2017 Annual Review

Oh, 2017. You will go down in history as one of my most exciting, crazy, thought-provoking, and frustrating years ever.
 

Looking Back on 2017 - The Year of Flow

After purposefully pulling back from external commitments, 2017 is the year I give my art my full attention again by staying home and working on my writing habit. Consistent writing brings me great contentment, and that is my goal for 2017 — contentment through consistency. This applies to more than just writing; it is my personal goal as well. Staying home allows for regular habits to grow and thrive — not just writing, but yoga, golf, friendships, minimalism for the house, and lots of regular, protected deep work time. This deep work practice will create great flow, allowing me to focus and challenge myself in my work.

HOW DID I DO?

When I read this, I started to laugh and wrote Ha—not even close. But... as I thought about it, while I wasn't able to stay home and nest all year, pouring out words as quickly as I do my morning tea, I do believe I achieved my goal of contentment through consistency. I'm rather surprised by this revelation, as I spent weeks on the road this year, had my schedules shift around several times, ran around with my hair on fire meeting new deadlines, remodeled the house, and otherwise spent a lot of time freaking out.

And yet... The crazy remodeling of several rooms to make them exactly what we wanted resulted in us decluttering the house to the point of austerity—a long-time goal achieved. It feels so good now. Another goal met: I spent a lot of time with the people I adore the most—friends, family, and business teammates, at home and on the road—deepening those relationships. With all the chaos, I managed to meet all my deadlines, read almost 80 books, took an actual unplugged vacation, wrote 275,000 fiction words, launched an anthology and recruited another, taped 6 episodes for A Word on Words, and found a comfortable writing habit. I even lost ten pounds in the process. Maybe I didn't fail as much as I thought I did! Then again, my golf handicap did go up because I only played 8 rounds this summer. 8! This must change. 

WHAT WENT RIGHT?

Well, everything and nothing. Professionally, the year-long campaign for LIE TO ME was a massive success. The book was a big hit, and allowed me to travel all over the country, meet a lot of readers, and put me on the radar of some very influential book bloggers and Instagrammers. My publisher got behind me big time, with major future commitments, and really, you can’t ask for anything better. Catherine and I wrote a new book that I think is wildly unique and fun, I finished a new standalone novel that is dark and different, wrote some short stories I’m very proud of, and grew Two Tales Press to its next level. Assistant Amy worked her tail off all year to allow me more margin for creative work, and when you see the numbers below, you’ll see exactly how well that worked. 

Personally, I found a great deal of contentment toward the end of the year once all my deadlines were met. The changes to my schedule and focus worked well, and I absolutely love my new interiors. I nearly exceeded my writing goals, nearly met my reading goal, and had a very good year in general. I committed to handling the holidays early and did, which brought a surprising amount of joy. Like so many others, the holidays are sometimes hard for me, but this year, having everything dealt with Thanksgiving weekend allowed me to enjoy instead of fret. So there’s the key — planning, and executing the plan. Who knew?

I also asked for and received an Apple Watch for Christmas. I can already see how this tool is going to be very useful in helping me meet my physical goals this year. I am so excited by it — it’s very clever, and I was able to import all 5 years of my Fitbit data using a cool app, and can track my sleep, too. Winning! I also upgraded my laptop to a Mac Touch Bar, and I LOVE it. The keyboard alone is worth the price. So much better ergonomically.

We also did a great job decluttering, emptying closets, turning the bonus room back into a game room instead of using it for storage. We have no house projects on the horizon; it’s time to settle into our bones and enjoy what we have. 

WHAT WENT WRONG?

If I say everything and nothing again, you’re going to smack me and call me dramatic. You know the saying, still waters run deep? That was this year.

On the surface, everything looks stunning. But trust me when I say there was a lot of behind-the-scenes chaos, fear, freakouts, emotional collapses, self-doubt, and just plain too much to handle. Were it not for the support of friends, family, teammates, a very compassionate husband, and a brilliant assistant, I would have run away to a little town in Europe and not looked back. It’s interesting, I seem to have a cycle going. Every few years, I lose it completely and struggle for a couple of months to find my footing again. Why is this? Perhaps because I take on too much and it all catches up at once, perhaps I care too deeply about the work and am holding on to it too tightly, perhaps the natural physical changes as I’m growing up affect my emotional state (chick hint: it does). A combination of all these things? Regardless, I’m committed to lowering my stress levels in 2018. Something has to give. I don’t know what yet, but to start, I have canceled all travel and conferences save two I’d already committed to. I really need to step back and take a breath so I can focus on my work.

NERDOLOGY - AKA THE NITTY GRITTY

2017 Word Total: 919,881
Fiction Total: 274,410
Non-Fiction Total: 78,571
Email: 566,900
Fiction Percentage: 30%
Books Read: 75 (of a goal of 80)

2016 Fiction Total: 217,228 (Fiction 25%)
2015 Fiction Total: 203,749 (Fiction 28%)
2014 Fiction Total: 291,114 (Fiction 36%)
2013 Fiction Total: 270,000 (Fiction 34%)
2012 Fiction Total: 265,000 (Fiction 34%)
2011 Fiction Total: 252,300 (Fiction 35%)
2010 Fiction Total: 198,383 (Fiction 32%)
2009 Fiction Total: 135,738 (Fiction 27%)

The most important takeaway from the 2017 numbers is this: my fiction total went up by over 57,000 words, and my non-fiction dropped by 48,000 (as compared to 2016). That in and of itself makes the year a raging success. I’m back into my 2013/2014 output levels, which means I can stock my magic bakery with more titles, and I’ve converted non-fiction words into fiction words for the very first time. A very good thing.

2017 was an insanely good year for my creative work. So many great things happened, some of which I can’t even talk about just yet! I released three original titles: THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE with Catherine Coulter, my second standalone, LIE TO ME, and my first anthology under my Two Tales Press imprint, DEAD ENDS. I wrote and published two short stories: CATWOOD and THE ENDARKENING, and started two more that will come out in 2018. THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE hit #2 on USA Today and The New York Times, and #1 on The Wall Street Journal. It received a starred Booklist, too. LIE TO ME hit The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star top ten lists, received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly, and continues to do well. Target chose NO ONE KNOWS for their Emerging Author shelf, and LIE TO ME as a Target Select Read. FIELD OF GRAVES was nominated for a RITA® Award for best Romantic Suspense, and both NO ONE KNOWS and FIELD OF GRAVES were long-listed for the Southern Book Award in the Thriller category. I went to ALA and BEA in support of LIE TO ME (OMG, that banner!), as well as toured all over the west coast, which was a blast. And of course, a huge exciting highlight of the year, A WORD ON WORDS won a regional EMMY®! And I managed to throw in another standalone novel, that I’m revising now, which will be my 2018 solo release.

Now if I could just write faster…

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2018 - The Year of Change

It’s time to apply all the changes I’ve made over the past several years into a single, overarching habit that encompasses my work, my current life, and my future work. Putting my own needs first will allow me to grow both as a writer and as a person. Being selfish with my time, only applying my energy to work I love and believe in, will help me reconnect with my creativity in new and exciting ways. I vow to try new things, to read new-to-me authors, to regularly unplug and decompress, and enjoy life without pushing so hard all the time. Most importantly, I will set work hours, and step away from the screen when the day is done. “Mischief Managed” will be my new end-of-workday mantra, giving me permission to shut down until the next day. A shutdown ritual coupled with an 8-week modular work plan will lend structure and cohesiveness to my days, and drop my stress levels exponentially. 
 

I’m not even pretending to have a zen word for this year. 2018 is going to see some serious life changes for me work-wise, and I intend to shift several of my personal goals as well. I’m closing in on a major birthday in 2019, and I want to lay the foundations this year that will carry me through middle age (gulp). This includes the usual culprits: exercise and weight loss, a sustained yoga practice, and more vegetables than meat. And golf is a priority. But this year, I’m going deeper than changes to my physical being. 

I want to change how I approach my creativity. I feel like it gets stifled with all the pressure that exists in our current environment. I stepped away from social media several times in 2017, and this will continue into 2018. The psychic cost isn’t one I’m willing to pay anymore. I’ve found a comfortable pace with my networks, and my focus is on deepening those relationships instead of trying to grow, grow, grow. I’ve always said quality is more important that quantity. 2018 is the year I prove that to myself. 

I want to push myself creatively, too. You’ve heard the term “leveling up” — well, I want to find a way to be focused enough to level up every book instead of every five to ten books. That’s going to take an overhaul of my systems. Deep work is paramount, no distractions, no panic. I've learned how to say no when something doesn't enhance my life or work, and will continue to do so. My daily habit is in a good place, reinforced by scheduled Freedom sessions: Read during breakfast, write from 10–12, read during lunch, write from 1–3 (or 2–5 depending on the day), then a workout. Dinner, read or TV. Wash, rinse, repeat. 

I want to read more and consume less. As always, I want to read more of what I already own instead of buying new books. I want to read with intention, work with joy, and put myself first. I want to continue mentoring, continue broadening my horizons with A Word on Words guests, and dig deep into my mental wellbeing. 

I also ran across a very cool concept recently about breaking the year into multiple 8-week segments. The idea is 6 weeks of deep work, 1 week of wrap up, 1 week of vacation/rest. Looking at my word trackers, I do something very similar to this already—the bulk of my books are almost always written in the last 6 weeks of the project’s timetable. I spend the first 8 weeks or so on the first 25,000 words, making the set up works perfectly. I will be analyzing this new method and applying it to my annual creative planning, and see where it takes me. Plus, that week of rest is paramount. I took a real vacation in 2017, and I need to do it again.

As far as work plans: I want to write three short stories, and finally wrangle the non-fiction project I’ve been circling for the past several years, which means instituting a non-fiction day every week. I’m choosing Fridays, to echo my many years blogging at Murderati. Catherine and I will be writing the sixth Brit in the FBI, which is due in late summer, and I will tackle another solo book. I'm not sure if that's a standalone or a Taylor/Sam yet. I might toss in a secret project if I have the time and energy.

I have three original releases this year: THE SIXTH DAY, A Brit in the FBI #5, comes out on April 10. TEAR ME APART, my new standalone, releases on September 18. And we have a cool new anthology coming from Two Tales Press in November. I can’t WAIT to tell you all about it.

There’s even more incredible news to share, projects that will be taking my creative time, and I will release those details as soon as I’m able. Exciting times ahead!

Honestly, I don’t know that I ever imagined my career would be humming along like it is. I am blessed, and I know it, and so much of that is thanks to you. 

All in all, I’m faced with an interesting moment in my creative life. I hope I can meet it with aplomb, meet my new goals head on, and accomplish a lot. Thanks as always for being a part of my journey. Many blessings for a splendid, productive, happy, and safe 2018. Peace out!

The Deets - 2017 Writing

 

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For the past several years, I’ve been doing annual reviews of my life and work, based on the format from Chris Guillebeau’s wonderful Annual Review on his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris’s system is exceptionally detailed, more so than I really need, but the gist is there. It’s a great system for those of us who are self-employed and want to do an assessment of our work for the year. Here’s the link to the actual post. Go on over there and take a read. I’ll wait. 

And if you're interested, here are the links to my previous annual reviews for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.

2016 Annual Review

Welcome to my annual review!

For the past several years, I’ve been doing annual reviews of my life and work, based on the format from Chris Guillebeau’s wonderful Annual Review on his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris’s system is exceptionally detailed, more so than I really need, but the gist is there. It’s a great system for those of us who are self-employed and want to do an assessment of our work for the year. Here’s the link to the actual post. Go on over there and take a read. I’ll wait.

And if you're interested, here are the links to my previous annual reviews for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.

2016 SUMMARY

It’s hard to quantify things sometimes, but on the whole—2016 goes down as the best year I’ve had since I started writing. All the hard work of the past decade seemed to pay off at once, which was both gratifying and frightening, because dear God, what have I gotten myself into? Be careful what you wish for, right?

I spent too much time on the road, and definitely didn’t write enough, but had a major first for me: creative satisfaction. I finally feel like I’m hitting the mark with my work. And that gives me so much hope and excitement for the years ahead. Who knew giving up my biggest goal would allow it to get within my reach?

I’ve been in this game for nine years now, and over that time, I've learned a very important and valuable lesson: writing what you love, what scares you, and what you think is going to get you in the most trouble, is the way to go. My training wheels are off. I’m riding free and easy. And I haven’t been this excited and happy about my art since my debut year. That’s what 2016 gave me. And what a gift it is.

2016 - THE YEAR OF LENT

MY GOALS FOR LAST YEAR
 

This is the year I let go of all my earlier goals and preconceptions and live in the moment, focusing on controlling what I can control and not worrying about things out of my immediate control. No more striving, no more craving. As always, trying to make do with what I have, reading books I've already bought, minimizing clutter, allowing for better organization. I want to learn how to be more present, more involved in the now, which means more yoga and meditation. Taking all I've learned about writing and productivity and putting it into action. And letting go of the idea that I can't work on more than one project at a time, which is simply resistance. Continue meaningful and satisfying connections with friends and readers, be a good boss, a good wife, a good reader and writer, and learn how to sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

WHAT WENT RIGHT

All in all, I have to say, 2016 was a raging success in terms of sticking to my plan. I was absolutely more present, absolutely more focused. I worked very hard on tending my own garden and breaking a lot of bad habits. Professionally and personally, I feel like I got a handle on my self-destructive/procrastination issues, especially using the internet as a tool for avoidance. That’s gone. No more. And it has created so much space that I didn’t realize I was missing.

In terms of the good things that happened, it was a magical year.

I released six books in 2016, two original novels (NO ONE KNOWS and FIELD OF GRAVES); three paperbacks (THE END GAME, NO ONE KNOWS, FIELD OF GRAVES); and released my first print short story collection through Two Tales Press, THE FIRST DECADE.

A WORD ON WORDS was reupped for a second season, and the first season was nominated for an Emmy®! It was an incredible year on the show, with awesome authors and a fabulous crew. 

Catherine and I moved to Gallery with Nicholas and Mike at the end of 2015, and I’m loving everything about our new home. THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE is out next March, and it is hands-down my favorite book in the series to date.

I also signed a new deal with MIRA Books for another new standalone, and am doing a slight creative pivot to allow myself time to write both standalones and series books with them. Which is Very Exciting Stuff, as I’ve always wanted to write standalones. I have four books to come from MIRA, which is excellent news for all the Taylor and Sam fans out there and for the standalone fans.

My secret project from last year became my new standalone novel — LIE TO ME will be out next September 5. I’m hopeful it is a breakthrough novel for me. I know it was for the art. The sense I had when I completed it was utterly unfamiliar, until I realized it was creative satisfaction. It’s eluded me for a very long time, really since Jade’s passing five years ago, so I was relieved and grateful to have it back.

Amy has continued to be a godsend. I’m not sure what I did to deserve such an amazing right hand — because she’s much more than her titles — but under her steady leadership, I’ve felt more and more comfortable sticking with writing and interactions. (A note for writers here: you need someone to help. You really do. Even on an ad hoc basis for certain projects, clearing mind space for your work is a necessity. I’ve talked at length about ways to do this, from interns from your local colleges to virtual PAs. Trust me, it’s worth it.)

 

WHAT WENT WRONG
 

This list of what I didn’t do well is, as usual, long and varied:

• I didn’t hit my word count goal
• I didn’t read enough books
• I definitely didn’t lose any weight
• I lost my yoga practice
• I didn’t play enough golf and my handicap went up (ugh)
• I allowed myself to be distracted by things that didn’t matter and were out of my control

The biggest downside was the travel—as happened last year, I was on the road pretty much continuously from March to November. I had a several-month stretch where I wasn’t home for more than 2 weeks at a time, and there was a moment when we were actually counting down the events: only 10 more, only 9 more, 8 more…  I was unbelievably stressed by all the commitments I’d made.

This year, that is not going to happen. I'm putting real constraints on myself, curtailing appearances and declining opportunities. I simply have to stay home and write for a while, and focus all my attention on my work. It's selfish, I know, but art is selfish. I've resolved to unapologetically focus on me and mine for a while.

But the thing is, the positives of 2016 outweighed the negative so far that I can’t even start to complain. I am four years removed from my All Is Lost moment, when I seriously considered whether I should be doing this at all, and I am exceedingly grateful I didn’t give up.

 

NERDOLOGY - AKA THE NITTY GRITTY
 

Though it wasn’t my most productive year, I did complete two new books: THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE with Catherine, and my own standalone, LIE TO ME, plus started a new standalone novel, wrote three brand-new short stories, and started another.

2016 Word Total: 877,650
Fiction Total: 217,228
Non-Fiction Total: 126,882
Email: 533,600
Fiction Percentage: 25%
Books Read: 66 (of a goal of 70)

2015 Fiction Total: 203,749 (Fiction 28%)
2014 Fiction Total: 291,114 (Fiction 36%)
2013 Fiction Total: 270,000 (Fiction 34%)
2012 Fiction Total: 265,000 (Fiction 34%)
2011 Fiction Total: 252,300 (Fiction 35%)
2010 Fiction Total: 198,383 (Fiction 32%)
2009 Fiction Total: 135,738 (Fiction 27%)

It wasn't my most productive year. I failed to meet my 400,000 word count goal for fiction. With all the external commitments, it’s not a surprise, though I was disappointed in the final numbers. This year will be better. I’m setting a hard and fast goal of 300,000, and I will meet it. That equals three novels. Two are already deadlined, and I have to get ALL FALL DOWN done too. Those three books should take me right to the goal.

I went all over the country on two different book tours, one for NO ONE KNOWS and one for FIELD OF GRAVES. All of the events were fun and interesting, and I fell in love all over again with several wonderful indie bookstores.

The books themselves were very well received this year, too: 

•   2 Okra Picks (NO ONE KNOWS and FIELD OF GRAVES)
•   1 Starred PW review (FIELD OF GRAVES)
•   1 Starred Booklist review (NO ONE KNOWS)
•   1 Romantic Times Top Pick (THE END GAME)
•   1 Book of the Month Club Pick (NO ONE KNOWS)
•   1 USA Today (!) showing (for reprint of ALL THE PRETTY GIRLS)
•   The Brit in the FBI books hit the top ten of all the bestseller lists
•   One more awesome thing that's secret until sometime this week...

Really, I can’t ask for more than that!

I made several changes to my daily accountability processes, including starting a spreadsheet specifically for my non-fiction. It made this process so much easier. I felt like my non-fiction was more successful this year because I pulled back on the quantity and focused on quality, something that will continue into 2017 and beyond. I also started tracking social media reach in a sustainable way, and was happy to see a lot of growth in the newsletter, which has become the staple of our outreach. Hey, we own it, unlike other networks. I have very specific goals for it next year; we’ll see how I do.

Something else I need to look at—my email number is apparently the equivalent of five nice, meaty novels. I think that number, though an estimate, may be high. My calculations assume all things are equal, and runs the average from the number of emails sent (in this case, 5530 emails * 100 words). Of course, that’s not always accurate. Some emails were short, some were long, some were goofy meme wars. I’m not too bothered by the idea of 5 novels worth of email, because Amy and I do 90% of our work through email. And I don’t track texts, so those will more than make up any deficiencies on my end. That said, I do know I need to limit my email consumption and output. Noted for the future.

I also abandoned my first adopted status. I was able to get into a great bullet journal method, which I’ll be discussing at length in the coming year. I relied heavily on Scrivener, Freedom, and Wunderlist, and got a new laptop for Christmas, which I predict will help my productivity tremendously. In case you’re interested, I did a permanent link to my Writer’s Tools here on the site. I’ve streamlined and am very happy with my system now. It’s simpler, easier to manage, and doesn’t rely on trying every new thing that comes down the pike.
 

2017 - THE YEAR OF FLOW

MY GOALS FOR THIS YEAR
 

After purposefully pulling back from external commitments, 2017 is the year I give my art my full attention again by staying home and working on my writing habit. Consistent writing brings me great contentment, and that is my goal for 2017 — contentment through consistency. This applies to more than just writing; it is my personal goal as well. Staying home allows for regular habits to grow and thrive — not just writing, but yoga, golf, friendships, minimalism for the house, and lots of regular, protected deep work time. This deep work practice will create great flow, allowing me to focus and challenge myself in my work.

Home. Deep Work. Consistency. Contentment. 

These are such simple words, to go along with my simple goals.

• I am going to stay home and write this year.
• I am going to challenge myself to write more.
• I am going to increase my deep work time.
• I am going to lose myself in my habits.
• I am going to regain my yoga practice.
• I will create flow.
• I will not allow external distractions rule me.

How am I going to achieve these goals? To start, I’m not scheduling anything on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays in order to create the space I need to write. I have a productivity course I’m going to take in January called “Zen and the Art of Work.” It’s the perfect way to start my year, in a contemplative and meditative examination of my productivity. I have arranged to go to a yoga class on Fridays to enforce my desire to reboot my practice. I’m already walking three miles per workout regularly, I’m going to add two more days a week.

What do I hope will come out of these goals?

Well, in addition to being more bendy and in better cardiovascular health, I want to finish three books. I will finish THE LOST ONE by April. I’ll finish Nicholas Drummond #5 by November. And if I get some free time in there, I will keep working on the new Samantha Owens, ALL FALL DOWN. And then, who knows what might happen? There could even be another secret project in the mix.  😊

I’m also going to take a real vacation, with no writing, somewhere overseas where I can truly allow myself to detach. Ireland, maybe. Or Spain. Someplace I’ve never explored before so I’ll want to be present and engaged. A beach with a pile of books would work, too.

I have two original novels releasing, two short story collection re-releasing, and a big surprise from Two Tales in the Fall. And I will continue mentoring new authors, helping my friends, and being a contributing member of the writing community, so long as my work is done first. It’s a relatively quiet year, considering. Fall will inevitably ramp up because of LIE TO ME's release, but that's 9 months away.

"Do. Or do not. There is no try."

Yep.  

That’s what the “Year of Flow” means to me. Doing. Lots and lots of doing.

It sounds very simple, and I hope it will be easier than I think. Thanks for helping cheer me along! Happy New Year!

The Deets: 2016 Writing

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12.11.16 - Sunday Smatterings

Hello, chickens! How was your week? I'm safe and snug by a warm fire, resting after a fun week with my partner in crime, the brilliant Catherine Coulter, in California. We ate lots, went to the Apple campus, signed what felt like a million tip-in sheets for THE DEVIL'S TRIANGLE (you can enjoy the fruits of our labor and pre-order a signed copy), had an author Christmas party with some of my favorite people (and boy did we party—Catherine knows how to do Christmas, y'all). Oh, and we might have talked about some upcoming Nick & Mike books.

It was lovely, whirlwind trip... but it's always good to come home to kitties and a kind hubby.

Here's what happened on the Internets this week:
 

Around the Christmas season, we typically buy things we don't normally need. This is why—and what we can do about it. (this article is utterly fascinating)

2016 was tough for many reasons, and especially when you consider some of the brilliant minds we lost. Book Riot curated this Reading In Memoriam of sorts that can help us learn about and honor the legacy of these fine humans.

Fellow writers: these are four traits of a master writer, and how we can develop them. Good stuff, right here.

 

And closer to home:
 

Stumped on what to get your bookish loved ones? I curated a list of my 10 favorite books of 2016, plus a few other gifts for the nerd in your life.

It's almost time for my favorite time of year: Annual Review time! As a numbers geek and productivity nerd, this is one of my favorite exercises. If you're ready to look ahead to 2017, jump on my bandwagon and follow my handy guide that lays out how I do my plan every year.

That's it from me! Wrap those presents, take a few minutes to breathe in the blessings of the season, and we'll talk again soon.

xoxo,
J.T.

12.08.16 - How to Conduct An Annual Review

Ever the overachiever, I have already started putting together my annual review.

I absolutely love this process. It is so much fun to pull out my trusty notebook, look at my goals for the year, see what was important to me 12 months ago, what I accomplished according to plan, and what went right and wrong. My reviews are elaborate, with spreadsheets and out-year planning and metrics, but remember, I did do a stint as a financial analyst, so these things come naturally to me. 

If you’d like to do an annual review, but don’t know exactly where to start, nor want to delve into metrics, here are some ideas.

I break mine into the following categories:

• Summary of the Year
• What Went Right
• What Went Wrong
• Nerdology (where I extrapolate on numbers and goals)
• The Year Ahead
• Actual spreadsheet 

How to pull it all together

Here’s how I do it. Your mileage may vary.

Every year gets a word, essentially its own theme. In the past years, it’s been things like The Year of Lent, The Year of No, The Year of Making Do, The Year of the Pencil, The Year of Depth, The Year of Evolution. You get the idea. (*Note to self, interesting pattern there, JT)

Once I’ve picked my word of the year, I then write a short summary of what I want from the year ahead. This is not the place for details, it’s simply your mission statement for your upcoming 12 months. 

Then, I go into detail on what went right. I start with my career/business, then move to personal. This can be as top line or as detailed as you’d like. I do mine in bullet points, and leave room at the end because I always find a few things I’ve forgotten. And when I do this, everything positive over the past year goes in. It’s a celebration.

Next, it time for the sad part — what went wrong. I don’t like this section, but it’s a necessary evil. With the good comes the bad, and vice versa. I use it as a tool to make sure I don’t repeat mistakes, so I can learn and grow from my foibles. 

Now it’s time for the fun part.

I break my goal setting into several parts: work, home, personal, health, financial, spiritual, education. Again, pick which categories work for you. I set about five goals per category, though sometimes, if I’m planning a life change, I use this section to map out what I want my life to look like at the end of 12 months. e.g.: One year, I wanted to make sure I had at least one night a week that was quiet, no TV, to read books by the fire. It seems like a silly goal, but when I started including it in my weekly plan, man, did my contentment levels soar.

That’s a word to think about when you’re doing this: contentment.

Goal setting should NOT stress you out. Instead, it should give you confidence, clarity, and contentment. The three Cs.

Once all my goals are set, it times to turn to the numbers. 

How to track your metrics

My word counts are the easiest, because I’ve been using these awesome word trackers for years. In 2016, I wised up and started two spreadsheets, one for fiction, one for non-fiction, which will make life easier in a couple of weeks. 

Once I get those numbers in place, I start the breakdown. Fiction speaks for itself, that’s my novels and short stories. Non-Fiction is trickier, that includes everything else, from blogs and essays to email and social media. Those last few aren’t ever completely accurate, but I’ve found an average that I use based on previous years experience. In the chart below, you can see how I do this. For example, I wrote 14 Tao of JT blogs in 2015, and they were approximately 1000 words each. 

My actual spreadsheets are much messier than this, because I’m pulling metrics from previous years for averages and medians, but you get the idea. Here's my 2015 final chart.

And that’s it. Simple, right?

For more ideas and insight into how and why I got into this, please see Chris Guillebeau’s wonderful Annual Review on his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. I’ve adapted his system, and he’s the genius behind all of this. 

Good luck, and let me know if you end up giving this a try!

2015 Annual Review

For the past several years, I’ve been doing annual reviews of my life and work, based on the format from Chris Guillebeau’s wonderful Annual Review on his blog, The Art of Non-Conformity. Chris’s system is exceptionally detailed, more so than I really need, but the gist is there. It’s a great system for those of us who are self-employed and want to do an assessment of our work for the year. I don’t know about you, but I like accountability. I like the feeling of accomplishment I get when I look back over the past year’s worth of work and see what worked, and what didn’t. Here’s the link to the actual post. Go on over there and take a read. I’ll wait. And if you're interested, here are the links to my previous annual reviews for 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

2015 will go down in history as possible the wildest year I have ever had. The harvest was abundant — several years of writing manifested in multiple new releases, and those releases got onto the interwebs and bred. They had book babies and short story babies, resulting in multiple blog posts and nominations. Television shows appeared out of thin air. Websites sprang from nothing. New deals were struck, travel was abundant, my staff doubled (from zero to one, ha!). It was an incredible year.

There’s only one problem.

2015 was supposed to be my Year of No.

Here’s what I set forth as my goal last year. You’ll see immediately why I say I sort of messed it up.

2015 is the year I will begin setting real boundaries for myself. As much as I love to say yes, it's beginning to hurt me. I need to back off traveling for conferences, back down my non-fiction writing, focus more on fiction and being creative at home. I need to work to be more present and more internal - journaling and exercising and meditating regularly. Finding a real writing schedule, the discipline to stick to it, and continue growing great relationships with my readers and fans. Hiring out more professional/business tasks to allow me a deeper focus on my fiction. Be more present, be more creative, read more books, do more yoga, spend more time with friends, and continue working toward my mantra - calm, kind, graceful, focused, strong. And make sure to have more queso dates.

Instead, it became, as we jokingly called it, the Year of Go.

There was a section of time when I was home for exactly 10 days out of 45. Too much away time, for sure. But even so, I will admit I absolutely achieved a number of my 2015 goals. I feel like my personal and professional connections were deepened this year. And sometimes, especially for an introvert, the quality of your interactions is paramount.

What Went Right

All in all, 2015 was a brilliant year. So many great things happened that to list them all would keep you here longer than necessary, so I’m only going to hit the high points.

I released two original novels (WHAT LIES BEHIND and THE END GAME); released two paperbacks (THE LOST KEY, WHAT LIES BEHIND); started a publishing house, Two Tales Press, which published 10 short stories and three ebundles; was asked to host a rebooted version of A WORD ON WORDS for Nashville Public Television and got to interview a bevy on incredible authors; and rebooted my own wine recommendations with an awesome site called THE WINE VIXEN.

WHAT LIES BEHIND and THE END GAME were both nominated for the Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award and for the Silver Falchion from Killer Nashville. THE END GAME got starred reviews in Booklist and Publishers Weekly, and WHAT LIES BEHIND received a starred Booklist review and a RT Top Pick! And THE LOST KEY was in the top ten on the New York Times bestseller list for 5 weeks. (For these honors in and of themselves, I fall down with gratitude. Holy cow!)

I am surrounded by incredible people. My team has grown this year — Amy, first and foremost, became my full-time assistant in August, after 8 months as a part-time wunderkind. She is more than an assistant; she is also my business manager and co-publisher. I couldn’t do any of this without her. My dear friends at Writerspace help us communicate ALL THE THINGS, and my designer, Kim Killion, has done an outstanding job on branding, delivering gorgeous book covers and logos. My dear agent continues to be my most trusted advisor, and I’m blessed to have four incredible editors at four houses. Catherine and I are having more fun that should be allowed with Nicholas and Mike — I even took a nice research trip to Venice for the newest title.

I also signed new deals for multiple new books with multiple houses. So basically, I have some serious job security right now, which is really the only thing you an ask from a writing career.

What Went Wrong

Well, several things. Because of all the travel, harvesting the bounty of writing years past, I decided to take a few months off from writing. Wow. That was a mistake. Even though I wrote during that time, in trying to refill my well, I lost the habit, lost the focus I’ve always had, and had one heck of a time getting it back. Writing is like running in that way — when you stop training for the marathon, you can easily backslide. To get myself back in gear, I ended up taking a course in productivity, and I feel like I’m back on track.

Never again.

Nerdology - AKA The Nitty Gritty

My word count goal for this year was 200,000, and I met and exceeded it. So hey, a goal achieved! But as I mentioned, I didn’t write every day, or even every week, and I am feeling the strain of that. It’s not that I didn’t write — I did. I finished THE END GAME, wrote half of a new standalone novel, and wrote half of THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE. I did edits on FIELD OF GRAVES (formerly knows as CROSSED) and NO ONE KNOWS. I heavily edited 9 short stories to get them ready to publish through Two Tales Press, and wrote a brand new novelette, THE OMEN DAYS. I could have done more, and next year, I will.

I spent a lot of time on the road. I attended my very first ComicCon in San Diego (total blast) and hopped a plane from there directly to ThrillerFest in New York (also fun). I did a small tour for WHAT LIES BEHIND, including a stop at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Georgia (which was a blast), a lovely night with wine and friends at Parnassus, and a delightful visit to Reading Rock. I also attended the Southern Kentucky Bookfest, and went on an extensive research trip to Paris and Italy.

In September, I attended my first Novelists, Inc. conference, which was very eye opening. I went to get a solid footing into indie publishing, and while I was there, I ended up changing my mind about where I wanted to go career-wise and did a new deal with my longtime publisher, Mira Books, which allows me to resurrect my Taylor Jackson series and write more Samantha Owens novels. I can’t tell you how excited I am by this. Around this time, I also signed up to do two more Nicholas Drummond books with Catherine, and the series is moving to Gallery, which is where my standalone NO ONE KNOWS lives.

I am beyond blessed in how my career is shaking out right now. My agent and I spent a lot of time in 2013 and 2014 putting irons in the fire to broaden my literary reach and, somehow, all of them caught and erected a roaring blaze. Everything I’ve been dreaming of has come to fruition, and now is when I buckle down and write all these new books.

As for non-fiction, I hosted 26 authors for "7 Minutes With… Interviews" on the Tao of JT, wrote 14 essays for the blog, compiled 14 newsletters, and in general, grew all the social media platforms I’m on.

And a large part of that due to the influence and hard work of awesome Amy. My co-publisher (Two Tales Press), co-blogger (The Wine Vixen), business manager (JTEllison.com), assistant extraordinaire — whatever role she plays, she does with aplomb, good humor, and unflagging enthusiasm. The reason my personal email numbers shot through the roof was because of our correspondence, and it’s the reason my non-fiction number decreased, as well. But in the vein of "if you build it, they will come," Amy was the reason everything shook out the way it did this year. Because of her, I was able to resurrect my weekly wine recommendations, because she built a gorgeous website, The Wine Vixen, to house the recommendations, and she expanded it to include her white wine reccys. She is also the co-publisher of Two Tales Press, where we’re publishing all of my independent fiction and non-fiction that doesn’t fit with the traditional world. Great fun. But more importantly, I am able to move my focus to my fiction, and the other business aspects are run by her capable hands. Which makes social networking FUN again!

And in the most unexpected of all, Nashville Public Television tapped me to co-host a reboot of A WORD ON WORDS. I’ve written at length about how this came about and how cool it is to continue the great John Seigenthaler’s literally tradition. So now I have a TV show, too. (Yes, I am giggling. I know. Me and cameras and a fear of public speaking? I’m so glad I said yes. Who knew how fun it would be?)

I think the most important thing I take away from 2015 is this:

I’m not nearly as afraid of things as I thought I was. I can do anything I put my mind to. And that’s a powerful realization.

All in all, 2015 was astounding. I can’t wait to see what 2016 brings.

2015 Word Total: 735,799
Fiction Total: 203,749
Non-Fiction Total: 532,050
Email: 430,000
Fiction Percentage: 28%
Books Read: 62 (of a goal of 70)

2014 Fiction Total: 291,114 (Fiction 36%)
2013 Fiction Total: 270,000 (Fiction 34%)
2012 Fiction Total: 265,000 (Fiction 34%)
2011 Fiction Total: 252,300 (Fiction 35%)
2010 Fiction Total: 198,383 (Fiction 32%)
2009 Fiction Total: 135,738 (Fiction 27%)

2016 - The Year of Lent

This is the year I let go of all my earlier goals and preconceptions and live in the moment, focusing on controlling what I can control and not worrying about things out of my immediate control. No more striving, no more craving. As always, trying to make do with what I have, reading books I've already bought, minimizing clutter, allowing for better organization. I want to learn how to be more present, more involved in the now, which means more yoga and meditation. Taking all I've learned about writing and productivity and putting it into action. And letting go of the idea that I can't work on more than one project at a time, which is simply resistance. Continue meaningful and satisfying connections with friends and readers, be a good boss, a good wife, a good reader and writer, and learn how to sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Year of Lent

This may strike you as a strange title for a year’s goal. For me, Lent is generally a solemn six weeks in the spring when I give up social media, hunker down, turn inward. It is a time of great reflection, and usually, exceptional creativity. To make this an annual goal, I’ll have to work on a deeper understanding of what I’m trying to give up. I’ve been thinking hard about this, and what I want to walk away from this year is what the Buddhists call striving. Wanting. Looking for something external to satisfy me. There’s a specific goal, actually, that I can’t seem to achieve and it’s been driving me bonkers. And you know what? Achieving it will not matter a whit.

Will it bring me happiness? No. I am happy. Sickeningly so, actually.

Will it bring me contentment? No.

Will it make my friends' lives richer? No.

Will it make the cats love me more, my parents love me more, my friends love me more, my husband love me more? No.

Will it make my body behave and my cheeks flush and my sleep regulate? No.

Will it satisfy a goal I set years ago that I thought would bring me happiness and contentment? Yes. I will be able to check the box, and move on with my life.

You know what was a real eye-opener? Realizing that checking the box doesn’t bring me anything tangible but the satisfaction of checking the box. If you’ve followed me for more than five minutes, you know I am a goal-oriented person. I thrive on goal-setting and goal-achieving.

The greater danger, for most of us, lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark. — Michelangelo

As I mentioned earlier, I took a productivity course this year and realized a fundamental flaw in my goal setting. I have been setting the bar way too low. In 2014, I set out to write 300,000 words — three full-length novels worth of work. I barely made it, literally clocking the last words to arrive 10K short on December 31. I felt guilty stopping at 290K. In Dean’s way of thinking, it’s much better to fail at achieving your goal than to not make it in the first place. His suggestion, like Michelangelo — set the bar higher. Ergo: Aim for four novels and fail at three. So I’m going to revise my goals upward this year. I’d rather fail to three than only get two.

And if I want to do this, really live it, I have to get out of my own way, which means letting go of this silly, arbitrary goal I set five years ago and haven’t achieved. It’s holding me back. It gets me upset, it colors my work, and it’s time for it to go away.

So 2016, my year of Lent, will be focused on less, and on more. Less of holding myself to standards that are completely out of my control. More controlling what I can control: the quality of my work, the amount of time I spend writing, the amount of time I spend worrying. More time with my friends and family — actually engaged with them — and less time striving. 

I think it's important to point out that without putting in the writing time, everything else crumbles like a house of cards in the wind. I've said it time and again, if you're not careful, your writing time can leak away. Protect it. Write more. Write hard. Be selfish with your creative time. Words equal money. Money equals freedom. Freedom equals all sorts of things, including happiness. More words, more time spent on the craft, more focus on your creativity, will bring you all kinds of rewards. If you're working hard but you still aren't meeting your goals, think about investing in this. Getting out of your own way is the key to a successful career, as I remind myself daily.

And hey, if you're not in this to have a career, but just want to finish that novel you've had in you, this applies too. Every writer is different. Evert writer's goals are different. There are many, many ways up the mountain. But regardless of your goals, recognize that dreams are only realized through hard work. So do your work!   

Exercise is a major goal for me this year, too. I love yoga, and I want to get into a more regular practice. I rejoined the gym (hello, Cybex leg press, you sexy beast) and have been loyally going three times a week for the past two months. I’m starting to see results, which is so heartening!

More writing time, more self-care, less fretting and striving — these are worthy goals for my Year of Lent.

My day needs to have three components — (at least) one comprehensive writing session, one exercise session, one reading session. My world balances very nicely when I manage to do all three things in a 24-hour period. I've also realized that no matter how I try to change my creative time to the morning, to write first thing, I'm not good at it. So I've gone back to handling business first thing whilst the tea takes effect, then getting started in make believe. It's working much much better. So I will spend January setting the habit, and hopefully be able to carry it on throughout the year.

I have three original novels releasing (NO ONE KNOWS 3.22.16; FIELD OF GRAVES - the Taylor Jackson prequel 6.14.16; and THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE 9.16). I want to finish writing three novels (THE DEVIL’S TRIANGLE - Nick #4; ALL FALL DOWN - Sam #5; and the standalone) and write half of Nick #5. That word count puts me in the 250K range as a fiction goal for what I have to do. I'd like to write 400k fiction this year. I want to write two new short stories, and maintain a weekly blog. I want to lose ten pounds, and maintain a regular exercise schedule. I want to continue mentoring new writers, and learning from more experienced ones. I can’t wait for the new season of A WORD ON WORDS to start taping, and getting the Taylor prequel out in the world. And I'm going to write a 15-minute-a-day novel. I'm going to aim high, higher than every before, and see what happens.

There’s a lot to look forward to this year, and I am going to live every moment of it, mindfully and quietly. I hope you’ll follow along and encourage me when I flag.

Happy New Year!

The Deets: 2015 Writing

In case you're interested, here are the tools I use to keep track of my world:

• Daily word trackers (excel spreadsheets) from graphic artist Svenja Liv
• Scrivener - My go to writing program for fiction, their Project Target tools allow me to set a deadline and see exactly what my daily word count needs to be.
• Ulysses - A very cool Scrivener alternative I will be using to compose my blogs this year.
• Day One - I use this for journaling, keeping track of major events and minor triumphs, idea capture
• Squarespace - my web platform, where I host this blog, Tao of JT, The Wine Vixen, and Two Tales Press
• Wunderlist - the very best online To Do list
• Trello - A workflow tool Amy and I use for template-driven work
• iCal/Google Calendar - I have both online and paper calendars. I don't like carrying a day planner, so I use my phone when I'm out and traveling
• Hobonichi Techno - my day planner, annual planner, daily goals, it’s small enough to fit in my purse
• Journal 21 - my weekly and annual planner and logbook (I haven’t decided whether to phase this out or not)
• Clairfontaine and Moleskine notebooks - idea capture, notes, book notebooks, research, planning
• Pilot Knight Fountain pen - beautiful, sturdy, a real workhorse
• Sharpie Fine Point Pens in Blue
• MacBook Air - the all-day battery life is essential to my well-being.