A.J. Maguire

Tag: Goals

  • Bring it on 2015!

    I am dubbing 2014 as a success in spite of the avocado fiasco and am seriously excited to see what I can accomplish in 2015. I’ve already got a couple of things planned but today we’re filling out the writing schedule for the whole year … which I’ll admit is like my favorite part of the holiday season.

    This is mostly for me but if you’re brave enough to peek into my writer’s brain then … welcome to the mayhem!

    This is like my personal pep-talk and I’ll reference it throughout the year just to keep myself revved up and ready to write and … well, attack life with fervor. Because really, if we’re not deliberately living then we’re missing out.

    So! Here’s what I want to do in 2015 …

    1) Publish Tapped (Scheduled: January 13, 2015)

    As I’ve mentioned on this blog before, I’ve decided to try my hand at the self-published market. I’ve learned quite a bit from the two small presses that have published me over the last couple years and while I adore them both, the Tapped series requires just a little more freedom.

    2) Edit Persona (Scheduled: January – March)

    Starting January 2nd I will begin implementing edits from my editor(s) for Persona. (Thank you Michael Keenan.) This edit requires a major overhaul of the ending. As soon as it is done it will go back in to said editor so I have a hard deadline of April 1st.

    3) Residual Haunting Wrap-Up (Scheduled: January – March)

    Back in October I started serializing Residual Haunting at Wattpad and its own Story Blog. We’re currently on chapter 12 and there are 13 more to go. Needless to say, the serialization will continue after the New Year. I chose not to post anything over the holiday break due to people being away with their families and such.

    4) Edit Usurper (Scheduled: April – June)

    Trenna fans can stop hounding me. As soon as this edit is complete it will go in to the publisher (Wings ePress) who has first rights to all things Dyngannon.

    5) NEW CONTENT WRITING (Scheduled: April – June)

    My brain is funny sometimes. I can work on 2 projects at a time so long as one is being edited and one is being created. That’s why you see the first three months of 2015 I am editing Persona and finishing Residual Haunting. I have several novels on the back burner that are just waiting to be written so I get to pick from the following;

    Dead Weight (sequel to Tapped) / Alex Huntley (Civil War) / Warpath (4th Trenna book) / Primal (Dragons)

    6) Query Goals (Scheduled: August – December)

    Given the professionalism of my editor I know that by July 2015 I will have Persona back in my hot little hands. I’ve carved out the months of July and August to go through those edits again. It’s a shorter time frame because there should be less work involved (meaning no major over-hauls and such) but once it’s done I will begin querying the book out.

    7) NEW CONTENT WRITING (Scheduled: July – September)

    Obviously whichever one I manage to do in April-June is off the list here, but the choices are the same. Dead Weight (sequel to Tapped) / Alex Huntley (Civil War) / Warpath (4th Trenna book) / Primal (Dragons)

    8) Edit Residual Haunting (Scheduled: October – December)

    By the time October rolls around I should be ready to pick up Residual Haunting again and start editing the crap out of it.

    9) Participate in National Novel Writing Month (Scheduled: November … and probably December)

    Because I just can’t seem to get enough of this program I’ll be trying my hand at this competition again. Depending on what I’ve managed to get finished earlier in the year I will likely pick from my list of 4 back-burner novels. If I’ve written Dead Weight then I know there’s a third Tapped novel (Inmate) that should be added to this list as well. And I have an Aliens vs. Vampires novel buzzing in the back of my brain too.

    10) Poetry Reading and All Things Not Writing

    I want to read a poem a week. I like poetry, I just really suck at writing it. So! I’ll read it instead. One a week through 2015.

    Also in 2015 I want to learn at least 6 new martial art forms/kata (trust me, I have the means to do this.)

    I want to read 12 new books from authors I haven’t read before. If you know a book you think I should try please let me know. This is a book a month and I know I read tons more than that so this should be easy.

    I want to climb mountains with my kid and generally enjoy the adventure that is being a parent. (AKA – we’re going to go find some fun.)

    And that’s it. That’s my 10(+) for the year of 2015. I can do this. I know I can do this. Bring it on!

  • The Close of 2014 …

    Yep, it’s that time of year again. The moment when I look back and take stock of what I did or didn’t manage to accomplish during the last 365 days. (It’s less than that, I know, but with Christmas and Residual Haunting posts I need to toss this post up sooner rather than later. Because my all-time favorite post is the one where I decide what I’m going to get done in 2015 and stuff.)

    So … here are the things I said I wanted to get done in 2014 …

    #1) Graduate.

    Big check-mark there! Back in May I graduated from Northwest Nazarene University with my BA in Christian Ministry.

    #2) Submit Persona to the ABNA contest in January.

    Another big check-mark. I didn’t win, but they did send me an invitation to Kindle Scout, which I haven’t decided on yet.

    #3) Implement edits from developmental editor (Yay, Gabriel Fitzpatrick!) on Tapped.

    In spite of an epic failure coring an avocado that left me one-handed for several months I did manage to implement not only the edits from Gabriel Fitzpatrick, but suggestions from my Beta readers as well. Check, check, and check!

    #4) Finish Residual Haunting.

    Residual Haunting is almost finished. It is currently being posted as a serial novel on Wattpad and is updated every Wednesday morning. I’m going to put this one down as half a check-mark. (PSST. Wattpad means you can read the current chapters for free! Go check out my creepy sci-fi/horror thing!)

    #5) Revamp the synopsis and query letters for the revised Tapped novel. And then Send. Out. Those. Queries.

    Check. I did this. And then I decided I wanted to self-publish Tapped (and its entire series) because it gives me more creative freedom.

    #6) Revise Persona and start formatting it for publication.

    …. Um … nope. Due to the unforeseen incident with the avocado from Hades I spent most of my working time focused on revising Tapped. It was excruciatingly slow work given that I had two fingers I could not feel during the months of May through October.

    #7) Participate in NaNoWriMo again.

    I totally participated. And I totally lost. Again. I should give myself a negative check-mark for losing.

    Is there such a thing as a negative check-mark?

    #8) On December 2, 2014 Persona will be released as my first self-published novel.

    ………… Needless to say, this did not happen. Production on Persona was pushed back. It’s new publication date is set for April 2015. However, I will be sending this in to agents and traditional publishing houses first (as per my arbitrary agreement with myself for all my work) so that date might be pushed back again depending on what sort of response I get.

    #9) I would really, really, really like it if I could climb a mountain.

    I climbed through a canyon. It wasn’t a mountain, but it was climbing. Half a check-mark.

    #10) If I can swing it, I would love to be a Secret Santa for someone next year. I’ve had one this year and it has been wonderful fun.

    Check-mark.

    So! I did relatively well in 2014. Bring on 2015!

  • A Look At 2014

    Woot! It’s time to make my list of things for next year!

    Really, I love this post. It gets me all excited for what I’m about to work on. I did spend a lot of time playing with this new computer and its handy little calendar, so I have a lot of big ideas to put up here.

    So, without further ado, here is my list for 2014.

    #1) Graduate. (That’s right, people. In May 2014 I will officially graduate from Northwest Nazarene University with my Bachelor of Arts.)

    #2) Submit Persona to the ABNA contest in January. (That’s the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. It’s worth a shot, you know?)

    #3) Implement edits from developmental editor (Yay, Gabriel Fitzpatrick!) on Tapped. (Yes, that book I finished last year that went out to Alpha/Beta readers and a supremely wonderful editor will be edited during the first 5 months of 2014. It wouldn’t normally take that long to do edits but … you know … I’ll still be in school around that time.)

    #4) Finish Residual Haunting. (Yep, that’s the novel I started for NaNoWriMo this year.)

    #5) Revamp the synopsis and query letters for the revised Tapped novel. And then Send. Out. Those. Queries. (Non-negotiable there.)

    #6) (Starting in September) Revise Persona and start formatting it for publication.

    #7) Participate in NaNoWriMo again. (Hopefully I’ll win, too. I won’t be in school anymore so I won’t have that excuse if I lose.)

    #8) On December 2, 2014 Persona will be released as my first self-published novel. (This would be my big, scary, impossible goal for the year. I’ve never released something on my own and it’s going to be a challenge.)

    #9) I would really, really, really like it if I could climb a mountain. (Let’s hope that I get a car that works and the state of Idaho doesn’t catch fire again.)

    #10) If I can swing it, I would love to be a Secret Santa for someone next year. I’ve had one this year and it has been wonderful fun.

    … And there you have it. My goals for 2014.

    There are a lot more on there than last year, and most of them have to do with writing. Yes, that is deliberate. After graduating I intend to make a big professional push in that direction. That’ll mean marketing and all that jazz as well — which I admit I have no idea how to do.

    But I figure I went to school so I could do what I love. And what I love is telling stories that examine who we are as people, that expose both the ugly parts of us and the beauty we are capable of. The degree that I’ll have is really just another tool to help me tell those stories.

    So here I am rolling up my sleeves, getting ready for one awesome 2014. I hope everyone is as excited as I am for the future.

  • Bring it on 2013 …

    As my last post talked about the goals I made through 2012 you can probably guess that this post is going to be full of goals for 2013.  And you’re right.  As I said, a friend of mine got me hooked on this and it has been remarkably helpful in my writing life.

    So!  In 2013 I want to …

    1) Submit my edited copy of Dead Magic to DDP on my deadline of March 1st. — This shouldn’t be a problem.  Honest.

    2) Finish Usurper. — This might be a problem.  Could take me the whole year to do with school and all that.

    3) World Build and (hopefully) complete Tapped. — This shouldn’t be that much of a problem.  There are only 6 or 7 chapters left … though the plot sorta exploded in my face last week and I have to revamp the ending.

    4) Climb 2 Mountains.  — I lowered it from three because, let’s face it, I never make it up three no matter how much I want to.  Plus, I have an internship that starts June 1st and runs through the summer, so my time will be limited.

    That’s it.  Those are my goals for 2013.  Anything else that happens will be icing on the cake.