Welcome to 2021! The party is over, the hard work is now. What will you accomplish in this bright and shiny new year?

I have already begun the trek back to where I was pre-2014, before my late husband fell ill with cancer and my life was no longer focused on what I wanted, but what he needed. I remarried in 2019 to a wonderful fella who has been my friend for over 40 years and he just “gets” me. He knows how critical it is for me to find (or crawl!) my way back to my life plan.

I had several books that came out in the 2010s, and I thought I would just keep rolling the ball up the hill until I got to the top. But life takes a different path sometimes–often one we would rather go around.

SO, IF YOU ARE HERE>>>just know that it does get better! Losses can become gains, and illness can become good health. Just know that once you have experienced loss or illness, you will never take another day for granted.

Okay. Off the soapbox.

What am I going to do with this new year?

Well, if you are a Zany and you have gotten on the email list, you already know that 2021 is going to be a massive year.

Here it all is broken down into specifics:

Writing Goals for the New Year

• Finish the first book in my family saga entitled Mt. Moriah. I have it on my calendar that it will go into publishing mode about the third week of January. My manager, aka my hubby, says to try to release it in April and the second one in October. That is a good plan, but I think I can actually turn it out sooner, and have the second book in the series ready for publication in April. That would mean I could definitely get out three books in that series in 2021. Or, alternatively, get out two in that series and the next book in the Shannon Wallace Mysteries (it is about 50% of the way done in drafting). Goal specific: write three books, publish at least two

Content Creator Goals

• Upload a video a week for the YouTube channel, and maybe one podcast a week as well. Haven’t really decided. At the moment, I am working hard to get two to three videos out a week to build some momentum. I know with the writing schedule I have planned early in 2021, it will be impossible to keep this going, so I am not going to even try. Besides, most creators only upload once maybe twice a week. It works for them, should work for me. Goal specific: create a video a week and a podcast as often as possible, either weekly or bi-weekly

Promotion and Marketing Goals

• Submit my fantasy novel to agents starting in late January. This is a big one, y’all. My edits will be in my hands first week of January, and I am SO excited! I am a little behind on this project, meaning, I haven’t done the groundwork yet on making a list of possible agents to submit to. That is another thing that needs to go on my to-do list! Goal specific: submit to at least 50 agents in 2021

Reading Goals

• And, finally, read more. I really want to get through some books this year. I have one started sitting beside my bed, one started in my bathroom, and one started on my Kindle app. I did read about 10 books last year, but that is pitiful considering at one time I could have read 10 a month. Goal specific: read at least twelve books this year

Blogging Goals

In case y’all didn’t know, I have three blogs. This one, the one at Writer Groupie and another one, business-focused on my author services platform. That is a LOT of writing, and sometimes, I just cannot get it done. Because I know this about myself, I am not going to be blogging on any of my sites more than once a week. Writer Groupie will have a blog that goes with any other content, video, podcast, etc. This site, the blogging has been really a mental health aid, but it might create more headaches that curing them this year. We will see. I may be hosting a lot more guest blogging on here. Goal specific: Blog here or have a guest blogger once a week

To be honest, I could go on and on. I have so much positive energy and hope for this year, 2021. But I will stop here, just because I have to cook something for dinner.