Writing Goals for 2014

Every year at the beginning of January I set goals. Not resolutions, goals. Resolutions are made to be broken. You can fall on your face with goals and then get back up and start again.

I have no intention of sharing all my goals with the whole wide world. Not that the whole wide world reads this. Not many do, but even so, I thought I would share my writing goals. It's actually one big writing goal and then I've broken it down into something with direction. I may break it down more by applying time slots and days for each one, but I think this is fine for now. Too much structure and I just might rebel. Plus there's always things that come along to take up my time.

But a goal is just that. It's not strict rules, it's a direction. Maybe I should call it directions?

Treat each weekday like a work day. Get up, get dressed, sit down and work. Do not play games, or spend time on facebook. Take lunch and coffee breaks.

1. Write everyday - except maybe Sundays, or Saturdays, or my birthday.
2. For the month of January participate in The Ultimate Blog Challenge which is blogging everyday. Take up this challenge at other times as well.
3. Write a thousand words five times a week in current book I'm working on.
4. Submit at least one article a month to local paper.
5. Find other writing avenues that pay money. Build up a business.
6. Spend an hour a day doing marketing. This includes updating blogs, social networks, my website, amazon etc.
7. Update each blog at least once a week, more for Postcards.
8. Read about writing from books and magazines 15 minutes a day.
9. Spend an hour a day editing a project for publication.
10. Publish at least two books this year.
11. Create Print on Demand copies of published books.
12. Take pictures for book covers.
13. Write at least 3 books this year. Two are almost finished their first draft.

2013 A Year In Review

Second day, second blog post, I am doing well. Hey, I can pat myself on the back if I want to.

So 2013 which still looks like some date in the distant future. Remember when 2000 seemed eons away? No? Well then I guess you're not as old as me.

So what happened last year? Did I accomplish anything?

Well, I read some books. I don't know how many because I haven't counted them yet. I'll be doing that today sometime, and even blogging about it on my other blog Views From Hobbit Hole.

I published three books! You can go take a look. Just click on the side bar.

I created my own website. You can visit Anna Maria Junus. From there you can read first chapters of my books. Now ain't that handy.

At this time last year I had a part time job at the local museums. In April I got a part time job with the city. In May I no longer had the part time job at the museums, and in November I no longer had the part time job at the city.

So I'm jobless, except for occasionally helping out at the local craft store and writing the sporadic article for the local newspaper.

This is not good. What's the next move? No one knows. However I did get a couple of debts paid off and some money in the bank and something to put on my resume.

This year I got to go to Victoria. Since leaving there 31 years ago I've only gone back 3 times. I realized while I was there that Victoria is where I'm supposed to be. Moving back is tricky though. I need an income and a place to live.

Guess I've got some praying to do.

My mother went back to Heavenly Father in August. The sad part wasn't so much that she went, but that she had to suffer so much before leaving. I am sure she is young and beautiful and no longer has the physical restrictions she had in her last years. She is running around and visiting friends and family. That gives me comfort.

I have also been reexamining my spiritual life and coming to different conclusions and beliefs than I had before. This can be kind of earth shaking, but necessary. I have not lost my faith.

Unfortunately not much writing got done this year. No books were finished. I did make some money on Amazon with my books. I did write a couple of articles for the newspaper. Perhaps this year will be the writing year and hopefully I can make money from it.

It's certainly been an up and down year. I hoping the coming year will be better. I am optimistic.

Now if this ten feet of snow and south pole cold would just go away.

The Ultimate Blog Challange!

So because I am just a little bit crazy - just a little bit mind you - not enough to be Girl Interrupted, I have decided to join this Ultimate Blog Challange. Basically I am attempting to blog everyday for the month of January.

Now it's not as if I can't meet challenges. I watched a Christmas movie every day in December and blogged about that. You can read my reviews at Views From Hobbit Hole. I've also completed Nanowrimo three times. So blogging everyday should be a sinch, right?

It's part of my goals for this year. I never use the word resolution. A resolution is a promise you make on January first and break on the January second. A goal is something you strive for, fall down on, and get back up again.

So one goal this year is to write everyday. If I can write a blog post and contribute to my work in progress, then there's my daily writing goal.

Hopefully, they will be something you'll actually want to read.

Important Announcement! I Have Become A Nun!

That's right people, I have become a nun.

The proof is right here.

I am a nun in The Sound of Music.

Back when I auditioned I did not audition with a musical piece. I am not a singer. I am an actor. I was hoping for a non-singing role.

I did not get an acting part.

I got a singing part.

Yes, people, this non-singer is singing.

In Latin.

It's actually not a bad way to spend Sunday afternoons - singing hymns in Latin to God.

I am told by those listening that the nun choir sounds amazing. They sound amazing in spite of me, not because of me. I keep waiting to be booted out the door as an imposter. I am actually singing though and I feel honored to be part of a group with so many amazing voices.

We are in full blown performances now. Friday and Saturday evenings, Sunday matinees.

Oh, and you might notice that there is a maid there that has two words - well actually three because I added one. I'm doing double duty as Ursula. Because of this I actually have three costumes. More costumes than words. Other than that Latin singing.

I love singing. Really I do. My kids don't like listening.

The Pet Lovers Guide to Bad Book Covers

It's not that I'm trying to make fun of other authors out there. I just can't help myself. No seriously, I think we learn more from bad examples than from good ones. There are a lot of great covers out there but the bad ones are much more interesting. They don't sell books but really, is that what book selling is about?

Ever heard the phrase "you can't tell a book by its cover", well it's not true. You should be able to tell something about a book by its cover, otherwise you're not doing your marketing job.

Don't let a bad cover sideline you.

Having said that, I am nervous that one day I too will be a feature on lousy book covers. That would not be good marketing.

None of these covers tell you if the author is a good writer. Just a reminder. In case you want to buy one of these books. I have provided you with easy links to do just that.  Because after all, if I'm going to make fun of an author's work I am going to show you where to buy the book.

And so my tribute to pet lovers and those who write for them.

Slavery According to the Bible

The great mystery of how the pyramids were built has been solved! It was tiny purse dogs all along. They have magic powers. The pharoahs discovered this early and used these miracles to build their cities. They yap and things happen.

Unfortunately in-breeding through the ages has resulted in these balls of fluff losing their powers.

So all that stuff about Moses saving his people was incorrect.

Apparently the author is in hiding over this controversial finding because he/she didn't leave a name.

Hi! I am a Dog and This Is MY Story! 59 Critical Points you probably never considered! Then finally Dogs go to Heaven

Remember when I said earlier that the cover does not tell us if the author is a good writer?

Okay, sometimes it does. 

But I'm being too tough on the author because let's face it, a dog writing a book is pretty impressive.

Although maybe not really because after looking through Amazon there's a ton of cat and dog writers out there.

Wizard the dog that knew Magic 

Wizard can levitate half his body above the trees and make himself really really big!

That is one magic dog.














The World is My Fire Hydrant: Songs, Letters, and Essays by Dogs

 Is Jacquie the author and therefore a dog, or is she just the editor that gathered all these dog writers and put them in one book?

I knew the Leaning Tower of Pisa leaned but I didn't know the Statue of Liberty suffered from the same syndrome. Do New Yorkers know this?

I can't wait to read that song to a fire hydrant.

And lets not forget about that political statement that the world is a dog's chew toy.

My Cats: A Memoir of Cats I Have Known

Honestly, there's really nothing wrong with the cover
- other than the title and the suggested subject matter.

But then who am I to criticize the audience this book is for. You know the ones that post a dozen cat pictures on Facebook everyday and collect everything cat and have 65 of them roaming around their house and another few dozen dead in their basement.

Nope, not going to criticize those people at all.





 




Hidden Desires

This cover is just traumatizing.

There's dog lovers, and sadly, there's dog lovers.

This poor dog looks terrified and rightly so.

Now it appears the author changed the cover which you can see when you click on the title. Although it really isn't much of an improvement since it speaks more about the author name than the book.

Unless the hidden desire is to jump off a building.

Fun Training and Understanding Your Peruvian Inca Orchid Puppy & Dog

Now here's a best seller!

I was really looking for this book because those Peruvian Inca Orchid puppies and dogs are overrunning the world.

Are Peruvian Inca Orchid puppies different from Peruvian Inca Orchid dogs?

Is fun training different from regular training?

Remember that admonition I gave that book covers do not tell you if the author can write?

I guess I was wrong again.

The Frog And The Dog: Ozzie Learns Responsibility

Yep, this is the way to encourage children to read. Tell them right on the cover that this is a book with a lesson about responsibility in it.

That's exactly what children want.

By the way, I see the dog but where's the frog and what the heck is the dog doing?

Cat Overload: Cuteness Edition (100% Cutest Cats Ever!) I am trying so hard not to gag over this one.

So Kitty Bitty wrote a book and dared to use the phrase "cuteness edition" and then slapped pictures of cats posing for play cat all over the cover. In fact she thought that one cat was so cute she pasted it's picture three times. The same picture just rotated so she could fool everyone into thinking it was three different cats.

Because there just isn't enough cat pictures out there.

Cat porno for everyone.

Things I Wish That I Had Told You

Today I saw you sitting in your van while a man stood on the outside screaming obscenities at you. When I stopped to help you told me you were fine and he was your husband and you thanked me but said you didn't want me to call the police when I offered.

I knew you weren't fine. Your eyes, and your mouth, and your entire face told me something different from what your tongue said.

I told you to drive away, but I realized later that you probably couldn't because the repercussions later might be worse.

So I drove away, and I went to the police.

Here's what I wish I could have done and said.

I wish that I could have got out of my car and opened your door and held you.
I wish that I could have convinced you to drive to my house where you would have been safe.
I wish that I could have kicked his butt all the way down the street and through the park and into the lake.

I wish that I had told you

• that you are beautiful and you deserved better than what he was giving you.
• that even though you love him and that he is probably your whole world, he doesn`t love you,     because if he did, he wouldn`t treat you that way.
• that all of the nasty things he calls you, is not about you. It's about him. If he calls you stupid, it's because he knows that he is stupid and that you're not and that drives him crazy, so he tells you that so you will feel worse than he does. If he calls you ugly, it's because he knows you have more beauty than he can hope for. If he puts down your dreams, your ideas, your desires, it's because he thinks so small and he is afraid that you will become greater than he is.
• that just because he doesn't love you, does not mean that you are not loveable. It means that he is not capable of loving someone.
• that being alone is not terrible. It is better than being with someone who is your enemy.
• that being with this guy means that you will never find someone who will love you. 
• that even though you may never find someone else, you can still love yourself.
• that staying with him means that you will start to hate yourself, hate who you've become, hate the fact that you let your dreams die.
• that he may apologize later, and you may make up, but it will only happen again, and again, and again.
• that there are other women out there who understand exactly where you're at because they've been there too.
• that you may not see yourself as an abused woman, because that happens to other women, not you, but you are. And that it doesn't always have to be that way.
• that you are abused not because you are weak, or stupid, but because someone has taken advantage of all the good things in you. Your ability to love unconditionally, to forgive, to see the good in people, to see the potential in others, to sacrifice, to be unselfish.
• that the most unselfish thing you can do for others, is to take care of yourself first
• that just because he's not hitting you, does not mean he is not hurting you. Words destroy too.
• that if you have children, you have a responsibility to them to not raise them to be like him, or to be with someone like him and the only way to do that, is to remove the bad example.
• that he has issues that are too big for you to solve, and even if you could, you are too close to the situation because you have become his trigger.
• that he does not take responsibility for his behavior. Did you notice when he turned on me for trying to help you and called me nasty names? They were the names that he should have directed at himself.
• that you deserve better and only you can claim it

You haunt me now, because I couldn't do more. Because I didn't know what to do at the time. I pray that you are safe and that soon you will realize, that life is too short for crap like this.

Left to Write: The Information Dump 2

Yes, this is part two. I`m still finding information dumps and I want to stop it. Please, please stop it all you otherwise talented writers. I am on a crusade to stop it. So to read part one you can go here. "Left to Write: The Information Dump"

Now I know you all love your characters and when you love someone you want to talk about them. You want to tell everyone. After all you spent time creating their backgrounds and giving them quirks and coming up with reasons why they have quirks and why they're with the person they're with and why they hate bologna sandwiches (it really is traumatic) and how they landed their job and their first boyfriend in the sixth grade.

It's great you have that information. It's fantastic. Keep it to yourself.

Well, actually keep it to yourself unless it's absolutely necessary for your story.

Think of it this way, when you meet someone for the first time, do you want to know absolutely everything about them right then and there? In fact if you met someone who told you everything right away you would probably get creeped out and not want to have much more to do with that person. Believe me, it's happened to me, and I'm actually interested in people, but I don't need to know all about your foot bunion, your bad relationship with your son, your idiot of an ex-husband, and how you won your cheerleading trophy. Or actually, I don't want to know all that as soon as I meet you.

And when I meet a couple, the story of their meeting can honestly wait until I've actually known the couple better.

So why do authors feel they have to tell the entire life story of their characters in the first chapter? Or the second? Or at all if it has nothing to do with the story they're telling?

I bet there are lots of couples that you spend time with and you don't know their history. You just accept the fact that they're together.

In order for people to care about these things, they have to have a chance to care about your characters. That takes some time.

If you feel it's important to the story, then by all means tell it, but don't rush it. Wait for the question to form in your readers mind. Don't answer questions that haven't been asked yet.

And it's okay to let your reader wonder about things for awhile.

Do you know who does this well? Watch Lost or the Gilmore Girls. Yes, I know Stephen King would be horrified to hear of a writer tell another writer to watch TV, but TV is written by writers. Either of these shows illustrate how to do back story really well. (While watching Gilmore Girls take notes on dialogue too.)

Here's an exercise for you. Make a copy of your work in progress. (Don't worry I'm not going to tell you to amputate the original). Now get rid of all the back story. All of it. Put it aside for a couple of weeks.

When you go back to it read it over. Did you need the back story? How much of it do you need? If you need it, do you need it in the place you put it? Can it wait a little longer until your reader has a chance to care about it and has questions?

Now I'm not saying you can't have back story in the first chapter. But is it there because it's essential to setting up the story, or is it there because you just have to tell your reader all about your beloved character?

And when you do tell it to us, please don't tell everything at once. Give it in bits and pieces. Create new questions. Give your reader a reason to keep reading.