Chrissy's 2011 Goals - Rising High

Another week down, another week plugging away. I did take off a little bit, which was nice and definitely needed, and I still got my main weekly goals accomplished.


1. Guardian's Vengeance: Hold until websites finished

2. Short story per week: Finished "To Continue Game, Press SEND FLOWERS." To do: start new story.

3. Pitches, Blurbs, and Taglines: Completed "An Invitation, Rejected." Six more to go.

4. Publishing: Published "An Invitation, Rejected" short story. To Do: Prepare cover and format on next story to be published on Sunday.

5. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

6. Websites: Finish www.chrissywissler.com and then work on Blue Cedar Publishing website. Also start romance pen name site.

7. Paperwork: Organize and file, update Profit & Loss statements and publication schedule.

8. Short story markets: Put "A Gangster's Accident" in the mail. Submitted "An Accidental Meeting." To Do: Start writing next short story.

9. Number one goal: Write something new everyday. Started chapter 19 for Home Run.

Let me tell you, when you decided to go for it, you don't go halfway. I'm so impressed. It's wonderful to see how much you've already accomplished. Keep up the great work.

Thank you for the great encouragement! One of my friends had a word for me, and I think he was spot on the money: intense. Yeah, I go full ahead with whatever I'm doing whether it's nutrition, exercise, writing...

In fact, my problem is I try to do too much and then wind up exhausted and desperately in need of a recharge. I'm getting better though! I got all my writing goals accomplished by Sunday morning. Ok. I then had to cut the grass and do pet stuff...but eventually I sat down and read a book. One day I'll find balance; I'm sure of it!

This week saw my fourth short story published! Four published short stories, four new stories written - all in four weeks (along with novel writing). It's a good time to be a writer.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: I'm getting ready to pick this up again...once the third website is moving along, I'll start on this project.

2. Short story per week: Finished "The Grey One's Memory." To do: start new story.

3. Pitches, Blurbs, and Taglines: Completed "Friendship Unmended." Six more to go.

4. Publishing: Published "Friendship Unmended" short story. To Do: Prepare cover and format on next story to be published on Sunday.

5. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

6. Websites: Worked on Blue Cedar Publishing website. Have few details to take care of, need help from friend. Updated both websites with new release info. To do: Start romance site.

7. Paperwork: Organize and file. Updated Profit & Loss statements and publication schedule.

8. Short story markets: Again submitted "An Accidental Meeting." To Do: Start writing next short story.

9. Number one goal: Write something new everyday. Working on Chapter 20 for Home Run and added a few extra layers.

Balance is over rated. I'm thrilled to see such great progress, especially on the publishing end. I'm looking forward to hearing more abuot Guardian's Vengence again. I miss that one.

Love that #1 goal. Keep up the wonderful work. I'm so proud of you!

I gave the balance thing a shot last week and had a wonderful week. I still got my two main goals done (write one story, publish one story), did some website work, but other than that took it easy. I was able to read four books, which always makes me feel sooo much better. I plan on picking up the pace a bit, mostly back to writing on my lunch breaks, but I don't want to push myself too much right now.

I did put my first romance short story up, under my pen name Christen Anne Kelley, but I've got a good amount of work to do with the website (meaning - get it done).

I'm looking forward to working on Guardian's Vengeance. Okay, maybe only sort of. I really, really want to get this book done. It's been the years-long project and I'm ready to throw it at the world now. Which means I've got to get my butt in gear.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Needs revision.

2. Short story per week: Finished "Throw Like a Girl, Catch a Date." To do: start new story.

3. Pitches, Blurbs, and Taglines: Completed "Prom Dates & Softball Bats." Six more to go.

4. Publishing: Published "Prom Dates & Softball Bats" - A Little League Short Story. To Do: Prepare cover and format on next story to be published on Sunday.

5. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

6. Websites: Work on/finish 3 sites.

7. Paperwork: Organize and file. To do: update Profit & Loss statements and publication schedule.

8. Number one goal: Write something new everyday.

Well, it took me some time to get back, but here I am.

Congrats on meeting your goals and on the new release. That's fabulous.

Longer projects can bum you out at times. You think they will languish forever and there won't ever be a point where The End is really THE END. I'm sure you can do it.

Love the title of the latest short story you finished. I'll have to read that one. I don't think I knew about this baseball fixation. Got any hockey stories? I'm really into hockey, and the Bruins just won the Cup, so all is good.

Keep up the great work. You're really on a roll. This is definitely your year!

Another great week. Did some more relaxing but still hit my two goals, so I'm happy. Between work and all the exercise/working out I'm doing, finding a balance has been a trial and error thing, but it's been great.

I wouldn't call it a baseball fixation - more like stories that are sick of being squashed inside me. It started at my first Oregon Coast workshop where I wrote a softball romance book proposal - and it's since spurned into a romance series and then a short story series. I have lots to say about the game and the culture as I played non-stop for years in high school and college (including a college softball scholarship). Sorry - no hockey experience!

It sure feels like my year! Nothing is better then finishing a story and then publishing it. What a fun world we live in!

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Revised 5 chapters.

2. Short story per week: Finished "Thanks, but I'm Siding with the Elves." To do: start new story.

3. Pitches, Blurbs, and Taglines: Finished "To Start Game, Press KISS." Six more to go.

4. Publishing: Published "To Start Game, Press KISS" - A Video Game Romance short story. To Do: Prepare cover and format on next story to be published on Sunday.

5. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

6. Websites: Created header for Blue Cedar & Chrissy Wissler. Need to work on list and start Christen Anne Kelley site.

7. Paperwork: Organize and file. Updated Profit & Loss and publication schedule.

8. Number one goal: Write something new everyday.

9. Submit short story to Writer's of the Future: Due June 30th. Started story.

Another good writing week. Finished two short stories, published another short story, and did two chapter revisions. Going good, but it's a constant battle over pushing myself too much - have to enjoy life and relax too. Also, went to our friend's place Saturday night and I had to hold my tongue when it came to talk about writing and romance. I hate those little one-liners that put down everything I'm working towards. Not maliciously, of course, but in ignorance. I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband who supports my writing and my dreams.

And just how wonderful is he? Well, when our friend asked my husband which I genre I write better, fantasy or romance, he said romance. That there is a man who's not afraid of being a man and admitting to reading (and enjoying) his wife's romance stories.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Revised 2 chapters.

2. Short story per week: Finished "Softball + Scholarships = Cute College Boys." To do: start new story.

3. Pitches, Blurbs, and Taglines: Finished "My Uncooperative Elven Shadow."

4. Publishing: Published "My Uncooperative Elven Shadow." . To Do: Prepare cover and format on next story to be published on Sunday.

5. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

6. Websites: Need to work on list and start Christen Anne Kelley site.

7. Paperwork: Organize and file. Updated Profit & Loss and publication schedule.

8. Number one goal: Write something new everyday.

9. Submit short story to Writer's of the Future: Due June 30th. Completed short story, "The Curse of My Grandma, the Drunken Ex-Hero." To do: Fix and submit.

Oh my goodness, look at you go. That's fabulous. Congrats.

I'm thrilled you have such a supportive hubby. They are golden.

Cute College Boys, I think some of those would be welcome around here. Can I make them my maids?

Keep up the great work.

Wow. Another week already, huh? Boy have I been busy. I'm hoping to work out a new schedule and it seems to be working well. I've added two new goals to my list:

One is to finish 4 novels by December 31st. I have one and a half written, and after doing the math (for 80K novels), I'm looking at 1500 words per day (towards the novels). Not a problem, especially on the weekends where I can 'catch up' if needed.

My second goal is to finish one romance short story per week. Basically, that means every other week I'll be writing 2 short stories instead of one.

Life is busy and grand, but it doesn't feel like I'm pushing myself too much with these goals. It's all about using the time I have in the best way possible.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Revised 8 chapters.

2. Short story per week: Finished "To Continue Game, Press 'FIND HERO." To do: write one fantasy short story and one romance short story.

3. Pitches, Blurbs, and Taglines: Finished "To Save Game, Press 'SEND FLOWERS."

4. Publishing: Published "To Save Game, Press 'SEND FLOWERS." . To Do: Prepare cover and format for 2 stories.

5. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

6. Websites: Worked on Christen Anne Kelley site. Need to work on list and author photo.

7. Paperwork: Organized, filed, and updated Profit & Loss and publication schedule.

8. Number one goal: Write something new everyday.

9. Submitted short story to Writer's of the Future. Resubmitted "An Accidental Meeting" to next market. To do: Review and submit "The Grey One's Memory."

10. Also, write story for The Machine of Death Anthology.

How do you do it? I am in total awe. Good luck on finishing the 4 novels by the end of the year. If anyone can do it, it's you.

How do I do it? No idea.

Okay, that's not true. I plan my day and squeeze in every ounce of down time with writing. I don't watch TV (we actually don't even have one anymore) and my fun reading has dwindled to maybe an hour a night (during the work week). We also don't have kids (yet) and my husband is fantastic and very supportive of my dreams. The dog is not so understanding and demands her walk every day (she may not get it every day but she tries). I guess what all that comes down to is I don't do a lot of the 'fun' things people do and it works out just fine for me!

I'm also looking at a new timeline: one year. One year is when I can walk away from the day job and focus all my energy on writing. It may happen slightly sooner, depending on how the family part goes, but it is really exciting right now. It helps with the motivation and getting in my word count, and especially now that I'm publishing it's the most wonderful feeling in the world to see my work available for sale.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Revised 4 chapters.

2. Short story per week: Finished "Translator's Accidental Prophecy" and started story for anthology (see below).

3. Publishing: Published "My Family Reunion: No Elves Allowed" and "Throw Like a Girl, Catch a Date."

4. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

5. Websites: Need to work on list and author photo. Need up back-up & update all 3 sites.

6. Paperwork: Updated Profit & Loss and publication schedule.

7. Home Run Novel: Wrote chapters 25-33. Need to redraft chapter 32 & 33.

8. Submitted "The Grey One's Memory" to Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine.

9. Write story for The Machine of Death Anthology. Started this story. Due July 15th.

That is great, Chrissy. Imagine writing full-time. Wow! Can't even think about it right now. How are your published books selling? It's great that you're so focused.

We have 3 TVs right now, but I never watch any of them. I would much rather read. I'm slowing down on reviewing books too, so that will help. I might close my blogs down after next year, or at bare minimum stop taking new review requests. It's too time consuming and I need to focus on other things.

Keep up the fabulous work. I'm looking forward to your Home Run novel.

Did I say a year? Try two weeks! Last Tuesday I got home from work feeling frustrated and the usual 'I'm sick of doing office work when I really want to be writing.' And it just came to that point where I was finally ready to say: okay. I'm done. It's time to do this and follow my dreams.

Needless to say, it was absolutely terrifying to take that leap - but as soon as I handed in my two week notice, everything just fit together and I'm feeling great. It's still scary as all heck, but I am so excited!

My short stories are selling about what I would expect, though my romances (and one in particular) has just taken off. For the most part, short stories don't sell as well as novels and the royalties are so much lower. My next step is to start bundling them into 5-story collections and I'll be hitting that point shortly (within the next week or two), which will also jump my royalties to 70%.

The key to making indie publishing work is to have a lot of stuff out there. It's all about volume and writing as much as possible. I really did as much as I could (without burning myself out) while working the day job, but to be where I want to be, I need to write more. And it's the perfect time for me to make the transition and giving indie publishing the time to build. Within the next 1-2 years we'll be buying a house and (hopefully) starting a family and that's going to add more financial pressure whereas now we've got that flexibility.

The only way to fail at writing (and indie publishing in particular) is to stop writing. Can you imagine how much I can get done if I have a solid 8-9 hours of writing?? My gosh! We're talking an easy novel a month. I can't wait!

So with all my giant excitement and life changing career, my productivity last week was a bit down. I'll pick it up more this week, but I imagine I'll be having more co-worker lunches and what-not instead of writing.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: None.

2. Short story per week: Finished "Even Death has Accidents" (for anthology submission). Started next softball story.

3. Publishing: Published "To Continue Game, Press FIND HERO."

4. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords.

5. Websites: Need to work on list and author photo. Need up back-up & update all 3 sites.

6. Paperwork: Updated Profit & Loss and publication schedule.

7. Home Run Novel: Redrafted chapter 30, 31, 32 and 33.

8. Submitted to The Machine of Death Anthology.

OMG! I am so thrilled for you. This is great. I really need to read some of your stuff. I am backed up on reviews until October, but maybe I can try to squeeze in the first one I bought within the next month.

Congratulations on making this important move. I know you will do great.

Picked up your two Little League stories tonight. Hope your writing is going well.

Thanks, Cheryl! I hope you enjoy the stories.

Writing is going great. Now, I say that with this little caveat: I've only been writing for two days. What?? You ask...well, it seems leaving your job (and putting in some overtime to finish off projects) takes quite a bit of time, energy, commitment. Then there was the in-laws who came for a long weekend (and all the cleaning and preparation that came along with it). I won't go into details but describing it as a bed and breakfast would be quite accurate. I took two days to recover from all that and then Wednesday hit and I decide to look at my poor, neglected "Home Run" novel and somehow found where I left off.

The writing is going great. I've got tons to do (when don't I?) and for the first time, I have all this time to get it done.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Cut/edit chapters.

2. Short story per week: Write next Elven Heritage story.

3. Publishing: Edit and prepare my Annabelle story and the next softball story.

4. Publishing set up: Still working on changing email address for Smashwords. Download Calibre and other necessary software. Research OmniLit as a distributor.

5. Websites: Need to work on list and author photo. Need up back-up & update all 3 sites.

6. Paperwork: None.

7. Home Run Novel: Yesterday wrote over 11,000 words. Keep writing - the end is in sight. A few more days and I should wrap this up.

8. Book Proposal: Write for video game novel.

9. Send out two rejected short stories.

Awesome news on your progress. I can't believe you wrote so much in one day. I am so impressed and feeling like one lazy writer.

When I can fit in reading your stories I'll post reviews on my blog and send you the direct links. I'll try to fit them in by September. My schedule is so full right now, though.

One tiny word of advice, though based upon your progress I doubt you'll need it: be careful that others learn to respect your writing time almost as much as you do. It is too easy for others to think you're at home doing nothing and have all the time in the world to socialize.

Keep up the great work. I can't wait to hear what you have up your sleeve next.

You're not allowed to feel like a lazy writer. Nope. I saw your list and you have your own 40-hour-ish job doing VBT's.

You know what the really, really neat thing was? I wrote all that in six and a half hours. That's it. I took Dean's advice about just sitting down and writing for an hour, then taking a short break. Then doing it again. It's truly amazing just to see what comes out when I force myself to write. I also had plenty of time to work out, make meals, without being stressed or overloaded.

Today's been another fun day so far. Turned out I had another Kate story to write (not the one I'd started on) and it's been taking me in new and fun directions. The word count won't be as high - I've only got an hour left before I'm heading down to the old job to do yoga with the girls there, and then I've got wine tasting with a girlfriend tonight. But the really, really neat thing is I plan on putting some more work in over the weekend to hit my goals. It's like, there's no longer this weekend barrier.

Oh, no worries about the reviews! Truly. If you can get the time in, great, but if not it's no big deal. I just keep on writing. It's actually funny because I've forgotten which stories I've just written or what they were about.

Thanks for the advice, too. The only person I have to worry about is my husband and he definitely 'gets' what my writing time is. But if I found myself making dinner and cleaning the dishes - well, we'll just need to have a little chat about that. But with no kids and not being a social person (especially during the week), I don't think this will be a problem. And by the time those kids come around (fingers crossed) I'll have really worked out my schedule and have firm habits.

Thanks again! I can't believe I'm already asking myself: what novel should I work on next?

Well, it's Monday which now means errands and chore day. Though, that's much better than: start the beginning of the long work week. Much, much better.

Here's my plans for this week:

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Cut/edit chapters.

2. Short story per week: Finished next Elven Heritage story. To do: Write another softball story and another fantasy story.

3. Publishing: Published two short stories: "The Accidental Prophecy" and "Softball + Scholarships = Cute College Boys". To Do: Publish "There's No Crying in Softball" and elf story I finished last week.

4. Publishing set up: Download Calibre and other necessary software. Research OmniLit as a distributor.

5. Websites: Need to work on list and author photo. Need up back-up & update all 3 sites. Updated two sites.

6. Paperwork: Updated spreadsheets.

7. Home Run Novel: Finish this week.

8. Book Proposal: Write for video game novel.

9. Send out two rejected short stories. Completed.

Honestly, I don't know how you do it all. I thnk part of me is feeling overwhelmed, and therefore, being lazy, but I'm so impressed with all you're getting done. "There's No Crying in Softball" sounds like a fun story. How could it not be with a title like that?

Keep up the great work.

Like always, thanks for the kind words, Cheryl.

I find myself generally putting about 6 hours of work in, 6 days a week. It's different because in general my quality of life has improved - I'm not stressed trying to squeeze everything in, waking up crazy early to write or do my workout. And like on Sunday when I needed to write a whole new story as well as publish two others (which includes copyediting, cover, formatting, blurb, etc), I'm perfectly happy to sit down and do it (thus putting in 6 hours). It's a very, very different way of working compared to the day job. Also, I may not be putting in '8 hours' anymore, but I'm definitely working more (believe me, I'd hardly ever put in an actual 8 hours worth of work - ever).

It is very, very easy to feel overwhelmed when we look at these gigantic to-do/wish lists. If anything, that's my biggest problem - to feel like I'm not doing enough.

I'm having fun with my titles. All these short stories are giving me a lot of practice with titles (and with blurbs & tags!).

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Cut/edit chapters.

2. Short story per week: Wrote two stories: "There's More to Life than Softball" and "Annabelle's Accidental Proclamation." To do: Write one romance and one fantasy story.

3. Publishing: Published two short stories: "There's No Crying in Softball" and "Help! I See Dead Elves." To Do: Publish two stories. Also, publish first short story collection.

4. Publishing set up: Download Calibre and other necessary software. Research OmniLit as a distributor.

5. Websites: Need to work on list and author photo. Need up back-up & update all 3 sites.

6. Paperwork: Updated spreadsheets.

7. Home Run Novel: Reviewing story - layering in/fixing chapters. Completed 21 chapters. Finish adding to chapters and write rest of story.

8. Book Proposal: Write for video game novel.

9. Book Proposal: Write for second Guardian story.

10. Book Proposal: Write for second Home Run story.

Another good week. A little more relaxing and laid back since I got some serious accomplishments done, but still productive as always.

1. Guardian's Vengeance: Revise 5 chapters per day. Goal - finish by September 1st.

2. Short story per week: Wrote two stories: "Check out a Book, Check out a Boy" and "The Savon Brat's Unsuspecting Friend." To do: Write one romance and one fantasy story.

3. Publishing: Published two short stories: "More to Life than Softball" and "Annabelle's Accidental Proclamation." To Do: Publish two stories. Published 5-story collection: "Who Said Elves Don't Exist.". Collection to do: Publish first softball collection.

4. Publishing set up: Download Calibre and other necessary software. Research OmniLit as a distributor.

5. Websites: Need to work on list and author photo. Backed-up sites. Update all 3 sites.

6. Paperwork: Updated spreadsheets.

7. Home Run Novel: FINISHED STORY!! Wait for 1st review.

8. Book Proposal: Wrote proposal for "Game Over" - Book 1 of the Romance Game Series.

9. Game Over Novel: Wrote 3 chapters.

10. Book Proposal: Write for second Guardian story.

11. Book Proposal: Write for second Home Run story.

12. Register copyright for 2 collections.

I step away for a week and look at all you get done. Good for you. I'm insanely jealous. I hope the folks who lurk around her are paying attention because this is the way to get it done.

Keep up the great work.

Thank you. Really. Thanks for always checking in with me. How long have we been doing this? It seems like forever, but I'm glad the 'forever' part is finally here. I'm glad to finally be putting Guardian's Vengeance out there and moving onto the next line-up of projects.

Whenever I talk about leaving my job to write full-time, I tell people that yes, I could have made more money if I stayed another year than what I'm making right now. But then, that's a year's worth of writing I'd miss out on and right now, having an inventory is key to being successful as an indie-published writer. People can't buy my stuff, and continue to buy it, if I don't have anything up.

And let's face, I'm having a darn good time right now too!