Early on, the reader is introduced to the main character, and something intriguing about her, which has an impact on her life. The One I Left Behind has the makings of a page-turner. Many congratulations!'

Congratulations also to writing chum, Tracy, whose two novels both did very well in the same competition..

I am now in the process of submitting my novel to agents and have been approached by the commissioning editors of two major publishers who want to read it.

Goal: Write the outline and first chapters to send to my agent before the end of February.

Achieved: Yes... but, sadly (and through no fault of my own) I lost my agent in the summer so it was back to square one.

Goal: Write and submit at least two short stories every month.

Achieved? Yes. I've managed to carry on writing the magazine stories alongside the novel although my output has been less. There have been changes in the magazine world, with both Take a Break Fiction Feast and Woman's Weekly changing their fiction staff and only allowing submissions from a list of selected writers. I am grateful to be one of them.

Goal: Attend the RNA conference in July.

Achieved? Yes... and you can read about it here.

... and that's it for another year. I'll be back next week after Tracy and I have had our goal setting teacake session. All that's left is for me to wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Rather Belated Writing Targets 2017

I know it's a bit late in the month but here, as promised, are my 2017 writing goals. Next week, I shall be taking them along with me in my little 'Goals' book, to see if writing chum, Tracy Fells, likes the look of  them. If she doesn't, I won't buy the teacakes.

No more procrastinating then. Let's see what I shall be up to this year. Hopefully I shall:

• complete at least 50,000 words of my new novel by the end of August, for critique by the RNA New Writers' Scheme reader.

• write the outline and first chapters to send to my agent before the end of February.

• write and submit at least two short magazine stories each month.

• attend the RNA conference in July.

Oh, and there's one more important one... to be brave!

I'm hoping that these are manageable targets but I know how life has a habit of getting in the way and I may have to change some of my expectations. If this happens, I've promised myself I won't stress about it.

Interestingly, I notice that this year's goals are practically the same as last years!

In other news, I have a story in the latest People's Friend Special. The inspiration was the lovely illustration they sent me. I couldn't resist writing it, though it made me a little sad too as it's about a woman in her sixties who is showing signs of dementia.

I hope you'll join me next week as I have a fabulous guest... best selling psychological suspense writer Louise Jensen.

Did I Achieve My 2016 Writing Targets?

It's time to say goodbye to the old writing year and hello to a new one. 

In the first week of 2016, as tradition dictates, best writing chum Tracy Fells and I met up in our favourite teashop for teacakes. We weren't just eating teacakes though, we were setting our writing goals for the year. You can read the full post here.

So how did I do? 

Well, 2016 has been a strange year writing wise - a bit of a roller-coaster if I'm honest. My hope that this year would be 'the year of the novel' hasn't come to pass (I'm keeping my fingers crossed for next year) but it's not all been doom and gloom. I've had many stories published in three different magazines and this year, four of them have been turned into audios as well which has been very exciting. 

But what of my targets? The results are below and you can see that they are a little mixed.

Goal: To find an agent to represent me.
Achieved? Yes! At the beginning of the year, I was thrilled to be offered representation by the Eve White Literary Agency. You can read how it came about here.

Goal: To have written 50,000 words of novel two by the end of August ready to submit to the RNA New Writers' Scheme.
Achieved? No. The writing of novel number two had to be put aside as I was working on substantial edits for novel one. This was the novel I eventually submitted to the scheme and I can't thank my reader enough for her incredibly helpful comments.

Goal: To publish at least one more story collection.
Achieved? Sadly no. I can't self-publish any more story collections while I am under contract.

Goal: To write at least two short stories a month.
Achieved? Absolutely. Most months I've managed to write at least three. They've been a life saver during the often roller-coaster ride of novel writing and editing.

... and that's it folks.

All that's left is for me to wish you a very Happy New Year and thank you all for supporting my blog in 2016.

So That's What You've Been Doing!

'How's the writing going?'

'Finished the novel yet?'

'When can I read it?'

'Still writing the short stories?'

'What? You didn't go to the RNA Conference!'

I notice you didn't write a blog post on Sunday - not giving up are you?

These are just some of the things that have been said to me in the last couple of weeks. Some by writers and some by non-writers. So I thought I'd make this blog post a bit of a catch up.

How's the writing going?

Actually it's going very well. As many of you know, every month I get together with writer friend, (and hard task master) Tracy Fells, for teacakes and goal setting. Last month's goal was to write a chapter by chapter summary of my novel, write and sub two short stories and (as a bonus) make a start on the new draft of my novel for my agent, Eve White. I'm happy to say I worked very hard, completing the first two goals and also finishing the novel edits ready for their final read through. 

Finished the novel yet?

Getting a novel fit for publication is a slow old progress. Agents don't want to send anything out until they're 100% happy with it. If it gives the novel a better chance, then I don't care how many drafts I have to do (within reason!). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that with this draft I shall be a little closer to my goal.

When can I read it?

It won't be for a long while yet!

Still writing the short stories?

Yes! I still write two stories a month (mainly for The People's Friend) and am still getting regular sales. I even sold two to Take a Break Fiction Feast that I'd forgotten I'd sent (one of which was my first ever sci-fi). For anyone who's interested in reading my stories, I have a story in the latest Fiction Feast, two stories in the new People's Friend Special (out Wednesday) and one in the latest People's Friend weekly (also out on Wednesday).

What? You didn't go to the RNA Conference!

Not this year, no. It was in Lancaster and, as I'm not a great traveller, I felt it was a bit far. Also, I wanted to devote every bit of time to my writing. It's at an important stage and I didn't want any distractions. I had a great time last year though. It's hard to believe that when I went I had only written a quarter of my novel and having an agent was still just a dream. As well as having great talks and workshops, the conference gave me faith in my work in progress - as my opening chapter was favourably received by two editors from publishing houses. It made me want to rush home and finish it. If you are a new writer, I would definitely recommend going - if only for the one-to-ones.

I notice you didn't write a blog post on Sunday - not giving up are you?

Nooo! But I might be cutting down just a teensy bit. At the moment, my novel has to take priority over everything else but I will still be blogging and have some great guest blogs lined up for you. In fact, next week, I am delighted to welcome back the fabulous Becca Puglisi from the website Writers Helping Writers. What writer hasn't heard of The Emotion Thesaurus? I'm very lucky as Becca is a very busy lady, but she's taken time out to answer questions about her, and her co-writer Angela Ackerman's, new 'Setting' thesauruses. Don't miss it!

So, for those who asked, my writing is going very well. I have new goals for this month and I've already made a good start so hopefully I'll have positive things to report to Tracy in August.

Writing Targets 2016

As usual, at the beginning of the year, writing chum Tracy Fells and I sat down in our local cafe, in Cobblestone Walk, to set our writing goals and give each other a stern talking to. Unlike the previous years, I came armed with this: a lovely little book just asking to be filled with potential achievements (you see I like to stay positive!).

Last year, I realised that any goals set needed to be straightforward and not overambitious if they were to be achievable and not stressful and I think I got them about right (if you haven't already seen how I did you can read last week's post here).

So here they are (gulp) - my writing goals for 2016!

1. To have written 50,000 words of novel two by the end of August (ready to submit to the RNA New Writers' Scheme reader).

2. To write at least two short stories a month. You may have noticed this has been reduced from last year's one a week but I have to be realistic as I'll be writing them alongside the novel.

3. Publish at least one more story collection - I'm really pleased with how well Room in Your Heart and The Last Rose have done (if you fancy reading them, the link is at the side) and so many people have asked when the next one will be appearing that it would be rude not to, wouldn't it!

4. Find an agent. This probably should have been at the top of the list as it is my ultimate goal for 2016 now novel number one is complete. I've already started the process... so fingers crossed.

And there you have it - four (hopefully) realistic goals for the year. One thing I do know though is that if I don't achieve any of them I am not going to beat myself up about it. At the end of the day the most important thing is that I carry on enjoying my writing, my wonderful circle of lovely writing friends and being in the privileged position of being able to entertain readers with my work... here's my latest story in The People's Friend Special.

You can read Tracy's 2016 goals here.

My Goals of 2015 - Did I Succeed?

It's time to say goodbye to 2015 and hello to a new writing year.

As usual, at the beginning of the year, I sat down with writing chum Tracy Fells over teacakes and set myself some writing goals for the year - you can read the full post here.

So how did I do?

Below are the goals in brief and whether or not I achieved them.

Goal: To continue to write one short story a week.
Achieved? Sort of. I can't say that I wrote a story absolutely every week for the whole year (due to holidays etc.) but I did manage to keep up the output most weeks even while writing the novel.

Goal: Write at least 40,000 words of my novel by the end of August to submit to the RNA New Writers' scheme reader.
Achieved? Yes! I sent 54,000 words to the reader and completed the novel (85,000 words) in September.

Goal: Go to the RNA conference
Achieved? Yes! I went, I saw... I conquered (my tube phobia). It was a great weekend and you can read all about it here.

Goal: To self-publish another collection of magazine stories.
Achieved? Yes! I published The Last Rose (Stories of family and Friendship) in March. This collection contains stories from The People's Friend, Take a Break Fiction Feast and Woman's Weekly and I am thrilled with it.

Which leads me very nicely to my end of year present to you. The last Rose is on Kindle Countdown for one week only at a bargain price of 99p! So if you had a new e-reader for Christmas, it might be a welcome addition to your collection. You can buy it here from Amazon.

All that's left is to wish you all  a very Happy New Year and I hope you will continue to enjoy my blog in 2016.

My Goals of 2014 - Did I Succeed?

At the beginning of 2014, I sat down over teacakes with writing chum Tracy and set myself some writing goals for the coming year - you can read the original full post here.

The goals (in brief) are below and I have commented on whether or not they have been achieved.

Goal: Increase my story output to three stories every two weeks.
Achieved? Yes and no. I managed this for several months until it became stressful! I realised that by forcing myself to write more stories, I was concentrating more on quantity than quality and unless my story is my very best, I don't want to send it. I also realised that by writing more stories I had to come up with more ideas and this started to feel like a chore rather than a pleasure. With this in mind, I dropped back to one story a week again - this feels just right and the ideas come naturally now.

Goal: Achieve my hundredth sale by the end of the year.
Achieved? I sold 102!

Goal: Write another serial
Achieved? Yes. Serial number two was accepted by The People's Friend and is almost completed.

Goal: Write a novel
Achieved? Umm... no. I started - really I did - but there was always something else I wanted to write. I'm a bit disappointed in myself but will try harder next year!

Goal: Publish a collection of my short stories in time for Christmas.
Achieved: A gold star for this as Room in Your Heart was published in September (available here.) It was only ever meant to be an ebook but after many requests, I published a paperback version as well.

So, as you can see, it was a mixed year but on balance, I was very happy with my achievements.

But do you know what the best goal of all was? It was to meet up with Tracy once a month to discuss targets and put the writing world to rights. We've managed every month for the whole year and I couldn't have a better writing buddy. I'll be posting my new targets for 2015 very soon - so look out for them.