New Goals for a New Year!

At the end of last year I took a moment to evaluate my goals I'd like to reach my the new year and let's just say I've got a long way to go.  That being said I was forced to sit down and really fine tune what was "attainable" vs, "attainable in the perfect world".  So let's begin, shall we?

Hello, my name is Jessica Karaway and I have neglected my blog for months.  (gasp!)  I have let real life slip in and take hold of my wandering attention with it's icy tendrils and let my writing suffer because of it.  Now that I have admitted it to myself time to fix it!  So this year I am starting off with a goal of writing at least 1000 wds/day.  Why only a 1000/day?  Because I'm trying to keep this attainable, remember.  If I go over, Hooray!  If I go under, well, that's just not going to happen.  As well as the daily word count I am working with a wonderful group of ladies on renewing a Book Club.  One of the best ways to stay current in the craft, read...read...read!  So now that I've bared my goals to you, do the same for me.  What are some of your personal goals this year and how do you plan on accomplishing them?

Reconnect

Wow! I finally reconnected with my computer. It went on shutdown. Too soon?  Seriously, I apologize about the prolonged silence. I have been busy working on a manuscript and sometimes I'll admit I get buried in the make believe world and forget to connect with the real one. Anyhow I am hoping to get back on track and reconnect. I'd like to know what some of you are reading right now. I'm making out my newest must-read list and would love some input. 

Hard at work

I've spent the last week knee deep in research for the manuscript I'm currently working on.  I think I've learned more about Southern Plantations than I'd ever dreamed I would.  This morning when I was scrolling twitter, I came across this link to a podcast Neil Gaiman was on.  Listened and loved it!  I hope you enjoy!  Go to www.slate.com or go to link on I posted on twitter.

Behind The Wings

I am so ecstatic!  Finally after weeks of chaos and a flurry of activity, I am getting an opportunity to slow down and concentrate on finish Book #1 in The Fairy Godmother series that I've been working on.  I have high hopes for this new series since it was inspired by a wonderful group of women, the girls from my Dirty Book Club.  The DBC was started as a way for women to connect and talk about whatever they happened to be reading at the time and morphed into some of the strongest friendships I have.  The Fairy Godmother series I would describe as modern day romance meets paranormal with a dash of espionage.  Confused yet?  I will have more about Behind the Wings, Book #1 in the Fairy Godmother Guild series at a later date.  Keep an eye out!  Also don't forget to visit me on facebook or twitter! 

A day of inspiration

Every time I attend an authors group meeting or conference I find myself leaving feeling revitalized. It's as if by surrounding myself by a roomful of creative people my creative think tank gets refueled.  This past Saturday I attended a Sisters in Crime presentation with guest speaker, Kim Jacobs. She is a n author/founder of Turquoise Morning Press.  She was there with her publisher hat on to help us authors close the gap between author and publisher. It was very informative and being an author herself, she is well versed on each role.  I want to thank her for her time and thank all of the authors I got to reconnect with on Saturday.  I can't wait until next time.

Social media

Okay, so I thought I would join the rest of the 21st century and move into social media.  Argh! Nobody told me I needed a degree to maneuver through the murky seas of social media!  I have decided to do the only thing I can think of and ask the experts for help...my kids.  Ha! Seriously I have been trying to get my authors Facebook page up and running so hopefully soon I will be able to add the link here. In the meantime I am adding my twitter link,so please keep in touch.  I am cutting today's post short today due to an exciting presentation I am going to on publishing.  

After a sweet reprieve...

...I am finally back! I took a short hiatus to spend some time with the family.  We just returned from a tantalizing sweet vacation in Hershey,PA and even though we had a blast, I can gladly say I'm thrilled to be home.  I experienced something I thought I never would in my life.  My nine year old daughter said to me a couple of days into the trip, "Mom, I can't eat another bite of chocolate!"  It was amazing, the born chocoholic had finally had enough!  Sweet victory!  So that I completely didn't ruin my kids teeth for the rest of their lives, once our sweet tooth had been satisfied we took a trip to historical Gettysburg.  Since its the 150th anniversary of the battle there were tons of stuff to see.  All in all very inspiring.  I took truck loads of pictures that I will post over the next week or so.  I'd hate to bombard everyone with all of them at once.  I desperately needed this trip, I came home feeling revitalized and ready to buckle down and write.  If anyone has any interesting summer plans I'd love to hear about them.  Happy Fourth of July!