Goodbye 2013, Hello 2014...

Impossible!

How can 2013 be over already?! o_O

I hope you have all enjoyed a very happy Christmas and wish you peace and happiness for the coming year.

Thank you all so much for taking to time to read my blog and following my journey. I feel like I have come a long way in the two and a bit years I've been writing and cannot believe I have already celebrated my first anniversary of becoming a published author.

Time really is flying by though and I intend to embrace it, saving my weekends and school holidays for family time, then knuckling down during school hours to get my work done rather than fritter it away online.

The Year in Review...

2013 saw the launch of Allie A. Burrow and the publication of my Young Adult/New Adult series but it has been a steep learning curve as I had to battle with writing to demand, rather than writing the story that is shouting the loudest. I really need to get disciplined and not be so distracted by the internet though; social networking and promotion is a major timesuck and before I know it, a whole morning has passed. Oops.

Way back at the start of the year, I set my usual challenge so what were my resolutions for 2013 and how did I do?

1) Read 50 books

I am absolutely thrilled to have achieved this and actually had a month or so to spare. Writing commitments meant I had to squeeze in reading time in clusters, going long spells without picking up a book and then having a major binge, but hey, I did it. I reached my goal without having to count 2-in-1's and 3-in-1's as separate books ;-)

2) Self-publish my first novel

Alas, I didn't achieve my goal of self-publishing but only because I landed a book deal with a major publisher so I'm not in the slightest bit disappointed. I'm still waiting on some legislation to go through Parliament that directly affects the Peer Pressure series I am writing anyway. I had also hoped to finish Their Last Goodbye but this is still stuck in the pending pile due to getting on with my Popping the Cherry series.

3) Take part in another sponsored event

I smashed this one by taking part in not one, but two sponsored events. First was my inclusion in the On Yer Bike event for Brain Tumour Research and then came the biggie with my skydive to raise funds for Rainbow Trust. I was also a volunteer for one of the Race 4 Life events, rather than a participant, which was incredibly rewarding.

The Year Ahead...

I am coming into 2014 with another book deal under my belt and a lot of plans. Not only am I contracted for Popping the Cherry books two, three, and four, 2014 also sees Christmas is Cancelled switching publishers and being relaunched in time for Christmas. I'd also really like to get the sequel written rather than making readers wait until 2015!

With all of this in mind, it is time to come up with my resolutions for the year ahead, sticking with my usual personal, professional and community themes, so here goes...

1) Read 26 books

I've had to really cut back on my reading challenge for 2014 as there is just too much writing to do and deadlines to be met. If I can average a book a fortnight though, I will end the year happy.

2) Get another 'Allie' book published

Although Allie isn't my main writing persona, I would like to at least keep it ticking over by releasing a minimum of one book a year. Looking ahead at my writing schedule, I'm not sure where I will fit it in but I will give it a darned good go.

3) Volunteer at a charity event

You'll be relieved to know I am hanging up my fundraising boots for a year to give everyone a break from my 'please sponsor me' posts. I have already chosen my charity for 2014 though, Mummy's Star, will assist them in any way that I am able. I would like to volunteer at another charity event during 2014 and if that is on behalf of Mummy's Star then all the better.

So there we have it!

Over to you, have you set any goals for 2014?

How did your 2013 go?

Related Posts

> Happy New Year for 2013
> I'm Throwing Myself Out of a Plane
> On Yer Bike, Aurelia
> New Contract Signed!
> Signed, sealed, but not quite delivered
> What is 'The Call'?
> Time for an update...
> New deal and changes afoot

Supporting Help for Heroes

Image used with kind permission from Ron McGeary
(c) http://www.ronmcgeary.co.uk/

I don't often refer to my other alter-ego, Allie A Burrow, on here, but I wanted to share my earlier blog post with you all. Please head on over to read about how, and why, I am supporting Help for Heroes.

Just remember there is 'adult content' over there too o_O

Click here or go to: http://blog.allieaburrow.com/2013/05/help-for-heroes.html

Time out... and Dilution?

Almost a week since my last post and there's not really very much to update you with.

Obviously it was my birthday last week so I took a few days off (and reminded my husband what I look like again LOL) and caught up on some reading. We seem to have formed a tradition where we all go to Chester Zoo to celebrate my birthday and this year was no exception so off we trundled off, membership cards in hand. We enjoyed glorious weather for the entire day, hooray, and to think Little Miss was not even nine-months old when we first went.

There's no word on my publishing journey to report, although I can expect my first round of 'proper' edits any time now. I get the feeling it will be a fairly quick turnaround so if I disappear off the face of the earth for a few days, that's why. There's also been a delay with the anthology I submitted a story for as Allie A Burrow, so no news there either.

As for the reading... I raced through The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins last week and WOW! If you don't follow me on Facebook, you'll have missed my initial reaction. If you've not read these books, I can happily recommend them, I've even suggested hubby reads it seeing as it is now being used in classrooms.

The past couple of days, I've been laid up in bed after my darling children shared their tummy bug with me. First to go down was Widget, then a couple of days later Little Miss went down (spectacularly short, one episode and she was done) and then by bedtime the following day... my turn. I have a notoriously weak stomach, it's partly why I've been vegetarian for over twenty years, so anything like that hits me hard. Sigh. But I'm on the mend again at last.

So what of my writing?

It's all go still, although I'm trying not to get too caught up in any big projects knowing that my edits are due. I've seen a special submission call for novelettes/novellas which has aroused my interest and with a word count of 5-18K words, it should be fairly quick and straightforward. As usual, I've got more projects on than I can manage, so it's a case of trying to prioritise. I also read this blog post today from a respected publishing professional, which has made me want to put the brakes on somewhat.

Fellow writers and readers alike, what do you make of the Diluting your Author Brand article? Perfect sense or balderdash? Is having too many books out at once damaging your writing career and turning off your audience, or is it your best form of marketing? I'd love to hear your thoughts...

And my final thought... good luck to everyone who entered this year's So You Think You Can Write contest *fingers crossed*!!

Writing Outside the Comfort Zone

This past week or so, I've been busy getting my pre-edits done and sent back for Christmas is Cancelled but I've also been working on a project that pushes me well outside my comfort zone...

I've been writing an erotic romance. Shock horror!

Believe me, nobody is more surprised than me to be writing in this genre but I saw the following submission call:

Serviced Anthology: Our Serviced anthology is an ongoing submission call. Stories must be under 10k, have a heat rating of at least 3, and be original stories. There is no other theme besides having something to do with the army, military, navy, or air force as well as being romantic/erotic in nature. We will be doing two a year, one with a focus on m/m stories, the other on m/f stories. The anthology will consist of 10 stories each with M/F published Mar 8th, 2013.

At first, I thought nothing of it, but then my own editor at Breathless posted on Facebook to say they were short on submissions and it got me thinking... wondering... could I actually step outside my comfort zone and write a suitable story? Once the challenge was set in my mind, almost like a dare, I knew I had to give it a go.

If you follow me on Facebook, you may have been one of the many voters helping me choose an alternate pen name - so that I can keep the 'erotic' side away from the 'contemporary romance and young adult' side adding an extra division so that I don't have to make my 'Aurelia' Facebook page and blog settings 'over 18' considering I will also be writing young adult at some point.

So, earlier this week a new writer was created called Allie A Burrow, see Introducing Allie..., she even has her own website, complete with blog, and Facebook page:

Allie A Burrow

So what of the story?

I hit send today! If you want to find out what happens, you'll have to keep an eye on Allie's Facebook page and blog for any updates...