Goals for 2009 - Flowery Cockroaches

The year endeth. For me anyway. My blog year ended in November, so if you wanted that post, here it is: Blog Year Roundup. If you want to know what I got up to this year, read on. If you don't care what I was up to, you could read my posts about old science fiction shows or bears eating children instead.

So about those resolutions. Last year I explained why I set goals instead of resolutions. I set one goal at the start of the year, plus a few mini-goals during the year. These goals were writing related as it was my first year of writing seriously (as in, writing to submit for publication).

I think it went well. I had a story accepted by Coyote Wild (a semi-pro ezine), which hit my main goal for last year*. I managed to write at least one new story a month (one of my mini-goals). I'm not as far along with Cockroach** as I'd hoped, but I'm not far off sending the first chapters for critique either.

In other news, I got a job. That's more cornflakes than Sparkle*** could ever eat. I also had pansy success. In past years, any pansies have been eaten to the ground by slugs. I tried hanging baskets, but the rain from the roof washes them out. This year, I managed to set up the pansies so they wouldn't be eaten or washed out. They've been flowering nicely, with minimum slug damage. Yay!

Enough about 2008. Without further ado, my new goals...

-Read one book published in 2009.

This year, I couldn't contribute to the best of 2008 discussions, because I was reading older books. I ought to read at least one recent thing next year.


-Get a story accepted by a professional market.

Some people avoid goals outside their control. I don't worry about that... by setting this goal, it means I'll have to do things towards it. Like submitting to those markets in the first place.


-Finish and submit 24 new short stories in the year (two a month).

I managed the target last year, so I'm seeing if I can double it.


-Send the first query for Cockroach, or otherwise find representation.

I'm going all contract lawyer on these goals, after last years' published/acceptance thing. Obviously, if I save an agent from a bear trap and get offered representation, I won't need to query. So I'm covering all bases here.

A year to get it ready sounds good. That'll mean it took about a year to a year-and-a-half to write it, which seems a decent speed for a first novel.


-Seed a flower meadow in the front garden.

We had some attempts this year, but the seeds didn't take. Next year, there will be flowers.


-Go dragon hunting in Switzerland.

I'm planning to go see the dragony sights in Switzerland****.


-Buy a bear trap.

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* Technically, I worded the goal as 'published' not 'accepted'. However, I'm not going to be a lawyer about it. I'll go with the spirit of the goal, not the precise wording.

** It isn't the real name of the novel. But it gets it bit lengthy calling it 'my science fantasy', and I think of the stories by a keyword when I'm writing them. So Cockroach it is.

*** A real cockroach, not a novel.

**** The myths behind the places are on my dragon site, for the curious... Swiss Dragon Myths.