Hey y’all. It feels like it’s been about a year since my last post, but it’s only been *checks calendar* uhh…
Well, just over two months. Sorry about that. November got hectic. There was a minor car accident, and a LOT of changes at my job. That being said, I’ve got a lot to accomplish on here in 2018. Namely, more fiction, poetry, and book reviews.
I’m gearing up for my second year of full time with my library, which is going to be full of teen programs (so many craft ideas already…) and booktalks. I’m aiming for 2-3 booktalk sessions each week, basically saying “yes!” to every opportunity that I can get. The outreach aspect of my job is one of my favorite parts, going out to local schools and advertise books that I’ve really enjoyed. It’s the best feeling in the world to see a teen’s eyes light up when I booktalk a book that makes them feel represented.
I’d set a few personal goals for 2017 that definitely didn’t happen. I was hoping to knock out one post per week. I didn’t even manage one per month. Pretty sure 8 posts in a year is a new low for me. I didn’t get any new stories submitted. That one’s on me too. Can’t blame anyone else for not sending my stuff out. I did manage to draw quite a bit more. I’ve gotten some more costuming ideas in planning stages, and that’s going to hopefully come into play with one of the programs I’m looking into for work. I managed to keep in better contact with family and friends (despite being pretty much in hermit mode for the latter half of the year). I wanted to improve my political literacy during 2017, and I think I nailed that one (thank you NPR, BBC, twitter, etc.). I didn’t have “get full-time job” as a goal last year because, well, hi. Yeah. Knocked that one out, and have maintained quite well. I broke my reading goal by 1/3. I was aiming for 200, and goodreads says I got through 266. Now, while probably 90% of those were graphic novels/comic books/manga, that’s still way more reading than I was expecting to get done.
Anyway… Considering that I’m not planning to get married, buy a house, and have a baby this year, let’s set up some goals for 2018. We’ll start with the standards.
1.) Write more. Okay, folks. Commitment time. Two posts a month, minimum. Not average. The wife and I are both working to spend time writing together. I’m also going to pick up journal writing again. I’ve missed out on properly chronicling some of the biggest events of my life over the last few years, and I need to do better.
2.) Submit more work. I love writing stories for the blog, but I also need to keep my goal of getting properly published in mind. There are so many sites/magazines that I want to write for, and I need to get over my irrational fear of rejection letters. Hard goal: submit to six publications in 2018.
3.) Draw more. I’ve got more space to work than I did (thanks to the whole house-buying thing that happened last year), and so I can knock out at least some more character designs. I want to fill a sketchbook over the course of the year, and I’m willing to pick up a brand new sketchbook to meet this goal. In fact, I did just that a couple of hours ago.
4.) Read more. I’ve set a goodreads goal of 200 titles for 2018. Just like last year, I intend to blow past that. I’ve been listening to more audiobooks, and that’s been helping with a few of my planned re-reads of some of my favorites.
Okay. That’s it for the generic stuff. How about some specifics?
5.) Spend more quality time with my kids. The girls got dice sets in their stockings for Christmas, and I’m planning to continue playing No Thank You, Evil! and teaching them to play Dungeons and Dragons. I’m loving the evolution of my status as a parent, and relish the chance to help the kids find the things that they enjoy most, whether those are the things I also love or not. Case in point: we went ice skating for New Year’s and they had a blast.
6.) Vote! It’s Mid Term Election Year. Never tell me that non-Presidential elections are worthless. I’ve got all sorts of shit to do this year, and it starts with ensuring that I’m properly represented at the federal level.
I think that’s a pretty good start. Stay tuned, folks. It’s going to be a good year.
The Swords of the Ancients 