I just ran across my resolutions for 2015. They were:
1.Publish On Fledgling Wings in the spring. (which I managed to accomplish!)
2.Publish Swan Song this summer. (which I kind of did. No sooner had I gotten everything in place but a colleague convinced me that I didn't want to accomplish this goal. Beowulf is coming out as a major TV series (This month in Britain, next fall in the U.S.). It is supposed to be the next big thing: the next Game of Thrones. This colleague convinced me that I would have a better chance of selling a lot of copies if I waited until the series, so that when people Googled Beowulf, they would also find my book. Is she right? We'll find out this fall!)
3. Finish Summer of the Bombers by the time I go back to school in August. (never even touched Summer of the Bombers. This midgrade contemporary novel about a girl whose family falls apart after a forest fire destroys her home remains a half-finished manuscript. Perhaps I'll pull it out this year.)
4.Begin research on a new book to write next fall. (This I did, and with gusto. The book is Valverde, a middle grade novel set in the Civil War in New Mexico. Valverde is the story of two boys: a gentle animal lover from Texas and an Hispanic New Mexican who do not want to go to war but find themselves on opposite sides in the largest Civil War battle in the Southwest.
So, where do I go from here? In 2016, I plan
1. To publish a short, fun contemporary middle grade novel in January. (the first of the Anderson Chronicles.)
2. To write a teacher's guide for The Bent Reed
3. To complete a first draft of Valverde
4. To work on a Civil War Cookbook that will be a companion to The Bent Reed and Valverde and will come out at the same time as Valverde.
5. To really create a big publishing event for Swan Song in the fall.
6. Maybe finish Summer of the Bombers?
7. To publish a second Anderson Chronicle late in the year.
Can I do all this? I don't know, but I can try!
1.Publish On Fledgling Wings in the spring. (which I managed to accomplish!)
2.Publish Swan Song this summer. (which I kind of did. No sooner had I gotten everything in place but a colleague convinced me that I didn't want to accomplish this goal. Beowulf is coming out as a major TV series (This month in Britain, next fall in the U.S.). It is supposed to be the next big thing: the next Game of Thrones. This colleague convinced me that I would have a better chance of selling a lot of copies if I waited until the series, so that when people Googled Beowulf, they would also find my book. Is she right? We'll find out this fall!)
3. Finish Summer of the Bombers by the time I go back to school in August. (never even touched Summer of the Bombers. This midgrade contemporary novel about a girl whose family falls apart after a forest fire destroys her home remains a half-finished manuscript. Perhaps I'll pull it out this year.)
4.Begin research on a new book to write next fall. (This I did, and with gusto. The book is Valverde, a middle grade novel set in the Civil War in New Mexico. Valverde is the story of two boys: a gentle animal lover from Texas and an Hispanic New Mexican who do not want to go to war but find themselves on opposite sides in the largest Civil War battle in the Southwest.
So, where do I go from here? In 2016, I plan
1. To publish a short, fun contemporary middle grade novel in January. (the first of the Anderson Chronicles.)
2. To write a teacher's guide for The Bent Reed
3. To complete a first draft of Valverde
4. To work on a Civil War Cookbook that will be a companion to The Bent Reed and Valverde and will come out at the same time as Valverde.
5. To really create a big publishing event for Swan Song in the fall.
6. Maybe finish Summer of the Bombers?
7. To publish a second Anderson Chronicle late in the year.
Can I do all this? I don't know, but I can try!
