First Post of the New Year -- Outlining 2009

I was hoping to have some great, grand post for the first Friday of the year. Alas, it has not come to fruition. But, truth be told, from about my birthday (December 19) to sometime after the first of the new year I always take time off as a self-imposed vacation. In that respect, I've not written anything besides a few notes hither and thither about various things. In other words: I've not written anything of great import since December 18 and therefore have nothing to really post this first Friday of the new year.

In lieu of posting some tale or essay or some other such thing, I think instead I'll post one of the many notes I have taken while on vacation. It's an outline of the things I hope to accomplish with my writing this year. Of course, writing for me is an organic experience. I go whichever direction it grows. Though I attempt pruning my writing as a gardener shapes a bonsai, at times I have to simply allow my writing to come as it may.

So this is a mere guideline I hope to aim for. If other things come about that I must attend to and that will hamper achieving some of these goals I set forth here, as long as I can consider it productive, I will not consider myself a failure this year.

If 2008 could be summed up in two words, they would be "aggressive productivity." If I were to sum up my goals for 2009 it would be "aggressive productivity and promotion".

Here are those things I wish to see happen this year:

1.) Finish my current cyberpunk novel "Silent Nights". I've already written 111 pages. I'm hoping to finish it by some time between March and May.

2) If I finish "Silent Nights" early (hereby defined as March) I'd like to return to the Southern novel I started while on vacation in New Orleans in 2006. I've already written about 120-150 pages of it, but other writings have kept me from it. The tale is set in the summer, so I hope the Spring thaw and early Summer seasons will help me finish more of it.

3.) I would like to publish another issue of my webzine, If - E - Zine, some time in May. Within its pages I think I'll be placing notes I've been making of the universe of The Sarge - a character that first debuted in If - E - Zine in March of 2004.

4) Write the third novel set within the Xiao-tep universe (if you've been reading my blog you know Xiao-tep to be a wuxia martial arts koi fish-god). I think this third story set in the universe will be the end of Xiao-tep's cycle. However, I do not foresee a time when I am not writing in the universe about some other character.

5) Publish the 6th Annual Special Halloween Edition of If - E - Zine in October.

6.) Promote the site and myself online.

That's pretty much it. About the only other thing I could add is the two life-goals I'm working towards with my writing:

1.) Help with purchasing/owning a home outside of Michigan - someplace sunny and warm - for Johannah and myself.

and 2.) Working towards owning a sailboat.

I'm pretty sure I can achieve all these goals. I'm hungry. Very hungry. Both literally and figuratively. And if any of you know me, you know I don't just sit on my ass and bitch and complain about matters. I get up off my ass and make things happen. I don't know if one can get more motivated than I am right here, right now. I'm about to run like crazy. I just need someone to open the door of opportunity. I'm ready and willing to do it all. Every last bit.

I've got a feeling 2009 will be a big year.

That's about it, folks.

Happy New Year.

Let's get to work. Let's make it a good one.