In Which I Attempt To Post Goals...

Howdy. Lisa here.

Hi Lisa. So here I'm demonstrating using "my" color to respond within your post rather than hitting the comment button below. That's okay, too, but I find since the comments don't appear on the same page as the original post, that they often get overlooked. You can't miss this response though! LOL.

I may have spoken too soon about understanding how to get around in Blogger. I've never actually tried changing the color/font, and I swear, I don't see the option in the menu bar where the other options are. Where might it be? For example, I see the "bold" option, and I actually know how to do that in HTML, which is what I've just done here.

I wrote some of this stuff in a comment below, but I gather I am supposed to post it instead, to increase the goal-worthiness.

Where I'm at: I have been working on a novel the last couple of years, and I just signed with an agent, a really great guy at a really great agency. The thrill of this has not nearly worn off. I've been writing for a long time and up till now have felt like my efforts to achieve any kind of professional goals have been mostly just banging my head against the wall. I gotta say, it feels great to stop with the head-banging. Getting this kind of validation has been an incredible boost to my ego and to my mood, like I've solved a puzzle that's been frustrating me for years. What a marvelous insight! Get beyond the next logical step for instant incentive. It's so true that you can keep writing ad nauseum, but somewhere along the line, if you want to be a published author, something compelling better happen. I'm at that deadlock point myself. Terminal writing/partial revision/not quite ready to submit. Blech.

I can't imagine what getting published would feel like!

Goal-wise...I'm working on rewrites for said agent. I've already done a ton of them (which was what got me signed). Now I'm pretty much on the last leg. So I'm going over things that I've been over many, many times. And what the agent...uh, that would be my agent (this will take some getting used to) is encouraging me to do is...

Take my time. Think about it. Be patient. Don't rush.

So, right now, I'm spending more time thinking about the book...and, weirdly, not thinking about the book...than I am typing words on a screen.

I'm trying not to give myself any arbitrary deadlines, though if truth be told, I'd like to wrap this up by Chinese New Year (February 7). I'll be working on it this weekend, mostly trying to read a few sections with fresh eyes to see if the revisions I've already done have fixed the problems. You mean 2008? That's not very far off!

Nope. It's not. But I've done, well, let's just say "many" revisions, and my agent (blush!) thinks I'm close. We've also both agreed that I will keep at it till it's right, so if I have to do another one after this, I'm prepared. Kinda.

After I'm done with this book, I have no freakin' clue what I'll be writing next. I've been told to try and not commit too deeply till we get some feedback from publishers. I have a couple of ideas that I'm pondering in a casual sort of way. I have a half-finished novel, the third book of a trilogy that I wrote for fun, and I think I'll finish that, for fun. Why not?

I have a blog which I started four years ago that could use some attention, and I'd like to go back to that. It's mostly posts about current events in China, along with political commentary and musings about writing. I'd like to get back to a couple of posts a week, something I'd managed to do for about two years straight but which I just have not been able to focus on during this last six months working on the book. Have I mentioned that I am a person who obsessively focuses on a project? Well, I am. This is majorly important if you want to have a good blog book tour like Dana just had. It makes such a difference to have a blog that's popular to begin with. Now go look at this site I just stumbled upon for a new author who just joined the Cozy Mystery listserv. Beth Groundwater. She has a nice website and a blog link that goes to a well-written blog that actually matches her website. Very attractive. She's on her way to having a good tour. And she desperately needs one. Her amazon rating is dreadful. I checked at Title Z. Dana's rating is way higher.

As soon as I've handed this in (well, emailed it), I will get back to blogging. I'm a little torn though as I think I might need to do a different blog with an author's name or something - my blogger blog is a little obscure. I guess the most logical thing to do would be to set up a namespace like Dana has and link my blog to that.

Otherwise I want to maintain my somewhat obsessive program of exercise. I do an hour upper body weight session, an hour lower body weight session, two additional hour-long cardio sessions (with abs) and an hour yoga class per week, plus walkies. I don't seem to need nagging to do this any more as it's become a habit. I am happy to nag those who need a little push. All this exercise has helped me more than I can possibly say, and I enjoy spreading the Gospel of Movement to others. My problem is that Movement often becomes a procrastination technique. Har! Oh let's do some more yoga. Let's take another walk. It's good for me. And now gardening season is on its way, which includes 1/4 acre of raised bed organic vegetable plantings as research for Ghost Town. Oy!


Maybe it is procrastination but for me it's an absolute necessity. The older I get the more I need exercise. I've also noticed I tend to problem-solve when I exercise.

Now if I could just figure out a way to make a living without my day job, that would be productive!

Okay, I don't usually hijack someone else's post to this degree, but just wanted to demonstrate how it works. Is it easier to "converse" this way? Maybe we could leave our weekly goals posts off-limits to commentary?

I don't have a problem either way. I like commenting and am used to doing so - I think you can have a good conversation in comments.

As for weekly goal-posting, I guess you can expect more of a status report from me. My goals are a little amorphous right now, aside from the finishing this round of revisions by 2/7.

Where I know I'll need a kick in the...goal-posts is when it's time for me to start a new project. Once I get going I pretty much go - I think it's some variation of "an object in motion remains in motion, an object at rest remains at rest."

One thing I'd love to know more about is what your books - the ones you are writing - are about. I know Elizabeth, Maire and Dana's books - I'd love to hear about Dani and Ann's. And anyone else who might be here I haven't met yet.

Nag, nag, nag

I keep forgetting to ask.... are you working on Ghost Town at all? I did some writing in last months BIW developing characters, but I'm having a hard time with creating the imaginary township of Freeland where these ten couples are moving. I thought Flagler would work, but I'm so uninspired with the post-tornado architecture. Think cheap clapboard ranchers. Gag. Not sure how to approach that. Let me know if you've even got this project on your plate at all. I could just postpone it for a while, and work on the PLR articles so when the ghostwriting kids set up the website, I'll have product to offer.