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Goals for 2014

Following From:
Goals for 2013
Goals for 2012

For the last two years, I've started the year by making a list of goals - partially for fun, and partially because it's a way of tracking my progress with projects.

So, here were my goals for 2013:
  1. Complete 1st draft of Fabian.
  2. Complete NVQ Level 3 in Customer Care.
  3. Publish a 2nd free ebook anthology (with Riverside Writers and maybe other writers too).
  4. Write one short story per month (minimum).
  5. Write one poem per month (minimum).
  6. Add one new design to Spooky Cute Designs per month (minimum).
  7. (...And last but not least), have more fun.
Let's see how I did... Ok, Fabian is not finished; approximately 30,000 words are still to be written, so while the end is in sight clearly there's work to be done.

However, I not only completed the NVQ Level 3 in Customer Care but also achieved an NVQ Level 2 in Business Skills, and an NCFE Level 2 in the Principles of Dementia Care. This goes some way to explain why Fabian isn't finished!


The second free ebook anthology, City Stories, was published in November and contains original stories and poetry both from Riverside Writers members and from some non-members too.  It follows on from the previous year's Seaside Stories.  My contribution to this collection was a story inspired by my cosplay-loving niece, Catherine, and is called Role Play.

I've only written four poems and six short stories, but one of these stories was published as a childrens ebook called The Grumpets. 

New designs were added to Spooky Cute Designs for seven months out of the year, often several new designs at any one time.  This is my online gift shop which offers several ranges of exclusive items, including one range specifically created for writers and another for cryonicists.

'Have more fun' has been important, too.  I've always loved dolls and already had a small number which I'd collected over the years.  I decided to put these on display so I could enjoy them, rather than have them buried in the back of a cupboard.  The collection grew!  It all began with an adorable vintage 1940's baby doll with a sweet expression, and it went on from there as other vintage dolls came to live here, such as an OOAK pink-haired Blythe and an adorable Pedigree Walker black doll with sideways-sliding eyes, and a re-rooted Pippa with fabulous long red hair, and some Bleeding Edge beauties.  And for Xmas, Richard bought me five Monster High dolls - a howling werewolf, a lights-up ghost, and a lights-up Frankenstein's Monster's daughter, plus two others - all quite gorgeous and multi-jointed and fun to pose.

In late spring, I took up swimming.  This has become a regular fixture in my routine.  At first, I couldn't even swim one length without having to grab for the pool-side while frantically gasping for breath.  Now I swim forty lengths twice each week (without any gasping!) and am really enjoying this.  For some mad reason, the swimming pool is closed for the better part of two weeks over the Xmas/New Year period - a dumb idea if ever there was one.

During 2013, I've been listening to quite a variety of jazz, a music form which I hadn't anticipated getting into.  I've been enjoying this little journey of discovery of music that's fifty years old or more but which is brand new to me.  I hadn't realised the term 'jazz'covered such a broad range of music; previously I'd assumed it mostly sounded like a pile of pans falling down a cliff, all ratt-tat-tat drums and frantically-tooting trumpets but that's not how all of it sounds, so i've discovered by experimentation.  Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck have become firm favourites.

So, my goals for 2014:-
  1. Finish Fabian!
  2. Publish a 3rd free ebook anthology (which will be called Travel Stories - the submission guidelines are already available on Riverside Writers website).
  3. Write one short story per month (minimum).
  4. Continue to collect dolls, swim and have even more fun!
The list is shorter this year.  That's because I want to make Fabian a priority and also because I don't want to put myself under quite so much pressure to achieve things.  I am not my material achievements; they're what I choose to do, not who or what I am.

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