MERRY CHRISTMAS, MY LOVES!
This is written in advance, but you'll forgive me. I have family visiting from Australia, and I'm spending my time with them.
In any case, the no good very bad year is now behind us, and I want to start looking forward to 2023 to see what I can do to continue to make my life the best life for me. As usual, I've broken up the things I want to achieve into different categories. In each category there is a wish (or two), as these are things that are out of my control entirely; I can do only what I can do and fate takes the rest. Let's crack on shall we?
Career
- 3rd edit The Lioness of Shara Mountain.
- Send The Lioness of Shara Mountain to Beta Reader 3.
- 4th edit of The Lioness of Shara Mountain
- Create the book cover for The Lioness of Shara Mountain
- Publish The Lioness of Shara Mountain
- Finish writing the mystery play.
- Finish writing GTFO
- First edit of GTFO
- Send GTFO to Beta Reader One
- Return to writing articles for Black Gate Magazine
- Return to writing video game reviews
- Return to the Nights at the Round Table panel on YouTube
- Return to weekly gaming livestreams
- Get a table at CanCon 2023
- Grab a hold of that secret opportunity and make it the best thing ever.
- The wishes: get a publishing contract for Soldier (and thus the rest of The Great Man series) and earn enough from my various endeavours that I can reduce time at, or entirely eliminate the need to go to, the 9-5.
Art
- Complete Tiger watercolours tiny book
- Complete one large format traditional painting
- Complete one painting to gift to CanCon 2023 for auction/fundraising
- Restart the monthly Sunday art streams
- Complete one smaller art piece a week to fill a sketchbook.
- Complete four leather dice bags (the soldier, the officer, the ranger, the exile)
- Complete the rebinding of two author copies of Human with leather covers.
- Complete the edge paintings on three author copies of Human.
- Complete 20 sculpted baubles to sell at CanCon.
- The wish: Start earning $200.00 a month from art sales.
Health and Fitness
- Get enough sleep.
- Keep up martial arts training and teaching.
- Get a kettle bell.
- 10 pull-ups and 10 chin ups by the end of 2023
- Work on hamstring flexibility and strength - easily touch toes and be able to do the splits by the end of the year
- The wish: Buy/build a school for myself and also Wutan Canada, so we don't have to keep bouncing around places.
Music
- Restart guitar lessons.
- Buy a lever harp (perhaps this 'un) and start learning to play. I've always wanted to learn. Now's my chance.
- Get good enough at both instruments to give a small Xmas concert.
- The wish: A full size (36-38 string) lever harp.
Language
- Join Alliance Française and restart French lessons. Get proficient enough to speak to family in French by Xmas.
- Start learning the three Celtic languages you want to learn: Irish, Welsh and Breton.
- Restart Mandarin.
- The wish: become an astounding polyglot.
In all honesty, I don't think I'll manage to get them all done in 2023, but these are goals, not resolutions. I won't beat myself up if I don't hit them all. I'm being very ambitious with this list. The trick is to do small things. It is the small things that combine to make a big thing. That's how things are achieved.
What about you. What do you hope to achieve in 2023?