Guess what? It’s already the last day of January! Isn’t that beyond unbelievable? Why, I remember December 31st like it was yesterday. *ripple dissolve*
Seriously, though, folks. I’m excited for February!* I don’t have a lot of great plans for the month, but I’m glad to be starting anew. A lot of things about January didn’t turn out the way I’d planned, so … yep. New beginnings are good!
But … don’t get me wrong! There were good – great – things about January. Let’s review them now!
*as excited for the rain-and-clouds month as one can possibly be …

January 2018 Dares

Reading

Goals:

• Read a classic. Failed.
  • IT WAS A BUSY MONTH, ARIGHT, MATE?
  • I am in the middle of The Jungle, but I argue that it sucks too much to be a classic. 😉
  • (I could count A Girl of the Limberlost by Gene Stratton Porter. But that’s a re-read – for the 200th time, nonetheless!)
• Finish all those random books in your closet. Kinda.
  • Okay, so, I finished one of them!
  • And this is an accomplishment for me!
  • So I’m giving myself this!
  • (Kinda.)
• Read a book on writing. Failed.
  • But I did reread parts of K.M. Weiland’s 5 Secrets of Story Structure.

Stats:

11 books read!

(A Girl of the Limberlost isn’t in the graphic.) (And my mom says I’ve read a lot more ’cause SCHOOL, but y’know, still.) (And I’ll be finishing a 13th today.) (Because I have to review it tomorrow.) (Don’t give me that look. 😛 )
Historical:
7 (counting Crescent Tides which was time travel)
Semi-Classic:
2 (A Girl of the Limberlost and Understood Betsy)
Contemporary:
3 (counting Crescent Tides …)
Fantasy/Sci-Fi:
1 (Crescent Tides again!) (Time travel always makes lot of categories.)
Favorite Read:
Excluding rereads (A Girl of the Limberlost, The Governess of Highland Hall, and Blue Skies Tomorrow), I’m going to have to say A Heart Most Worthy by Siri Mitchell.
(NOTE: I also excluded A Question of Loyalty because if I get started, I will rave, and I’m trying to keep from giving away spoilers!)
Runner(s)-Up:
Martin Hospitality by Abigayle Claire
I can see why this one is so popular. 🙂
Least Favorite Read:
The Chalky Sea, of course! Marked did-not-finish for sexual content.
Runner(s)-Up:
I don’t really have one! The Rise of Miss Notley was one of those okay-but-not-awesome books, though, so I’ll count that.

Writing

Goals:

• Publish Flowers. Check!
  • That was easy.
• Working with beta-readers for At Her Fingertips. Check!
  • How did I think I could fail this one???
  • #tooeasytobetrue
• Work on that other project that shall go unnamed. Check!
  • This was, of course, Water on the Rocks.
  • And … I have about eleven pages of random info that shall eventually be sorted and made into a novel-like creature. 😉

Stats:

At Her Fingertips:
I’m about twenty pages into editing it in paperback. Also, I’ve done a lot of work with it based on beta-reader feedback. My beta-readers are pretty awesome … I’m so glad to have them!
Beyond Her Calling:
Nothing, really. However, I’ve firmly decided the course I want to pursue as far as revisions go. (Some major changes coming your way, BHC! *evil grin*)
Alice Unanswered:
20,373 words written!
Note: I’d already written almost 10K on paper last March – I believe. But typing it up and editing it as I went was hard work, so I count every single word.

Blogging

Goals:

• Stick to the schedule. Kinda.
  • mostly?
  • OKAY, yes, a couple times I posted off the schedule and posts were late.
  • But I did post more often than I had been! So there!
• Get 520 Followers. Check!
  • I HAVE 540 Y’ALL!
  • FIVE
  • HUNDRED
  • FORTY
  • *wild cheering*
  • (Yes, some of those are Twitter followers that somehow got linked to Reveries.) (Shut up.)
• PUBLISH. POSTS. ON. RR. Check!
  • Okay, I published five posts this month.
  • So a little more than once a week.
  • (Yes, I do call that ‘check!’)

Stats:

• Followers
  • I don’t know for certain how many I had at the beginning of the year, but about 30+ for a grand total of 540!
• Posts
  • 9 posts (10 counting this one!)
  • Personal Favorite: Introducing “That Plot Bunny”
  • Most Popular: Finishing The Chronicles of Alice and Ivy
• Views
  • 1,122
• Comments
  • 167
• Likes
  • 145

Life

Goals:

• Practice my clarinet and saxophone. Checkety-check?
  • Okay, this is vague.
  • Like, I did practice my clarinet and sax, but …?
  • Not a ton …
  • But surely enough! *is a failure at everything* 😉
• Work with Aubrey. Failed.
  • I don’t want to talk about it.
• Visit my grandparents – at least a couple times. Check!
  • Okay, so …
    • I went to visit them once.
    • I saw them and talked to them at two birthday parties.
    • It feels like I’ve seen them other times, too, but I can’t remember when.
  • So … yeah. I’m gonna count that as “check!” even if it wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.

Other Stuff:

• Lots of people in my family had a birthday!
  • My sister, two of my nieces, a nephew, and my grandmother, to be exact.
    • I know, right???
    • JANUARY IS OUR BIRTHDAY MONTH.
    • (which is why I resolve to have all my kids in February)
• My swing broke.
  • My whole left side is scraped up and badly bruised.
  • Hand, shoulder, hip, knee, ankle, face …
  • If I have a concussion, I’m blaming the government.
    • ^^ that is how boggled my mind is right now
  • (Yes, I will probably survive.)
• I ALSO CUT MY FINGER.
  • I’ll talk about this later.
• Started school up again!
  • Nothing bad happened!
• Am in a jazz band.
  • I’m casually failing, but y’know.
  • I do every year for the first couple months … 😉

And … I think that’s it. *secretly doesn’t have a life* *shrugs*

NOW … on to February 2018!

February 2018 Dares

Reading

• Finish five review copies.
  • I think there are at least twice that …
  • So this is more necessity than anything?
• Don’t request any more review copies.
  • I feel like I should just mark this as ‘failed’ now …
  • I AIN’T STRONG ENOUGH, OKAY?
  • (But I should get leeway if a potential-favorite book …?)
  • (NO NO LEEWAY STOP YOU IDIOT.
• Actually read in the evenings.
  • I think I need to stop editing/writing/etc. at night.
  • I mean, I can’t just work and work and work???
  • #onlyyoucanpreventbrainstrain

Writing

• Finish Draft 3 of At Her Fingertips.
  • This shouldn’t be too hard.
  • #setaneasygoal
  • #beaslacker
• Figure out a solid middle and ending for Water on the Rocks.
  • Beginnings are easy, but middles and ends …? Torture.
  • So, I really need to figure out how I want this story to proceed and end.
  • I also need to give Linda an actual life.
• Write 5K more of Alice Unanswered.
  • I mean, I could probably write more if I put my back to it?
  • But I don’t want to.
  • *is vastly unmotivated at the moment*
• Go through Beyond Her Calling and mark needed changes.
  • I’m hoping this will just take me a couple days.
  • DRAFT 2 HERE I COME. *shudders*

Blogging

• Schedule. Schedule. Schedule.
  • It’s gonna happen this time!
• Get 560 followers.
  • I think I can, I think I can!
  • (But really, I think I can!)
  • (I bet I won’t. But oh, well …)
• Do a January wrap-up post on Reveries Reviews.
  • I’ve always wanted to do this.
  • Now is the time to begin!

Life

• Don’t get any more injuries.
  • Other than the swingset accident I mentioned earlier …
  • I also cut my finger pretty bad. On a music stand. (Don’t ask!)
  • And I’ve had colds and such on and off and generally felt bad.
  • And my stomach problems seem to get aggravated easier.
  • I mean, I don’t believe in whining, but … FOR GOODNESS’S SAKE.
• Stop being so fatalistic.
  • I’m usually pretty laid-back …
  • But when something I’ve planned doesn’t happen, inside I’m like …
  • It’s time for someone to grow up. And it isn’t you.
    • (actually, maybe you need to grow up, too … what do I know …)
  • (I mean, part of the fatalism is the fact that I AM ALWAYS IN SO MUCH DANG PAIN NOWADAYS APPARENTLY, but y’know. Whatever.)
• Read the Bible!
  • After the New Year, I pretty much stopped doing this.
  • And … reading the Bible is important!
  • SO LET’S DO THIS.

And … that’s it! I’m looking forward to February (I think I said that before), and hopefully it will be super fun and meaningful and just awesome! #positiveattitude

Until Wednesday,

~Kellyn Roth~

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p.s.

What were your January goals? Did you accomplish them? What are your goals for February? Do your dreams go up in mushroom clouds sometimes? Is there anything you’re excited for about good ol’ Feb?