Well I’m living in my childhood home again, with several part time jobs and a barely out of debt credit card. This year was very bad? A lot of good things happened, but mostly bad or frustrating things, so
Creative/Writing Goals
- Grow Forced Proximity to 300 subscribers- COMPLETE
- I’m on hiatus currently, and coming back next year on a slightly different publishing schedule, but I really love writing this newsletter and being a part of the romance reading and recommendation community!
- Polish first full draft of Headwaters, start to query by end of March 2025- COMPLETE
- No dice, alas, but I did it! I think what I struggle with for this book is a way to explain it in concrete terms versus “this is a story about a woman who hates herself so much she decides to make insane and dangerous decisions in order to feel anything until she has enough emotional distance from her own failures to start over” … “also there’s hot snowed-in sex, gun fights, and a hero who never imagined a future beyond a few hours away until he met her.”
- Are you good at distilling information into a catchy paragraph or two? Do you LOOOOVE to blurb? Do you want to read this book and help me?? I promise it’s a fun ride
- Break even with Rehabbing The Billionaire – FAILURE
- This year, I earned $70.56 from this book, but to be fair, I didn’t do a lot to promote it because this year was absolute chaos and it just never was a priority. I don’t suspect I’ll ever break even until I get a few other books out there, which is absolutely the plan!!
- Write at least 1 new complete draft of a new project, either for RoWritMo ‘25 or otherwise- COMPLETE
- I finished the first draft of a spicy alien fated mates romance the day before RoWritMo ’25, then I kicked RoWritMo’s ass and wrote even more than I did in 2024! At time of writing this blog I haven’t finished that RoWritMo book yet, but I’ve written more words on it (in a month + a week) as the full draft of the alien book, so I kinda wrote two books this year. I also have 4 writing sprint sessions planned with a friend this week so… maybe I’ll finish it either just under or over the wire?
- By end of year, decide if I’m going to continue the query route or go whole hog into indie publishing- COMPLETE
- As I mentioned in my mid-year check in, this is less a decision I can really make on my own versus a financial reality check. I don’t have the money to move to Oregon, live a baseline life, and also go “whole hog” into indie publishing, even if that’s something I’d like to do. It’s expensive, even when you’re doing it in a budget friendly-ish manner! So unless a talented cover designer wants to offer their services to me for free, not to mention developmental editors… I’ll probably query a few more times while quietly saving enough money to get my next book out there as soon as I can swing it.
Creativity reflection: This was a really great creative year for me, which is honestly surprising, considering usually when I’m as depressed and broke as this (looking at you, 2017), I can’t get anything done creatively because I’m so spent in all the ways you can define that word. But this year I’ve got a writing group keeping me honest and accountable, a separate writing friend I meet every Monday to write for about an hour, and another writing/publishing friend I have more sporadic accountability sessions with to write together. I have a community, a routine, and I am so grateful to have had them during this absolutely awful year.
Health Goals
- Stretch every morning- COMPLETE
- So I didn’t stretch *every* morning because there were about 3-5 months this year that I was kind of down for the damn count in terms of stress and depression, BUT. According to the various apps I use to track things like this (mood/goal app: Daylio, self care app: Finch), I’m currently on a 145 day streak with stretching every day, and I’ve managed 32 weeks over the course of the year total at stretching every day, which is way better than I anticipated. 250 days of stretching overall!
- Walk 3x weekly- COMPLETE
- I managed this 21 weeks out of the year, thanks to moving to CO and having a dog to help motivate me (not to mention not being constantly on fire from LA weather and depressed from LA prices), so I’m also counting it a win, because that’s WAY more walking than I did last year! 113 walks was my total.
- Order in less than 2x a week-COMPLETE
- 45 weeks, baby! Having no money really forces you to cook, huh?? I did NOT order in 302 days this year, which, considering the last few years…. pretty damn good.
- Develop better breakfast/lunch habits- COMPLETE
- Done! I’m slowly but surely letting go of how I “should” be doing things (which then becomes me not doing them if I can’t do them “perfectly”) and just doing what needs doing, however I’m able to.
Health reflection: I sleep better (ish- sleeping is more a brain issue than a health one for me, but I’m definitely BETTER than I was), I feel WAY better day to day with more energy, and I’m more productive when I stay limber, incrementally increase my activity level, and cook more than I order out. I also save money. This is certainly influenced by the differences in being in a small town with fewer easy order-in options, a parent’s pantry to mine rather than having to get groceries for every ingredient, and having a dog around… but it’s a lesson I’m really really trying to take to heart. Move, bitch!
Personal Goals
- Do more activities with my husband- COMPLETE
- Moving is an activity, right? Because we did the hell out of that, together. Sometimes in our final move (where he drove a rental car and I drove ours) we’d call each other just to chat while we drove. We had a good year as a couple even if it was a bad year overall, and I’m just very lucky to have him.
- Read 300 books- COMPLETE
- Current read count: 425
- Follow me on Fable for actual reviews, not just a regular counter!
- Go out with friends or family once a week, or invite people over if that’s the best option- COMPLETE-ISH
- Obviously since moving to CO to literally live with my mom doesn’t precisely count towards this, though we have made an effort to do stuff together rather than just be roommates passing in the night. But our final few months in LA were full of friends, because we are lucky to have good people around us even if that wasn’t our forever city, and we’re excited to find a community again in the future to continue hosting. Every week might not have happened, but we pushed hard not to be hermits even when the weeks were tough… and they were regularly tough
- Declutter my possessions– COMPLETE
- Nothing like moving to a new state to help declutter your life!
Personal reflection: For a difficult personal year… I did a pretty good job with my goals. I saw people, I didn’t go full hermit despite having truly no money for anything for months, I’m putting myself out into the world in person and online… I’m feeling surprisingly good despite how badly I should feel given the situation. And I’ve read some GREAT books this year!
Professional/Financial Goals
- Make rent with freelancing work- COMPLETE
- It’s been a rough couple years (getting sick of that yet? ME TOO!) for me professionally, but for the second year in a row, I managed to at least cover rent payments just through freelancing! Obviously life costs more than rent (though it rarely feels that way) but this is still a huge accomplishment considering how brutal the job market has been.
- Be able to ADD to my savings account again rather than just removing from it- COMPLETE?
- Weirdly Zelle, which several clients of mine use to pay me, automatically connects to my savings account, so while I’ve had transfer it out sometimes… sometimes I’m able to leave it there. Does that count? It’s better than nothing!
- Lead 10 workshops, solo or with partners- COMPLETE
- This one I blew past before mid-year, and most of the clients I’ve gotten for freelancing this year have come from a workshop, or as a result of having done a workshop for someone who then refers me.
Professional/financial reflection: After another brief adventure with credit card debt because of how little I earned this year which, thanks to rent-free living at my mom’s and a supportive and gainfully employed partner, I managed to get out of a couple weeks back…. it could have been worse. It really, really could have. But I am feeling confident about next year, and I’ll also be in a whole new state and hopefully finding whole new opportunities from there. If nothing else, my experience stage handing here in Colorado means I’ve got a new thing on my resume!
What a year. What a damn year. I’m glad it’s over, despite doing pretty damn well on a “goal completion” level, and while I don’t know if I’d say I’m excited for 2026, I’m cautiously optimistic. Happy new year!
