So this is a new thing I’m gonna try out: setting goals and intentions publicly. I do them behind the scenes or I wouldn’t get anything done, but I feel like posting about them openly is also a good idea. Share in the madness that is my December with me.

Goal 1: Thirteen Submissions

I have a grand total of thirteen different short story submissions that I want to write for in December. Makes me laugh to see it written down. Remember, no matter how many times I get into an anthology, I’ve been turned down ten times before that. At first, every single rejection was a personal attack (ADHD makes every rejection feel like the worst thing that has ever happened) but now I am mostly used to it. Still cannot figure out whether I really should send them something else when they ask or whether they are simply being polite. Hopefully I’ll get better at that soon.

Goal 2: Second Draft of Seventh Daughter

Seventh Daughter was finished as part of completing NaNoWriMo this year, but the first draft is very floppy. My goal was simply to write it, and so I kept a running record of things I would need to edit and fix later. And, December is later, so that’s the plan for this month. Darn all of the holes in my manuscript. When it’s finished this second draft process I’ll need to send it out to Beta Readers. So that’s another priority: ask people to be my Beta readers. Not an easy task for me; for some reason I find it easy to fling my short story manuscripts around, but for my novels I cringe at the very idea. Maybe because there’s more of me in there?

Goal 3: Finish Act 2 of the Podcast

I don’t know if I have talked about this before here, but I have been writing a narrative podcast for a while with some close friends. It’s a horror-comedy podcast and we’re just wrapping up on writing our last episode of act 2. So that’s a milestone. We should be finished with the final phase of writing by May next year? Hopefully. Add, set up a schedule for the podcast to my To Dos. Speaking of, should also set up social media accounts for the podcast too.

Goal 4: Reading

I have to play reading catch-up. I have a bunch of books on my TBR list and a fair few ARCs to review as well! Not to mention reading Kristin’s reading wrap-up at Kristin Kraves Books has made me want to pick up a few new books. Thank goodness the winter holidays are upon us so I have more free time!

Goal 5: Spend time with my partner

My partner is finally in Japan with me after the great border closure (2019-2022) and I’m so stoked! It will be our first real Christmas together! So the last thing on my goals for this month is really simple: spend time with him. I want to show him Tokyo and snuggle for winter. We also have to decorate the Christmas tree more! Look at how bereft it is with only the lights on, it needs a star, I think.

Now that’s a list! There’s a lot more on there than I thought, actually. But then I am allergic to boredom so that makes sense! If you got this far through my self-indulgent list, let me know what you’re doing for winter in the comments.