2018 has lasted an eternity and also somehow flown by at the same time. I’m not sure how that happens. I honestly can’t remember what happened when. Rationally, and according to the google machine, I know movies like Black Panther came out this year, etc, but I’m also pretty confident that was like ten years ago? I blame the endless cycle of bleak news.

Personally, it was a pretty good year for me. Which brings us to Ye Olde End of the Year Summary Post.

If you remember from last year, I decided not to bother with Resolutions and rather focus on goals. (I do not remember, really, but I wrote it on my white board and had a handy reference all year, like so:)

Five out of seven is pretty good.

From the top!

I wrote more than three stories, and I had four published:

“Too Good, At Least” in Speculative City.

“Last Rites” in the Write Like You’re Alive 2018 anthology.

“Under Pressure” in Alban Lake Publishing’s Drabble Harvest # 12.

“Eggscellent” on this blog, for the Giftmas 2018 tour, and then in the subsequent anthology, which will be available for purchase at midnight tonight, if it isn’t already.

The middle two goals, and the two that didn’t happen this year, were to finish my rewrite of my very first novel, The Smell of Rain, in time for Pitch Wars and to finally start that Middle Grade series I’ve been kicking around for ages. It’s okay. Instead of finishing the novel overhaul, I participated in Write Like You’re Alive in July, where the goal is 31 stories (or poems, pictures, art of some sort) in the 31 days of July. It was intense and SO MUCH FUN. I will definitely do it again in 2019, and it definitely helped with the 3 new stories goal.

Next– knit 5 things from the existing stash of yarn. I did. The Liken to Lichen shawl for the MKNHP art auction was one thing:

I also brought home at least five skeins of yarn from Rhinebeck this year, so… I guess I’ll up that number for 2019.

Successful third year of The (K)indred Experiment? Check! And you can check out the kids’ stories, and my blog, HERE.

Go somewhere new? Also check. Ben and I took a short vacation to Portsmouth, NH and Kittery, ME this summer. I wanted lobster and a beach. It was a success.

Finally, read 50 books. I got to 52 (new record!), and you can check out the book exclusive post HERE. I round up everything I read into a handy list and pick favorites. You can also add me as a friend on goodreads, where I am Lizz Donnelly, if that’s your jam.

Other things of note include an epic year for concerts: Got to see Neko Case (again! I love her!), Jack White, Ringo Starr (a f*cking Beatle, y’all! What!), and Paul Simon in his final show of his Homeward Bound tour.

EPIC.

I’m not sure I can actually top this year, music-wise, but I’m willing to try 🙂

And now the point of this post (other than reminding myself that these things happened, and it was all pretty great!)

2019 Goals

-Write/publish 5 new stories

-Knit 6 things from the existing stash

-Finish a draft of a new long fiction project (I work better with options, so I don’t care which one I finish, as long as it’s something. I currently have two to play with.)

-Revise the second half and submit Alekhine’s Gun to Erewhon. (this is a specific goal, but this is the last hurrah for this novel before it goes under the knife again at some future point if it doesn’t sell)

-Successful Year 4 of The (K)indred Experiment

-Go somewhere new

-Read 50 books

Lastly, I’ll leave this here because it’s a long term goal, but it’s not necessarily a 2019 goal. In the next two years (which I think is a reasonable amount of time) I’d like to become a member of the SFWA (That’s Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. It’s something like a union. Unions are good.) To do that, I have to have three stories published in their select list of professional markets or have a novel published.

And that’s it. Things to work towards in 2019.

Onward.

Happy New Year!