Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Wonder and Bounty of a New Year

I may be a little late making my 2011 resolutions, but I wanted to give them some careful thought. And as we all know: most New Year's resolutions become a wash anyway. So, maybe it's just best to look at them as a guiding force and not as rock solid goals. (Cop out, you say? Yeah, maybe.)

My much delayed NaNoWriMo entry is still in progress, and I’ve been back and forth in writing it and going back to the outline to figure out where I’m going. My new goal is to finish the first draft soon—no later than the end of January.

The Veil of a Warrior needs to be revised, and I think I have the beta feedback to do it. I’ll be starting as quickly as I can in February and then looking for an agent and publisher by mid-year. That will give me about three months for revision and then I’ll attack the agent/publisher hunt in May. I’m very nervous about this part. Revising is rewarding, but HARD. I need to think carefully about how I will approach this draft to avoid the time delays of the past.

After that, things will get a little weird and I will have to figure out where I’m going next.

Blogging will continue to be a part of my repertoire as a great place to give detailed thought over what mistakes I’ve made, victories had, where I’m at and where I’m going.

On the art side of things, I have been collaborating with a partner on a new webcomic—release coming soon. It’s an exciting project and I’m looking forward to telling you all more about it. It will be funny and you WILL love it. *Activate cheesy factor, point to reader.*  We guarantee it.

I get to work from home! Due to an incredible turn of fate, my employer has just sent my department home to telecommute. (I’ve got the shoulder soreness from lugging the equipment home on the BART to prove it.) I don’t know how I’ve lucked out in this regard, but I know I’ll be using every advantage from it I can. I’ve ignored a couple opportunities in the past, when fortune smiled my way in employment, but I’m not going to do the same this time.

Family is a big part of my life, though I may speak little of it on the public side of the net—family factors into everything I do. My daughter will be four this year, and we have our second on the way. By the end of 2011, I may very well consider myself a parental-pro, or perhaps I’ll just feel more like a sleep-deprived schmo... We’ll see how well I can handle the demands of a father of two.

Crammed in there somewhere, I want to build an online audience that enjoys my writing and art, revamp my blog and art portfolio, finish some personal art projects that have languished far too long and a good deal more that I am neglecting at this moment. I’d put in a reading goal, but for that I’m going to take it as it comes, though I’d certainly like to increase the depth of my knowledge of the great tomes of time and read more in the realm of research on writing and history.

It will be a year of challenges, achievements, and change.

Bring it, 2011! I can't guarantee every victory, but I’m ready to try.

4 comments:

  1. Nice to meet you, Clifton. You have some ambitious goals for the upcoming year and I wish you luck. You got this, brother!

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  2. Thanks, much appreciated. Checking out your blog now...

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  3. Can't wait to see the webcomic! I'm looking forward to hearing more about it. And as for working from home... oh, I'm envious!

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  4. And I'll be excited to tell you about it...soon. ;-)

    Working at home is pretty nice. I'm extremely lucky and I hope I don't forget it. My three year old offers some interesting background noise at times. Recently she was singing Happy Birthday to Tinkerbell and then to Daisy Duck. Funny stuff.

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