Happy New Year!

"All of us every single year, we're a different person.  I don't think we're the same person all our lives." - Steven Spielberg

Well, it's finally here.  2013.  The Big One Three.  The first year since 1987 comprised of four different numbers.

I've been promising a set of Resolutions--goals, if you will--for 2013.  I've been considering them.  I've been tossing them back and forth with the lovely lady who shares all with me.  Here's what I've--we've--come up with for public consumption.

In 2013, I will:

• Write every day.  I've written nearly every day of 2012, but I got distracted at times.  For 2013, I'm participating in a 365-post blog challenge, to post something every day.  I'm gonna do it.
• Publish four books.  Hey, I pubbed 2 books and a novella in 2012.  I'm close on Atlantis; it's at beta readers now and is marching along nicely for a Feb 14th release.  Book 4 is written, though as a NaNo project it'll take some serious revision.  Then there's the Elf Queen book that is well-started and loaded into Scrivener.  And finally, I figured out where I want to go with Professor Kinder in my SciFi work.  
• Take risks.  I'm not convinced that the Ultimate Rules of Novel Marketing from 2012 will work in 2013.  I saw great results on giveaways early in the year, but not so much later on.  This year will be the year of trying to figure out how best to help people discover my works.  And on that note....
• Operate smarter.  Yep, I admit it, the TOSK thing was a dumb idea.  More on that later. (note: no, the previous two haven't been entirely measurable, but that's okay)
• Do a little freelance work every week.  The money's nice--oh, on second thought, I'll be honest.  The money pretty much sucks.  But the discipline is nice.  Online freelancing forces a writer to craft clean, error-free copy on a tight time limit. 
• Finish/Create a dozen short stories (one per month).  As with the freelance work, I don't see much money in that effort either, but shorts require a laser-sharp focus on clean beginnings and endings.  Those are my two weak spots, really, those beginnings and endings.  I do pretty dang well in the middle.  
• Keep up with my social networks on a weekly basis.  Not only have I let that fall off for myself, but I haven't been a great participant in the Alexandria Publishing Group.  They--we--have great plans for 2013, and I want to be an active participant in those.
• Move.  With the relocating we've done, from Anchorage to Biloxi to Richmond, and the associated uncertainties with housing options, we've been in apartments for way too long.  I'm tired of powerlessly yelling at my toilet when it randomly refuses to flush properly.  
• Exercise once a day. Five people that I know have passed away in the past few weeks, four of those to heart disease.  Message received, God.  

It's an ambitious list, to be certain, but there's nothing there that I can't accomplish.  What about you?  What grand goals do you have for 2013?  Are you willing to write them down and let everybody see them?

Have a great day, and a Happy New Year!

- TOSK