Hello, lovelies! I hope you are enjoying your winter holidays! Today, I snuggled up by the fire and reflected on my goals for 2023. In July, I already did a mid-year check-in: I was well on my way, but also had a long road ahead. Now the year is almost over, so I figured it was time to hold myself accountable once more. I’m honestly scared because I know I didn’t reach my goals. Life was BUSY and I did NOT prioritize my writing. Anyhooow, time to put on my big-girl panties: here’s how I neglected my writing goals in 2023:

Query REBEL PRINCE

My goal was to dive into the query trenches with my first novel, REBEL PRINCE, and to query 72 agents by the end of the year. I absolutely did NOT reach this goal:

At the beginning of the year, I sent out approx. 20 queries and got one full manuscript request, followed by a kind, personal rejection. Then I decided to hit the pause button to pursue Adrienne Young’s Query Camp workshop. I learned so many great things during Camp, and I took my time revising my query package.

Do I have a stronger query package now? Yes, I believe I do! Am I ready to start querying again? Yes, ma’am, I am!

Write the first draft of BLACK CAPTAIN

My goal was to finish a first, comprehensive draft of my next project—BLACK CAPTAIN—before the summer. I partially completed this goal: I finished a first draft, though it was not very comprehensive. I’ve meanwhile started to sift through the messiness of it all. Revisions are afoot!

Outline PROJECT X

I was hoping to have an outline of my super-secret YA romance by the end of this year, but my visit to Tanglewood in August had me rethink what I want this project to be. Sooo, now I am back to brainstorming—ghosts of famous composers haunting each other in the attic, music libraries with secret doorways and underground passages, sweet picnics and old movies at midnight, and an ancient musical rivalry that may or may not break a few hearts. The ideas still need some time to simmer, but I’m more excited about this project than I ever was!

Create a Newsletter

I feel like social media is becoming more and more noisy, divisive, exhausting, and just—yeah no. Therefore, 2023 was going to be the year I launched my own newsletter. Turns out: I failed epically on the newsletter front!

I did some “how to” research and I subscribed to a ton of writerly newsletters, but the demons of self-doubt had a meeting: what if no one wants to read about my writerly shenanigans? What if I can’t get any subscribers, other than my mom and my boyfriend?  What if I can’t offer anything interesting? What if I don’t have anything “useful” to say?

Sooo, YES, I’m scared to take the next step…

Read 25 books in my genre

I’ve read almost 30 books this year, but did I complete my goals? Nooooo, I did not! I was planning on reading only in my genre (YA fantasy), but out of all the books I’ve read this year, only half were YA fantasy. The others were a strange yet wonderful mix of historical fiction, romance, contemporary YA, and self-help. Am I mad about it? Nooooo, I am not! Every book I read helps me to become a better writer—am I right? 😉