I am … significantly not ready for 2018. Like, I don’t know why, but it feels like … it was literally just 2017?

Oh, well. This year has really flown, and so much has happened that it’s almost overwhelming! There have been sad moments, bad moments, happy moments, triumphant moments …

Let’s get into it!

Welcome to my 2019 Goals and Resolutions Post!

However, before we go forward, we must glance back. (That’s completely against my just-move-forward nature, but whatever.)

My 2018 Goals … how did I do?

1. Publish At Her Fingertips.

   • CHECK!
     • Hoorah! That went well, now, didn’t it?

2. Rewrite Beyond Her Calling.

   • CHECK!
     • I mean, I more like … edited it … because I decided it wasn’t as bad as I thought … but yeah.

3. Publish Beyond Her Calling.

   • CHECK!
     • DONE AND DONE!

4. Write and begin editing Alice Unanswered.

   • KINDA …
     • So I began writing it, but decided to rewrite it, and yep.

5. Finish writing Once a Stratton.

   • CHECK!
     • … and edited it and submitted it to a couple agents!

6. Write two other full-length novels.

   • CHECK!
     • Souls Astray, The Lady of the Vineyard, and a bunch of shorter stories. (See my writing update for this year.)

7. Participate in Camp NaNo and NaNoWriMo.

   • CHECK!
     • VERY WELL IF I DO SAY SO MYSELF.

8. Cut down on procrastination while writing, editing, etc.

   • KINDA …
     • I don’t really know?
     • I spent a lot of the year procrastinating, then wrote 118K in one month. So it kinda evens out?

9. Make a plan for your next couple years in writing.

   • CHECK!
     • Well, sort of, anyway. As close to plans as this girl will ever get!

10. Practice the clarinet and saxophone.

    • CHECK!
      • Well, I did … once or twice …

11. Graduate from high school.

    • CHECK!
      • This wasn’t optional, but yeah.

12. Make a budget and stick to it.

    • CHECK!
      • I mean, I never spend money – that’s a kind of a budget, right?

13. Read less – but read quality.

    • KINDA …
      • I’m not really sure? I read less than last year for sure, but I didn’t read tons of classics or anything.

14. Get 818 followers on Reveries.

    • CHECK!
      • I actually got 1,014 … so there, low expectations.

15. Blog more regularly on Reveries Reviews.

    • FAILED!
      • But only because I decided mid-year to discontinue Reveries Reviews and combine blogs!

16. Enjoy this summer – but be semi-productive.

    • Kinda …
      • I don’t remember doing anything productive all summer, but maybe I did? I don’t know?

17. Start a Bible study.

    • Failed!
      • I think I mostly just … didn’t want to. 😅

18. Have a little more of life.

    • Check?
      • I’m going to say I did this because I have no idea what I meant.

Looking Back at 2018

Reading

I made a vlog to highlight my top 20 reads of 2018, which I then proceeded to review in ten words or less.

Hope you enjoy it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7m9NqjDBdQ&t=1s

Writing

In the year 2018, I …

• Revised and edited Beyond Her Calling.
  • And published it, but y’know.
• Polished and published At Her Fingertips.
  • Also, I hired my first ever editor for this project, Abigayle Claire.
  • #milestones
• Got more plot bunnies than I can use.
  • Fair-Weather Promises, Alone in Berlin, Water Against the Rocks … five or six more … on and on and on.
• Finished Once a Stratton.
  • Yay! And edited and started submitting to agents.
  • And had one request a manuscript. But shhh.
• Goldfish Secrets written and launched.
  • Hoorah! A whole 2,000 words!
• Wrote Souls Astray.
  • 64,000 words!
• Rewrote The Lady of the Vineyard.
  • From scratch. 50K. Hoorah. I’m exhausted!
• Wrote From Now ‘Til Forever.
  • Just 9K, but it’s finished!
• Wrote about 40K of Before a Fall.
  • Only 4-5 scenes to go!
  • Even though it’s revisions are going to be beyond extreme.
• Wrote and rewrote and moaned over parts of A Prayer Unanswered.
  • I need to just buckle down and finish it!
  • But it suckssss … or it’s going tooooo … and the emotions are too mucchhhhh …
• Wrote and launched Kind.
  • In like a month! Fastest launch ever …
• 118K, one month!
  • Most I’ve ever done! 😶😍😊😅

Blogging

I HIT 1,000 FOLLOWERS!

I’m so proud of this! I’ve been blogging since September 2015, so three years! Exciting.

I also moved to a professional WordPress.org blog, which is a pretty big milestone!

By the way, the 1K Challenge’s results will be … delayed! Because I haven’t had time to read all the entries yet! But soon, my friend.

Life

Lots of things happened.

More responsibilities at work, graduating from school, my first half a year without school of any kind since I was five, lots of emotional and spiritual things … My grandpa dying. All the family drama.

It’s insane. So much has happened, and it feels like it’s been longer than a year. A lot longer! Heck, it feels like a year since last week!

But you know? It’s not been bad! 2018 wasn’t awful. I don’t have any regrets; certainly I never want to go backwards, because forward is best, but there’s nothing to whine about!

And now … the actual 2019 Goals and Resolutions!

1. Write 4 full-length novels.

   • I’d like to write Caught in a Spell (more info to come), Souls Astray, Fair-Weather Promises, and Word of Honor.
   • But we’ll see what I actually do.

2. Finish A Prayer Unanswered, Flowers in Her Heart, and Before a Fall.

   • Because I have unreasonable expectations for myself.

3. Write 1,000 words per day for 365 days.

   • That’s 7.3 50,000-word novels. So. It’ll work out all right.

4. Submit Once a Stratton to at least 20 agents.

   • I’ve already done five, but the next round should come in a month or so!
   • This is exhausting research work combined with nerve-wrecking waiting, but eh.
   • Time to make my life harder.

5. Polish a non-Alice-and-Ivy novel and get a pro editor.

   • Probably Fair-Weather Promises or Word of Honor.

6. Prepare a 2nd pitch and send to first 5 agents.

   • With above novel!

7. Read 150+ books.

   • Because I hate myself.

8. Put some serious thought into your future as far as work goes.

   • Like … I can’t really do a part-time job for the rest of my life? And I can’t support myself with writing for a couple more years at least? So?

9. Get your freebies ready for your email list.

   • Because I need to. Yeah.

10. Read through the New Testament.

    • I can’t read through the whole Bible in a year while absorbing it, but this should help.

11. Be a faithful saxophone and clarinetist.

    • … sometimes I have not been?

12. Publish the entire “Kees & Colliers” series.

    • Souls Astray
    • The Lady of the Vineyard
    • Flowers in Her Heart
    • From Now ‘Til Forever
    • Yep …

13. Take Aubrey and/or Riley on an adventure.

    • Because dogs.

14. Go on an adventure with my friends.

    • This should be fun!

15. Attempt to get involved in some sort of book signing event.

    • There’s a bookstore in town that would be cool.

Fifteen is enough, right?

TTFN!

Goodreads · Facebook · Twitter

~Kellyn Roth~

p.s.

What are your 2019 goals/resolutions/etc.? How did your 2018 go? What was one thing you learned in 2018 and one thing you hope to learn/learn better in 2019?