January 2016 Do You Have Goals? Update and Story Submission Link

Many thanks to Misha and Beth who keep this hop rocking! :)

My goals this year are a little "wide" in generality, with some specifics I'll give each month.

1. Write Strong

Champion's Destiny is out for kindle, smashwords, kobo, and nook. The paperback is still in progress. 

A friend asked me to write a study guide for her high school class because they are reading Champion in the Darkness! (wow!) So, I wrote a 3,000 word study guide. 

I wrote 21,000 words of "other" stuff (top secret for now).

I wrote a short story for a contest and sent it out, then belatedly discovered that Write 1 Sub 1 closed it's doors. I'm sad that has happened, but yet thankful that I was able to take part for a short time.

And, I'm excited for The Turning Points Anthology that's coming later this year! 

2. Market with Strength (use what works for me)

I tried thunderclap. It went. I had one sale that day. It wasn't what I wanted from that.

I used buffer, twitter, and facebook groups. 

Overall, I had more sales this month than last year in January.

3. Publish with Strength (use the method that works for the project)

I self(indie)-published Champion's Destiny.

4. Live Strong!

I've been keeping track of my goals and my "accomplishments." Accomplishments are anything that I get done in a day that I consider "good." 

This month, I biked 31 miles, and walked 17 miles. Plus, I did some other random "good" things.

5. Worship with Strength. 

Prayer life and Bible study are still having ups and downs - wow - over an hour of prayer and Bible study in one day, and then five minutes the next. I've been repeating that pattern throughout each week. Hmm. 

6. Gratitude and Grace = Strength.

I'm working on this. I had a seriously bad attitude for a few days this month. I did some growling around the house when no one else was home, and had a few cranky prayers. I wondered if I could skip this attitude goal next month? 

7. Rest, as needed

I did this. I actually did it. I took a much-needed nap one afternoon. My family and I had some"just us" moments, and we went to see Stomp, which was a huge treat for my oldest daughter's 17th birthday and for our whole family.

I also did a bit of reading - some of which poured over from Christmas break into the New Year. One of my favorites so far this year was: The Eighth Day by Diane K. Salerni. Fun, exciting, and action-packed fantasy!

Favorite movie of the month on DVD/Netflix was: The Martian. My whole family loved this one and my hubs and I appreciated how closely it stuck to the book, but we also liked the "added" bit at the end.

Current series my family is watching on netflix: Malcom in the Middle.

 It's humor-filled, slightly off-kilter, and fast-paced.











We love it, and it's decidedly a bit different than what we were watching before that . . . Gotham, Blacklist, White Collar, and Once Upon a Time, although it does remind me a bit of Chuck and Psych.
We also enjoyed but didn't love the newest Sherlock Holmes "special" from BBC. (My kids are teens so we are into slightly older fare these days.)

Story Submission Link:

Brilliant Flash Fiction has a contest going for prize money! The subject is "the future" and the judge is Opal Palmer Adisa. For more specific information, go here: Springtime Fiction Writing Contest.

What are your goals this year and are you keeping track of them daily or monthly?

IWSG January 2016

The Winners of the IWSG Anthology Contest will be announced today! Be sure to find out who won!
Many Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting and hosting this hop
and many thanks to these co-hosts:

L.G. Keltner  http://lgkeltner.blogspot.com/

Denise Covey  http://dencovey.blogspot.com/

Sheri Larsen  http://www.salarsenbooks.com/

J.Q. Rose  http://www.jqrose.com/

Chemist Ken  http://hogwartssabbatical.blogspot.com/

Michelle Wallace http://www.writer-in-transit.co.za/

Insecurity/plea for help:

 Champion's Destiny is partly out "there" but hasn't gone wide release yet for e-book. So, if you would like to help me celebrate, please consider either joining my thunderclap campaign or doing a mini-blast (self-run).

A mini-blast looks like this:

The Battle May be Lost because of a Family Secret - Champion's Destiny by Tyrean Martinson is  #99cents until Feb. 12th. 

Kindle

It's tweetable like this:

The Battle May be Lost because of a Family Secret - Champion's Destiny is  #99cents until Feb. 12th. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0153L2AA8 

Blast Away!

In blog plans for the year, I hope to slow my posts to twice a month. However, I would like to host 12 guests - one per month. If you would like to guest post, please contact me at my e-mail address.

Motivation/Support:

"Life is tough for a lot of people. If you can do something that brings someone else just a little bit of relief or pleasure - like telling them a really great story, maybe - that's not a bad thing, right? So, over the years, I've learned to be happy with the work I do, rather than apologetic for it." 

-Stan Lee, interview in The Costco Connection.

I think of Stan Lee as this legendary guy at Marvel comics, and I guess I always thought he must have started out with a vision and confidence, but it seems that he didn't start out like that. He fell into his role as a comic book writer, and thought of quitting it to write "the Great American novel." 

Aren't we all glad that he decided to continue writing "these little stories with drawings in them?" (Stan Lee, describing his own work in the same interview)

I know I am.

Although I don't know if my writing will ever be read by such a widespread audience as Marvel fans, I hope that my own little stories, will give someone a little bit of relief in the middle of a tough life.

Why do you write? And do you ever feel apologetic for it?

Please help with thunderclap!