<a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/cookincanuck/5827494678/” title=”Grilled Potatoes with Smoked Paprika Recipe by CookinCanuck, on Flickr”><img src=”http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3032/5827494678_5ff49ba337.jpg” width=”333″ height=”500″ alt=”Grilled Potatoes with Smoked Paprika Recipe”></a>

A culinary based story that has roots from my other passions – food and cooking.

And this is another one of the story sparks – Red Velvet Cake. It is simple but an easy recipe and everyone has their own twist for it. I figured it is something that could easily create a conflict between two foodie families that could possibly get out of hand. People can be very protective of their family recipes especially if it has been in the family for years.

What did you accomplish in 2011, what one thing would you change about last year, & What are your 2012 resolution goals?

What one thing would I change about last year?

One thing I would change about last year – balance.

I would focus on my goals and not allow unnecessary, needless or out of my control distractions divert me from my goals. I would also not be so singularly focused on my goals and pursuit of my goals that I would have more fun.

So the one thing I would change is to be more balanced. I would maintain my focus and drive but take more breaks to go outside, relax and have some fun.

Because being so singularly focused leads to burn out.

Truth Time:

Often I write 7 days a week instead of taking a break. And it could be editing or making notes or actually writing but doing something writing oriented. And for the goals group I’m in, you’re supposed to have 1 free day a week. But even doing that I didn’t progress as far as I would have liked. Burn-out was one reason which I think led to a lack of focus and motivation.

What I accomplished in 2011?

I have better control of my writing and where I want to go. I have a better road map and am not just throwing everything at the wall hoping something will stick. I have a better idea on what works for me and what my process is.

And what are my top goals for 2012?

Top 5 Writing Goals for 2012:
1. Write 2 hours a day on at least 5 days a week .
2. Blog at least 52 times
3. Read 26 books
4. Write 2 75K books (This will be in the light para series)
5. Write 2 Novellas (25-40K) (Fighting for love series – inspired by family research)

So what’s the one thing you would change about last year? What are your 2012 Goals? What did you accomplish in 2011?

If you want to check out how a few of my writing friends write:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *Kristen Koster *

This is a great photograph I found on flickr. I was searching of photos of Paris. And going through a few of my own for inspiration on an old story idea. But this particular photograph really made me pause.

• Finish Recipe for Love – have edited/beta’ed and ready for submission by Jan. 31.
• Have Entrapped sketched and outlined completely by end of the month.
• Begin eating healthier at work for at least 2 meal a week and work up to 3 meals a week.
• Read 2 books.
• Start blanket for Preemie Project set (booties, hats, blankets).

I’m listing them for three reasons:

1. to help hold myself accountable. If I put it out there, it’s more of a motivation to follow through  because it’s in black and white.

2. Because I said I would. This is the beginning of what will become a 2-part monthly feature on the blog (Month Goals/Month Accountability).

3. It’s also part of my mission to blog more and be more active on the blog.

A day to reflect on my goals past and future.

Although I did not make all my goals. I did learn a lot this year.

And I am going into 2012 with a lot of support behind me, much more focus and motivation and people rooting for me. In coming up with my goals list for the coming year I had to make sure I balanced my writing life with work, fun, friends and family instead of school. That’s another major change. I’m finished with school and moving into the next stage of my career path outside of writing. You’ll see that reflected in some of my posts.

And I plan on being more accountable, to myself and my goals. You’ll see that more too. I’m going to update my projects page so that what I want to do is out there in black and white.

I also plan on interacting more online. I know I slacked off a bit. But that’s another part of the balance – writing, writing life, life, work, family/friends and everything else.

You know the “rocks, pebbles, sand and water” time management & priorities analogy? I used that too evaluate my goals this years to make sure they were (there’s that word again) balanced. I’ll post some of my goals tomorrow (for accountability) of what projects and goals I want (plan to) accomplish in January. Then I’ll re-evaluate at the end of the month and discuss the hits, misses, deferred and removed.

Did you set goals for 2012? Or make any resolutions? Or targets? Or whatever you choose to call/name them?

I mentioned some resources last week. Here are a few free writing resources.

1. AntiBrowser – To help you not waste time on the internet.

2. Online Stickies – a free sticky note and canvas/peg board.

3. Springnote – An online notebook.

4. GenealogyJ – A great way to do a quick character outline.

5. Freeplane – A mind mapping software great for brainstorming and organizing ideas and information. You can check out what CNet has to say about it.

6. AiPlanet – A virtual world for artificial intelligence

7. Freebie Notes – A free sticky note software program and it even has an alarm timer. Great for writing notes for yourself so you don’t get lost in your writing and forget to do something.

8. Wordle – is a word cloud generator.

9. Dropbox - online and backup storage

10. RedNotebook – A diary and journal

My Top Writing Tools:

1. Scrivener for Windows – Helps with organizing and outlining

2. Google Docs – And now thanks to an app on my phone. I can upload a WIP and work on it during my break and save the changes and then come back to it when I get home with the new additions.

3. Chat Challenges – Be it 20 minutes or 30 minutes, these challenges help with getting writing done and I’m often surprised how many words(and pages) I turn out during these little writing drives.

My Top Writing Resources:

1. My very active imagination which is never short on ideas, twists and turns for my characters.

2. The internet – It has helped with research

3. The library – Great for getting some quiet writing done and also for doing research (especially those hard to find and interesting tidbits).

If you want to check out how a few of my writing friends write:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *Kristen Koster *

Since I’m the one doing most of the cooking in my house this year for Christmas, I made an executive decision and decided we were going non-traditional.

We’re having a medley of favorite foods.

I’m making 2 lasagna’s, bread with homemade garlic butter, salad, beef brisket, smashed potatoes, 7-up cake and peach cobbler.

I’m going to do what I always do. I write when I get a chance. I’m going to write while everything is in the oven. I plan on doing a lot of prep the day before so that should free me up some. Plus my family are late eaters so I will have a huge chunk of time in the afternoon.

So that’s the plan anyway.

If you want to check out how a few of my writing friends write:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque Ford * Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *Kristen Koster *

This year my writer wish list is relatively small.

I would like:

1. Continuous motivation and focus so I can complete my writer’s goal and keep improving in my writing and moving forward on my career path.

2. A dedicated office with a comfortable desk chair that is organized and has all my writing supplies I need such as pens, pencils, colored pens, highlighters, sticky notes, index cards, files, a closet full of blank paper and a closet full of printer ink.

3. A new and bigger MP3 player so I won’t have to do the delete shuffle with my audiobooks and cd’s.

4. A new laptop

5. An extra boost of confidence to silence those negative nagging doubt demons wouldn’t hurt either.

6. And for all my writer’s friends wishes to come true.

7. Oh and a dedicated crafting area would be great too that has all my supplies and tools organized so that when I get frustrated or frozen on a scene I can go and do something crafty to take my mind off of uncooperative characters and nonsensical or crazy or overly complicated plots and story lines.

If you want to check out how a few of my writing friends write:

* Alexia Reed * Angeleque * Emma G. Delaney * Kimberly Farris *Kristen Koster *