I was right.  Maybe it was that self-fulfilling prophesy thing.  July was kicked back and comfortable: 4th of July, Camping, BlogHer…  Not much to show for myself.

I’m kicking in for some real progress in August.  I already have a full end-of-summer-one-last-bash kind of August on my calendar.  Okay, somewhere in there I will finish editing my book.  I promise.

 

My Progress on Game Plan 2014:

1. Get my novel published:  I will get editors, a cover designer, and a publisher.  I will.
   Progress:  I’m tucked in for the hard work of editing, based on my beta-readers and Lisa Romero.  I got some great advice from SheWrites co-founder, Kamy Wicoff, at BlogHer14.  The same session had an author who published traditionally.  He said it took two years for the book to actually get published.  He almost forgot it was coming out.  His lesson was keep writing, keep submitting shorts.  To that end, a blogging friend is introducing me to someone at Huffington Post.  I have two great posts in mybackpocket to write.  But yet, I dally.I’m still investigating Chicago Writers Association those two writers conference on my radar.  Okay, okay.  I did nothing here but keep the rad up.
2. Knit or crochet yarn stash into hats for charity: I have a lot of yarn stash.
   Progress:  Acht!  No knitting during May or June or July.  Maybe it’s to darned hot.  Plus the outdoors, cookouts, swimming, biking, are calling me.  And did I mention there’s a wedding at my house in September.
3. Make enough money writing to pay property taxes:  Maybe I wasn’t clear enough in 2013.
   Progress:   Three more newspaper articles for a local paper and a commitment for a website re-make.  I’ve already put together a user-requirement questionnaire and am sharing it via Evernotes.
4. Expand my platform: a key to successful selling of a published book, I’m told.
   Progress:  Still growing at a rate of 10 or more followers each week on BlogHer, SheWrites, Instagram, Twitter, FB page; Google+, Pinterest.  My Klout score is up.  I even got a perk.  Thanks to tweeting out at BlogHer, I won a new WiiU. (That’s a gaming device byNinento, not some sort of blogging award.

5. Experience Night at the Museum with Two More Grandkids.
   Progress:  Complete!  Yay!  Miss K and Mr. L.  Mr. L plans to be a paleontologist when he grows up.  Miss K has her heart set on fashion design.  The two kids were congenial enough, but they never really talked to each other.  Really interesting dynamics.
6. Travel Route 66 with Loved-One:  I plan to get some sponsors and write about out trip.
   Progress:  This goal is post-poned until spring or fall of 2015.  Drat!  But on the happy side, Wrestler One and his Loved-One will be married in September in my back-yard.  What a wonderful goal replacement.
7. Volunteer:  Last year I tried a women’s shelter.  Maybe this year, the food pantry.
   Progress:  Success with “1st Way Pregnancy.”  Volunteering is going so-so.    (This shelter mission is “To provide loving assistance, emotional and financial support for women and girls who find themselves in a crisis.”  The values of “1st Way Pregnancy” match mine, that is: empower women to make life-affirming choices by offering financial and emotional support.  Rather than shaming and coercing with rules and regulations.)
   I’m learning a lot about myself.  I really like to be in charge; or at least self-directed.  It’s humbling to relinquish control, especially when I believe I have improvements to offer.
8. Read two book a month:  This goal doubles my 2013 rate.
   Progress:
   In July I read two  books.  I’m sure of it.  But I can only remember one.  Maybe my reading is too fast and furious.Louis Erdrich, The Round House  I really liked this book a lot.  The language is so precise, yet so descriptive. Erdrich wrote a novel that is also a lesson on Native American culture and a mystery.  I normally don’t care so much for mystery, but this book is as much a coming of age story about a boy, as it is a mystery.  Plus,Erdrich captures so well, boyhood friendships and the power of a loving family.  Although crime is horrible, I found the family’s undying love quite uplifting.From past months:
   Kate Atkinson by Life After Live:  A Novel by
   Doreen M. McGettigan.  Bristol boys Stomp:  The Night That Divided a Town
   Adela Crandell:  A Land of Milk and Honey
   Eric Larson:  In the Garden of the Beast
   Beth Nonte Russell:  Forever Lily.
   Graham Greene:  Our Man in Havana.
   Michael Allan Scott:  Flight of the Tarantula Hawk – A Lance Underphal Mystery.
   Linda Lawrence Hunt:  Bold Spirit:  Helga Estby’s Forgotten Walk Across Victorian America.
   Rachel Thompson: Broken Pieces (interviewed)
   Guy Kawasaki: APE
   Hilary Grossman:  Dangled Caret (interviewed)
   Candice Millard:   Destiny of the Republic.
9. Get new carpeting for the lower level:  Ugh!  I don’t even want to go down there, it looks so bad.
   Progress:  Not yet.  I got to thinking about the wedding, which is an outdoor party, hipster BBQ with games and a picnic.  Maybe I’ll just rip the old capet up and leave a cement floor.  That way we can put the food inside.  I won’t be embarrassed about the old carpet and I won’t be worried about the new carpet.  I’ll run that one by the bride and groom.
10. Send St. Patrick’s Day photo cards to friends and family: Progress:   Complete.  I got  great feedback from my Welcome Spring card.  Several people thought they just received an invitation to something; they weren’t sure what.  They loved the pictures and the surprise out-of-the-blue greeting.  I think I’ll do this again next year.

How are your plans for the year going?  any obstacles, or are you right on track?  I’d love to hear from you.  What do you think about my carpet idea?