Daily Archives: December 27, 2008

A Fantasy Life

By Janet Quinn Cornelow

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday. I am so far, being on vacation from my two day jobs. My sister made the wreath for me for Christmas. I started it five years ago and set it aside to make a Christmas stocking for my daughter-in-law. I stuck the wreath away and forgot I even had it. My sister reminded me before Thanksgiving and offered to finish it for me. She thought I’d gotten a bit more of it done – it was only about a quarter finished. I didn’t expect to see it until next year, but she brought it over yesterday. She had been working really hard on it and I was thrilled.

This is the time of year to look back and take stock of what was accomplished last year and then make goals for the coming year. Last Saturday, Debra Young, my critique partner, and I went to lunch and went over the goals we had set for last year, marking off those that we had accomplished. I was surprised at how much I actually had accomplished. Some of the items on the list were things that came up as the year went by. Writing can be that way sometimes. Some on the list will move forward to next year, though there are a couple I’m not sure I will accomplish, but if I take them off the list they may disappear forever and I do want to do them some day.

Goals are not so much about getting them all done, but framing your mindset for the next year so that you do your best to be successful at whatever you try. Sometimes what seems important in January is not as important come July. I like to have extra goals just in case I get in the middle of a story and have no idea where it is going or I get tired of it. Then I have other goals I can switch to. But the first goal for the coming year is to finish Sam’s story. I am sure he’ll appreciate that.

So I am wishing everyone a wonderful New Year filled with lots of energy to attack those goals. And may the muse never abandon us.