June Goals

I don't want to set any writing goals this month, but know I must. I have to spend time on many things this month, most of which have nothing to do with writing. I have to get some financial stuff done for our home business, and for our 2009 taxes (yes, I'm trying to get ahead of the curve). Yard work is probably at a peak this month. And we'll have another road trip, though that is partially writing related.

Mainly, though, I have to do more about my health. I have lost 21 pounds this year, which is good, but I'm stuck where I am. In the last two months I've been bouncing back and forth in the same four-pound range, not gaining or losing. To get going down again, I'm either going to have to starve myself or significantly ramp up the exercise. This weekend I ramped up the exercise, taking time Saturday and Sunday for walks and calisthenics when I could have been writing. And what was the result? A one pound gain. I did eat big Friday night (visiting with a relative at a wonderful bed and breakfast in Baxter Springs, Kansas) and snacked some on Sunday afternoon and evening. But it seems I must have breathed some heavy air or something, and it stayed on my bones. I shall have to go on Dad's diet: water only, and that just to wash in.

Well, here are my writing goals for June. They are somewhat bold, given the limited time I see for writing during the month.

1. Blog a minimum of twelve times.

2. Evaluate two or three additional freelance markets, and submit to at least one. This will no doubt require quite a bit of Web research as well as preparing some new writing shorts.

3. Complete one chapter of In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People, begun yesterday.

4. Complete my latest Bible study, tentatively titled, "The Strongest Of All". Actually, this should more be termed a small group study, since it is from the Apocrypha and not the Bible proper.

5. Complete one appendix (already started) and the notes for one passage in the Harmony of the Gospels.

6. Attend the Chicago Tribune Publishers Row Lit Fair next weekend, and, as a sub-goal, talk with at least three publishers who are real candidates for me to submit to.

7. Get back into Life on a Yo Yo and prepare it for publication while it is still somewhat fresh.

8. Submit a query for another article for Internet Genealogy. I will wait to make sure the article already submitted is acceptable to the editor.