New Year Resolutions
I believe in setting goals at the beginning of the year.
The SMART method of goal setting works for me. I make my goals Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. I also believe in making goals public so that friends can hold me accountable and motivate me toward achieving them. I admit that sometimes when they do this I think of their encouragement more as nagging, but it does help. So, with that in mind here are my goals for 2019 and a look back at how I did on my goals for 2018.
We don’t have a cover yet for Facing the Storm.
The Solar Storms Saga
My 2018 goal for the Solar Storms Saga had been to release both a novella and a full-length novel. I released the novella as The Storm Rises, in September of 2018. However, time ran short for completing the next full-length book in the series. That next book, Facing the Storm is now my primary novel to complete in 2019.
At the end of 2019, this is how I want the series to stand.
The Storm Rises, book 0, released 2018
Through the Storm, book 1, released 2017
Facing the Storm, book 2, scheduled for 2019
The Guardian Knights series.
As 2017 began I had completed the first novel in this series Seekers of Earth, a 39,000-word novella that ends in a cliffhanger. I wanted to finish the second, longer, book, Recall the Earth, and have both available near the same time. I succeeded in this goal. Seekers of Earth was released in March of 2017, and Recall the Earth was released with much fanfare and marketing in April of that year. While both books have had good reviews, sales have been slow.
Then in 2018, the Solar Storm Saga books did very well and this drove me to allocate time and effort to writing and marketing of that series. I had to push back the third book in the Guardian Knights series to 2019, but this is the year that I will finish Return to Earth.
I planned the Guardian Knights as a five-book series and this is my plan for completion.
Seekers of Earth, book 1, released 2017
Recall the Earth, book 2, released 2017
Return to Earth, book 3, scheduled for 2019
War for Earth, book 4, scheduled for 2020
Farewell to Earth, book 5, scheduled for 2021
You can read more about Return to Earth on the projects page of my website.
Completing both Facing the Storm and Return to Earth will mean writing over 110,000 words. That’s a significant, but achievable goal for 2019.