2019 Goals, or HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

So I just came off a 12-day break at the beginning of which I promised myself I was going to go to work on Doleful Creatures and finally finish making a silk purse out of that particular sow’s ear.

Given the alternative title to this post, you probably know how that went.

Words added: None. Which is probably a good thing.

Words read and edited: None. A terrible, no-good, very bad thing.

I kinda spent the entire break like Ole from those old Fibber McGee and Molly* episodes:

Fibber McGee: How are you going to spend the summer, Ole?
Ole: Well, in my backyard there is a hammock.
Fibber McGee: Yeah?
Ole: In the hammock, there is a newspaper. You lift up the newspaper, underneath is Ole. Flat on my back all summer joost donatin’ my time.
Fibber McGee: Well, it sounds like Ole’s gonna loaf all summer. Figures. He loafs all winter.

And yet I still need some 2019 writing goals.

So, I offer a few:

1) Ponder whether I get my version of Alphonse Daudet’s “Le Chevre de M. Seguin” into a fairy tales retold anthology. I should know something by the deadline of January 5. Or is it the 8th? Or should I anticipate waiting a month or more to hear back that I’m not going to be included?
2) Work more on Doleful Creatures. I’d like to make this a concrete goal. Probably something along the lines of organization and pruning. There’s a story there I really like, but there’s a lot of mess in the way as well.

That’s probably already more than I can manage. I admire those who make and meet goals on a consistent basis. I’ve been nursing Doleful Creatures along for years, with over the past two years little enough to show for it. But part of me wants to say at least I’m realistic about it. When I’m not crafting Newberry Award speeches, that is.

*If Matthew Brock will allow use of his copyrighted material, that is.