UPDATE: The winner is…Wendy H. Vest!
*~*~*

I’m attempting get back to as close to normal this week as possible, starting with Sunday being my planning day. Before I begin, I always shuffle my favorite tarot deck and choose a card to represent the week.

There was no shuffling, of course. I cut the cards again and again, then chose the top card. I revealed the Queen of Pentacles. Pentacles, again. Hmmm. So, I study the card. She’s pretty and voluptuous. Mature. She holds a gold pentacle in one hand and grapes in the other, so I can assume she likes her comfort. Is she supposed to be me? I’m not wealthy, but I live comfortably. Is she offering the grapes to others? I offer my “grapes” to my friends and family. So, what does it mean for me? Perhaps the week is about seeking and sharing comfort with my family. I like that thought.

Now, I’ll check the book. This is the Lydian queen Omphale. She purchased Heracles in a slave market. He was a rough barbarian, and she coaxed him into wearing rich clothes and enjoying the “comforts” she provided. She shared her largesse freely with him. So, my reading falls in line with the book’s. I’ll continue with a limited work schedule while my hand continues to heal and enjoy time spent with the family. I’ll pop for takeout and coax them into some sort of entertainment—a movie night, perhaps? We’ll chill. So, back to my calendar…

So, my question to you is do you have some sort of weekly practice that helps you sort out your week? Do you open your journal or planner and jot down appointments? Do you check the local theater schedule or make reservations at a restaurant? Do you own a tarot deck to help you “meditate” or divine your week? Comment for a chance to win a hand-painted bookmark!

UPDATE: The winner is…Mary Preston!
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I have lots of bad habits. I’m sure you do, too. The one that causes me the most stress is the one where I think I have to conquer one mountain at a time. By that, I mean if I have a huge edit job, I have to work through it to the exclusion of writing. Which causes me to go down to the wire when it comes to finishing a book. I wrote Guarding Hannah in a ridiculously short time. Yeah, I’m really happy with the story. In fact, I think it’s one of the best I’ve ever written, but that isn’t the point. I need to destress, not run on adrenaline.

That’s my big goal this year. Destress the work. Get little bites done in an orderly fashion as I march toward completion. I know how to do this. I was a program manager in a past life. I used to work on multiple story projects at one time using some advanced planning techniques, but I’m not going for that now. I don’t want to write MORE. I want to write in such a way that I have time to devote to something that gives me greater joy—like painting.

Yes, doodling things like these makes me happy.

I want more time to sit with paint and paper. I want more time to take some classes and learn how to do it well. I feel like I did when I started writing—I want to know everything, try everything, right now! Not that I’m looking to make it another gig for money. I just want to explore an artistic path for passion’s sake.

But to get there, I have to rope in my chaotic work habits. I’ve begun this year anew. So far, so good. I’m making progress on my new story, Mica, and I’m working on a set of edits I’ll finish this week. In the meantime, I’ve been painting in the evenings and organizing my studio space (does that ever end?). I’ll get there…in incremental steps rather than putting all my energy into fits of activity. That’s so exhausting, isn’t it?

So, I’d love to give away one of these postcards. Winner’s choice. Tell me what bad habit you’d like to tackle this year.

UPDATE: The winner is…Debra Guyette!
*~*~*

Hello, everyone! I want to start by thanking Delilah for letting me come play here with you all again. I always have a good time when I visit.

So, about that title…my countdown to the new year isn’t in hours or minutes yet, but I am counting down the days. I love looking forward to a new year, don’t you? It’s always so full of possibility and opportunity, and all kinds of good things we can’t even imagine yet. It’s almost like getting ready to start reading a new book by a favorite author or seeing a movie you’ve anticipated for months.

I don’t make ‘resolutions’ for the year. I quit that a long time ago, but I do work out goals for myself every year, personal things I want to get done, and writing goals (still working on the new goals as I write this). ‘Resolutions’ seem so…inflexible, I guess, like passing a new law or something. Too daunting that way.

If I call them goals instead, they become something I want to do, not have to do, and I can break each one down, and figure out the steps and time needed to accomplish them. For example, most authors have a general idea of how long it will take them to write a book, so they can break that time frame down—if it usually takes someone three months to write a 90,000-word story, they can figure out how many words they need to write each week, each day to make their three-month goal on time, and if there is an off-day, they can adjust to make up for the words they didn’t get done that day. That sort of goal-setting feels to me more achievable than simply writing a list of resolutions for the year—ie, for the next year, I have to lose X pounds, organize my life, look for a new career, etc.

Besides getting my goals finalized this week, we have a family dinner to start the new year, so while the basics of the meal are always the same, I do need to figure out dessert. Something else I will do to wave the old year goodbye is write down a few wishes for the new year, and then near midnight on New Year’s Eve, I’ll burn that list and send the wishes to the universe. If our weather forecast for this weekend is right, I may have to improvise to avoid the rain, but I have time to figure that out.

I would love to hear how you bring in the new year…do you set goals or make resolutions? What other traditions do you enjoy? Everyone who comments between now and the start of the new year will be entered into a drawing for an eBook copy of one of my three books, winner’s choice.

Happy New Year to you all, and may all your New Year wishes come true!

About Elizabeth

Lifelong book addict Elizabeth Andrews fell in love with romance novels at an early age and now writes her own, full of sexy heroes and strong heroines. Her stories range from paranormal to contemporary, to who knows what her imagination might come up with along the way, but happy endings are a guarantee!

She is a married mother of two who’s got a room overflowing with her book collection and a garden full of herbs and veggies that needs occasional attention between writing and reading binges.

You can find out more at ElizabethAndrewsWrites.com

As I’ve said before, I’ve been pulling cards on Sundays to try to make it part of my planning process. On Sundays, I update my work and personal plans to ensure I record what I accomplished and didn’t, before turning my sights on the coming week. It’s not that I “believe” in the tarot, but the practice reminds me of aspects of my life I wouldn’t otherwise consider when I set my plans. So, onto this week’s card…

Wands! I love wands. Let’s just look at the picture first. Here we have Jason of Greek mythology. If you remember, Jason was sent on an impossible mission to retrieve the Golden Fleece by the king who had usurped his father’s throne. Knowing he’d face many dangers, Jason formed the Argonauts, a group of heroes, to accompany him. In the end, he defeated mythical beasts and supernatural warriors to take the fleece. This picture depicts him carrying the fleece while his warriors appear dressed for a celebration behind him. So, what does all that mean for me? I think it means I’ll conquer some beast this week and that everyone around me will give me attagirls. I have no clue what that beast might be, perhaps it’s a small one (meeting all my goals? cleaning my office?!).

Maybe I should consult the book… Okay, I did pretty good. The card represents triumph and recognition from others. As for Jason, he’s not quite done. He still has to deliver that fleece… Hmmm.

Y’all have a wonderful week. If you’re bored, you can always come see what’s happening here. 🙂 ~DD

Open Contests

1. Diana Cosby: Nature’s Beauty in Pictures! (Contest) — Last day to enter! Win a tote and a mug!
2. Flashback: Texas Cowboys — The Cowboy & the Widow (Contest — 2 Winners!) — This one ends soon! 2 Winners! Win a FREE book!
3. 10 Things That Make Me Sigh in December (Contest) — Win a FREE book!
4. Ava Cuvay: TIN TOY — Brand New Release! (Contest) — 3 Winners! Win a FREE book!
5. An End of Year Ritual — Mind Mapping (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
6. Michal Scott: Continuing the Family Legacy: Sarah Jane Woodson Early (Contest) — Win an Amazon gift card!
7. Saturday Puzzle-Contest! Counting Down to Christmas! — Win an Amazon gift card!

When I worked in the corporate world, I underwent all kinds of efficiency training. To-Do lists are supposed to be small, with the most important things at the top to tackle first. However, life doesn’t work that way.

Some things have to happen first before you can get to the highest priority things. Plus, once you finish something that requires a brain cell, you need something that requires less of the gray matter to follow in order to rest your feeble aging brain, right?

I’ve already failed to follow the order of my list that I made last night. I started at #1 because as soon as I’m up, I make kids’ lunches so that they can get out the door to school. But #2 felt like too much exercise before my first two cups of coffee, and I didn’t yet know what I was going to blog about, and #4 requires too many clicks, so I skipped to #5. Now that I finished #5, I’m trying to get back to the “proper” order of my list, and I’m doing good with this blog, right? That list was top of my mind, so I’m typing word-vomit while I’m sort of complaining about the fact my list is too long and I want to blame that piece of paper, but it’s all my own dang fault for committing to too many things this week… And on, and on.

And now, I’m ready to turn the list over on my desktop and just do wtf I want to do. What’s the worst that can happen besides two clients having heart attacks because their edits are due and me missing a book deadline? I’m turning it over….slowly…I haven’t yet laid it down…

Fuck. On to #4.

Open Contests & Giveaway

These contests and offer are still open! Take advantage while you can!

1. Global Happiness (A Puzzle & a Contest) —Will close Saturday! Win a download of your choice from my backlist!
2. Tell me a holiday story… — Will close Saturday! Win an Amazon gift card!
3. Something or someone is marching along… — Win an Amazon gift card!
4. An early holiday gift from me to you… (FREE Read)

Planning for 2020

December’s actually a little late for me to begin planning what I want to accomplish in 2020. Any other year, I would have begun in November by drawing a mind map to start organizing my thoughts about my biggest priorities.

In fact, until this year, EVERY year, I led a group of authors through building their mind maps and then in December, I conducted a “Write 50 Books a Year” workshop to help them—and me—plan our work for the New Year.

However, this year, I stepped back from my Rose’s Colored Glasses group, needing some time to heal after two years of terrible losses (my grandmother and father). I’ve been a bit aimless as my publishing schedule this year will attest. I lost my ambition and focus.

Now, I’m trying to get back in the groove, so I’m “bribing” myself with new treats to try to encourage some excitement in me. I’ve always planned my work goals on Excel spreadsheets, and I’ll do that again this year, with an emphasis on “realistic”. My integrated plan—life and work—has been an evolving thing. I was a Filofax girl forever and then for several years, a Bullet Journal girl. I don’t have the energy to do the BuJo thing again. So, I bought a very pretty Erin Condren notebook. It’s shiny, rose-gold and pink, has tons of stickers and pretty pages. I spent yesterday assembling it, but then I opened it to January and froze.

I was afraid to commit pen to paper and mar those pretty pages. Or maybe, I was afraid to commit to a schedule because I know I won’t take it seriously…? Perhaps, I need to spend time playing with my Excel worksheets some more. I’m not sure.

However, 2020 has to be better than 2019. I have to be better. So, to you, my friends, any suggestions to help me buckle down and get the work done? What planning system do you use? I’d love to hear your suggestions.