New Year, Old Resolutions

Tomorrow I'll post my new writing resolutions but for today, I want to revisit the resolutions I made last year.

1. I want to sign with an agent for my fantasy YA novel, The Land of Imagining.

I've already started querying agents the end of November and have had two partial requests and several rejections to start this long, drawn-out process.


Well, this hasn't happened. YET. But this is something that is out of my hands, and having a resolution that I can't control the outcome of is never a good idea. Note to self: when making my new resolution, focus on things that I can control.

2. I want to start on the sequel to the aforementioned novel.

I see this series being a three book series, with The Land of Imagining being the middle book, with a sequel and a prequel. So why did I write the middle book first? Because the main character is an ordinary girl (who learns she isn't quite so ordinary after all) and has to journey to a strange, new world. I want the readers first glimpse into the All-Knowers' Land of Imagining to be seen through her eyes, through the eyes of someone who has never seen it before. The sequel is set mostly on Earth, and the prequel is set mostly in the Land of Imagining. So it works best for the middle book to be read first. And it really isn't as strange as it seems. After all, the Chronicles of Narnia were published in a vastly different order than chronological.



Didn't happen. I think I'm going to hold off on writing the sequel into I have interest in the first story.

3. Write the last book in the Kingdom of Arnhem series.

I still trying to come up with a name for this one. I'm thinking Warrior of Courage. I would like to keep the trend going, Woman of Honor, Knight of Glory....

Hero, Warrior, Mage, Champion....
Courage, Virtue, Hope, Justice....

Still playing around. Any ideas? Suggestions?
 
Well, I've chosen a title - Champion of Valor. And it's just about done. So I'll chalk this one up as a victory.

4. Start and hopefully finish another fantasy YA novel or my suspense novel.

This fantasy novel shows the plight of four teens as their world is turned upside down when magic sudden appears and chaos results.

The suspense novel is about a woman who accidentally kills a young child during a game of hide and seek, and her resulting descent into madness and guilt.


Didn't happen. Now that I have two kids instead of just one, and they aren't napping at the same time, it makes fnding time to write very difficult. I have so many stories I want to write, but the notion of me writing three novels in one year right now is just about impossible. Note to self: make realistic goals. They can be slightly lofty, but they have to be realistic too.

5. Sell some short stories to magazine(s).

I have a backlog of short stories that are collecting rejection letters from magazines. I would like to work on them, shine them, and start circulating them again. If I can't find a paying market for them (so far I've only tried the pro markets), I may end up making some available on my website for you all to enjoy.

So far, I have 9 short stories in various anthologies. I still haven't broken into the magazine market, but I'll still chalk this up as a win.

What about you? Did you make writing resolutions last year? How did you do? Are you making new resolutions this year? What are they?