2017 in review and my writing goals for 2018

2017 is drawing to a close. Just three more days and we’ll be into 2018. For me, the week between Christmas and the New Year is always a time to look back at the past year and make goals for the next year.

So, how did I do on my writing goals for 2017?

A year ago, I posted my goals for 2017, which were:

Write and publish two English novels. 

I did achieve that goal. My medical romance Falling Hard was published in April, and Perfect Rhythm, a romance novel with an asexual main character, was published in September.

Translate and publish two German novels. 

 I also accomplished that goal. Hängematte für zwei, the translation of Falling Hard, was published in June, and the German version of Perfect Rhythm was published in October. That means my German readers had to wait only a month or two for the translation after each novel became available in English.

Write two short stories. 

I actually wrote not two, but three short stories. Two are available as part of my short story collection Love at First Write, which was published in December. The third, “Facing the Music,” is a very short sequel to Perfect Rhythm. It’s available for free to newsletter subscribers here.

Attend the book fair in Leipzig in March and the book fair in Frankfurt in October as well as the GCLS conference in Chicago in July. 

Being able to travel is one of the benefits of being a writer since I can write from anywhere. So I did attend the book fair in Frankfurt and the one in Leipzig, and I combined the GCLS conference with some sightseeing in Chicago. It was great to reconnect with fellow writers and readers of lesbian fiction at the GCLS, and I ended up taking home two Golden Crown Literary Awards (for Finding Ms. Write and Shaken to the Core), which was another highlight of the year for me.

Continue to mentor new writers and give back to the community of LGBT writers. 

That’s another check mark on my list of goals for 2017. I mentored a new writer who’s working on her first novel as part of the GCLS’s Writing Academy. It’s time-consuming, but worth every minute, and I’m pretty sure that novel will end up being published.

Become a more healthy writer. 

Since writing is such a sedentary activity, I’m trying to stay fit by exercising more and eating healthy. I think I achieved that goal for most of the year, but I let things slide a little for the past two months, so that’s definitely something I need to work on in 2018.

Read more books for fun. 

This is another goal that I didn’t fully achieve this year. I did read for fun, but not as much as I wanted. The picture to the right shows how I kept track of the novels I read in 2017.

As you can see, there would have been space for more books on that shelf, so this is another goal I want to recommit to for 2018.

My goals for 2018

Here are the goals I set for myself for 2018:

Write and publish two English novels. 

Just for Show, a fun romance about a fake relationship between a psychologist with OCD tendencies and an impulsive actress, is actually almost done. It will be published in February. Novel #2 for 2018 will be another book in the Portland Police Bureau series featuring Dawn and Aiden from Conflict of Interest, Del and Kade from Next of Kin, and two new characters. The still untitled book will be published in December 2018.

Translate and publish four German novels. 

My German readers can look forward to four novels from me in 2018. Aus dem Gleichgewicht, the translation of Shaken to the Core, will be published in February. Alles nur gespielt, the German version of Just for Show, will be published in April. I will also finally translate my historical romance Backwards to Oregon, which will be published in two parts in August and October.

Co-author a novella set in Germany. 

Alison Grey, my co-author for the paranormal romance Good Enough to Eat, and I have been talking about co-writing another novella in 2018. It will be a romance set in Freiburg, the city where I live. Of course, the novella will be available in both English and German.

Attend the GCLS conference in Las Vegas in July and at least one literary event in Europe. 

I just booked my flight to Vegas, so I’ll definitely be attending the GCLS conference. I’m also thinking about attending ELLCon, the European Lesfic Literary Conference in Bristol in August.

Continue to give back to the community of LGBT writers. 

While I won’t have the time to mentor a new writer for the GCLS in January, I still want to give back to the LGBT community and promote lesbian fiction in other ways. One of the things I’m planning for 2018 is a Lesbian Book Bingo, a year-long reading challenge that includes books from pretty much every publisher of lesbian fiction plus many indie authors.

Become a more healthy writer. 

I’ll restructure my workday in 2018 so that I can take a walk during my lunch break, and I’ll keep working out at least three times a week.

Read more books for fun. 

To help me accomplish that goal, I’ll participate in Lesbian Book Bingo as a reader. I’ll try to complete my entire bingo card, which means reading at least 25 lesbian books in 2018.

What are your goals, plans, and hopes for 2018?

Please leave a comment and let us know.

 

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