Dreaming of a Goal

This seems to be the time of year when we all reflect upon what we have done in the past year and what we are going to do in the current one. A friend expanded this and blogged about where she wanted to be in 2020. That’s nine years from now.

In nine years my daughter will be in 9th grade (Year 10) and my son in 7th grade (Year 8). Yikes! That means I’ll be getting hit with one in Middle School and one in High School. What I’m doing at that point will largely depend upon what my kids want to be doing. Of course that doesn’t mean I can’t set my own goals for nine years from now.

But I do have a long term goal: Turn my writing into a second career so that when I retire from the day job, I won’t really be retired, but have a portable career that will supplement my retirement savings to allow me to give to the charities closest to my heart, spend quality time with family and travel (hopefully by motorcycle).

Quite the goal huh? I’m not sure if it’s measurable, concise, or has a real deadline, but that’s the dream. I have other things I want to do, but they are sitting (like perform in the Nutcracker) until my children get older and don’t need me as much (as if! *giggles*).

Phoenixes of Vervell by Gabriel Morrison

So this next year I’m focusing more on my writing. Last year, saw me begin to revise and edit in a way I never have before. I plan on doing even more editing and polishing of my Phoenixes of Vervell in 2012.

Yes, beyond the two collaborations I have going, my main goal for 2012 is to revise the Wholawski out of my trilogy. Sarah’s Phoenix needs to be aligned with Phoenix Rising and Phoenix Triumphant, and Skathains replaced with Arenians. Then I want feedback from beta readers and a critique group. After another edit, I’ll start submitting in the traditional method. *nervous nail chewing*

I know, I’ve been reading a lot of Indie publishing blogs. And I’m not discounting that route at all. In fact, I suspect I’ll end up wandering down that path anyway. But, after a bit of soul searching, I’ve decided that part of my journey to becoming an author needs to include an attempt at traditional publishing (aka rejection).

Right now I’m in a place where I don’t need the income from selling books and my dream has been to see my books on the shelves of a bookstore. Don’t worry, I won’t wait forever to get my final acceptance (or take a predatory contract *shudder*). Seeing my books in a bookstore is the stretch goal; the bottom line is to be published and to continue being published.

I’ve got these stories in my head and I want to share them with more than just my immediate family, or even my extended family. I’m thinking the world! (Or at least those people in the world who want to hear about ordinary females doing extraordinary things and discovering that love surrounds them.) *grin*

Now back to work editing Phoenix Triumphant. *wink*

:} Cathryn Leigh

A Forgotten Blog and a Morphing Plot

Okay so being one day late probably isn’t too bad, but I still I feel bad for not posting last night. I got a little caught up in cutting out fabric for my latest Halloween costume; The Dragon Queen. It sounds more impressive than it probably will be, but I’m hoping that I will at least have wings that can be opened and closed.

Anyway, back to what I’d like to talk about; Phoenix Triumphant. Now, you would think that, having written the draft, editing would be a piece of cake and just a matter of working on sentence structure and warding. But no, not with Phoenix Triumphant, it is trying to go someplace completely different now.

The first half of the editing went fairly well. Not too many things were changed, and the parts that were easily slipped into the spot they replaced. Then it came time to introduce James. Obviously he was in there before, but I did some writing to figure out just why the Vervellean rescue party would trust the Azurean, who had a pretty high rank in General Wholawski’s army, to come with them.

That is where the major changes started. You see James went from a nervous, scared guy who was afraid of being killed upon return, to, well, a much stronger more take charge kind of guy. Don’t get me wrong I like this change in him, despite the fact he walks the line of double agent well. I know what side he’s really on.

Still it means that if I don’t get my but into writing gear in the next three weeks, I’m going to run out of material to post on Protagonize. Something I suspect my Vervellean fans might get upset about.

Speaking of those fans, I cannot help but return my love for them. Without them this story wouldn’t have gone nearly as far, nor been sustained for as long. It’s amazing to think that Sarah’s Phoenix was posted nearly two years ago? Craziness!

So to all the people I could list (if I was at home and had my notes) who have read and commented as well as those who have faithfully squealed when the first post date of Phoenix Triumphant was announced: THANK YOU! *Heart*

:} Cathryn Leigh

A Return to Routine

Well here it is Tuesday night time for another Blog entry. Not really sure what to write. I’m currently steeling back into a normal routine after having nearly two weeks of house guests. Boy that put a strain on my sanity. It was rough playing hostess for our 2nd annual Blow up Carroll County party, but the party goers seemed to make do.

No we don’t actually blow up Carroll County, but we do light off a bunch of ground based fireworks. Well the boys do. I just sit back with the kids and watch. My husband and his father made a trip into Pennsylvania to go to the firework warehouse. They got a really cool one called the Star Spangled Banner (I think). Anyway it was wicked worthy of being the finale (even though it wasn’t).

Amazingly enough I also managed to get in some edit time. My mother-in-law and I went off to Panara Bread to sip drinks and just not be around the kids and hubbies and, especially in her case, her mother. My husband’s Nana just moved in with his parents and so his mother has yet to fully adjust to having a third person living her house. I can totally understand where she is coming from.

Other than that it’s been fairly tame around here. I have a tap dance lesson tomorrow that I’m excited about. I never got a chance to practice, like I wanted to, but I’ve been running through parts of it mentally. We just don’t have a good floor for tapping. *pout*

And the kids, they are growing like weeds. Fiona (age 5.5) is now 47.25 inches (1.5 inches more than in March of this year. Brendan (age 3.5) is 42.75 inches (2.5 inches more than in March!). Yes, someday I will again be the shortest person in my family.

And so ends my rambling for the evening. *grin* Time to join in another teen role play and meet more people on Protagonize. *giggles*

:} Cathryn Leigh