Subscribe to my newsletter and get a free story!
One thing I did last year with my writing community was implement a planning session at the beginning of the year, with a six-month check-in midway through the year. We talked about what was coming up during the year, what we wanted to achieve, what might derail us, and strategies for making the most of the year.
For me, that worked very well, and it’s helped even more to add “Motivation Monday” sessions to my school, a weekly online session where we talk about what’s coming up that week and what problems we’re facing as well as share coping strategies and productivity hints. This year I’m doing it again, with quarterly check-ins, because it worked. I realized I got a LOT done last year once I sat down and listed it all. Looking back at the list of what I accomplished, I feel a lot less guilty about the times I just goofed off and played Stardew Valley or Baldur’s Gate 3.
Want to try this for yourself? Here’s the questions I’m asking people to think about this year, along with my answers to each one. (If you are interested in joining us for the planning or motivation sessions, here’s details about the Patreon campaign.)
2024 Review (Don’t worry if a question isn’t applicable! I’ve been thorough and used the list I use)
What did you get accomplished in 2024 and how do you track these things?
I had a new book, RUMOR HAS IT published in hardback (recommended by Bookish, Gizmodo, Publisher’s Weekly, Reactor) and my book DEVIL’S GUN appear in trade paperback, finished two books (SAHALAH and WINGS OF TABAT), taught a bunch of classes, traveled to Orlando, Savannah, Atlanta, New York City, Bellingham, Indianapolis, Surrey, B.C.and Chicago. Wrote three stories and published four.
I track stuff mainly through my big schedule spreadsheet and Scrivener, but I did also track my reading and movies I watched in a blog post. It’s not the end of the year yet, but I have read close to 200 books this year, and in looking at it, I’m pleased to see I read fairly diversely as well.
What did you write in fiction?
Two novels and three stories
What did you write in nonfiction?
An on-demand class (Eating Your Words), some Medium articles (Writing Speculative Stories, What’s Up with the Hugo Awards This Year, and Thoughts on F&SF Awards, Being Desired at Sixty, Solo in the Theater, Thoughts on Recent News of Neil Gaiman, and What Is Cozy Fantasy: Definition and Suggested Reading) and some blog posts, including I am Cat Rambo and This is What I Believe.
Interviews included author spotlight for Lightspeed by Alex Puncekar, a blog post for Jennifer Brozek, an interview with C.M. Caplan, an interview with Nora Peavey, talking with Paul Semel about RUMOR HAS IT as well as DEVIL’S GUN, and the Walter Day Trading Card site and a birthday write-up on File770.
What other art did you make?
I decorated a guest room and drew some cartoons, inspired by Lynda Barry’s book on cartooning.
What did you edit?
I edited four novels for Arc Manor, including ones by Yaroslav Barsukov, Randee Dawn and Ben Bova. I edited a bunch of stuff for private clients, including three novels and a number of short stories.
What appearances did you make, virtual and live?
What publications appeared?/What sales did you make?
What other things were notable?
Of the accomplishments of 2024, what are the top 3-5 that you had?
Finishing not one but TWO books!
Co-ran a writing workshop that was SPLENDID
Witnessed a total eclipse
Ran the craft book and short story discussion groups, as well as an assortment of other Rambo Academy events that enriched my writing.
What are 1-3 of the worst writing-related disappointments?
Mainly I didn’t get some short stories in to various anthology calls. I also have a story that has been sitting in limbo for FOREVER and I’d really like to see it come out. I also want to do another collection, but that requires me getting my butt in gear and sorting through all the recent stories.
What did you do in 2024 that had the most positive impact on your life?
I started being serious about taking Tuesday and Thursday off since most weekends I teach and/or write. I can write on those days if I want to, but I don’t have to do paperwork, teaching stuff, or Patreon things. Often I go to see a matinee, which resulted in seeing a lot of movies I wouldn’t have normally seen. This really recharges me and keeps days from blurring together.
2025 Planning:
What are 3-5 things you want to accomplish overall in 2025?
What’s one thing you’d like to successfully incorporate into your work routine?
I would like to be better with my to-do list.
How do you want to refine or improve your tracking system?
I’d like to keep some electronic notebook where I put down what I get done each day.
What’s one pleasure that you don’t have enough time for? Can you use it to reward yourself for hitting goals?
I really love rock-hunting, and driving up to Michigan to find fossils on the shore is one of my favorite things. I’m going to schedule a monthly trip to do so that will be my reward for monthly goals.
What three things are likely to derail you in 2025? How can you plan to diminish their impact?
I am a programming lead for WorldCon, and that will eat up some time. I’m trying to stay on top of items right now and also not plan anything else for August.
Doing the dev edits for WINGS OF TABAT, although I hope that will be an easy task. Turning them around quickly rather than procrastinating would be good.
Doing the marketing for the release of WINGS OF TABAT. Since it’s the last book in the series, I’d like to pull out all the stops. That requires being organized and doing a lot of planning beforehand.
What’s going to bring you hope in 2025?
My community – friends, family, students, mentees, fellow writers. That’s what keeps me going.
What are you looking forward to in 2025?
Writing my current projects, which I’m stoked about. An upcoming trip to the Barbados. Chances to visit good friends and spend time with family. Having WINGS OF TABAT come out and marketing it. Being Guest of Honor at Confluence. WorldCon in Seattle. Seeing if those yellow rose bushes bloom this year and getting a chance to sit out in the yard and watch fireflies appear in the evening. Seeing what happens with the fantasy novel I just turned in to my agent (*fingers crossed*). Continuing to live a happy and productive life that gives back to the world.
What’s going to be your theme song/ slogan /image to keep you going in 2025?
I am still thinking about this one.
...
Imagine this. You are nine or ten or eleven years old. In your “tweens” as the hip kids call it. Or is that “cool”? You have moved to a foreign country “overseas” because your father was stationed there and you are experiencing non-American food for the first time. Belgium. A little country partially notable by the fact that NATO exists within it. (And so much more…)
First, it is all hotel food because there are no quarters available for you and your military family in SHAPE, Belgium (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe). And the food is good. I mean, really good. We’re talking fresh fruit, chocolate croissants, and Belgian waffles. My mom complained that she gained a pound for every day we were required to stay in that hotel. I don’t remember how long. It was too long for nine-year-old me. I just wanted a home and my things around me.
Then we were there. Living in a 300-year-old manor house in Brugelette, Belgium in 1979 because “the franc was so good.” The backyard was bigger than any school playground I’d ever played in before. The house had history. Real history. This is where “Dear Penpal, Belgium 1980” was born. “Dear Penpal, Belgium 1980” is a unique, middle grade-appropriate ghost story told through 24 physical letters that I am kickstarting from March 26th to April 26th.
...
I’m finishing up my essay and the story edits for the Women Destroying Fantasy issue of Lightspeed, as well as some other articles, trying to get those finished before hitting the road. Stories coming out soon include pieces in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, 3-Lobed Burning Eye and Shattered Shields (edited by Jennifer Brozek and Bryan Thomas Schmidt).
I’m going to be setting up a Patreon campaign, because I’ve got a big backlog of stories and figure releasing them on my own while on the road will probably work as well as worrying about keeping them submitted. If you might be interested in subscribing to get two short stories each month, please sign up for my mailing list, and drop me a comment here to let me know what sort of things you might like to accompany that. What sort of cost would be appropriate for a subscription that lets you supply a prompt or get a Tuckerization, for example?
#mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; }
/* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block.
We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */
In three days, I become Vice President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. I look forward and am somewhat daunted by the prospect.
Today I am putting down linoleum as the next part of the great remodel while Wayne does some sanding. We’re still on track to leave July 15, +/-3 days. We’ll be heading eastward, with stops planned in Utah, Colorado, Kansas, Indiana, and Philly-area, arriving towards the end of July. August we’ll spend some time knocking around on the eastern seaboard, and towards the end of that month, we will go somewhere. Just not sure where, but Australia, Europe, and South America are among the strong contenders, continent wise.
Love the Easter Bunny and want to find out what happens next? Support Cat on Patreon in order to have a say in what she writes next, as well as getting other snippets, insights into process, recipes, photos of Taco Cat, chances to ask Cat (or Taco) questions, discounts on and news of new classes, and more? Support her on Patreon.
...
Want access to a lively community of writers and readers, free writing classes, co-working sessions, special speakers, weekly writing games, random pictures and MORE for as little as $2? Check out Cat’s Patreon campaign.
"(On the writing F&SF workshop) Wanted to crow and say thanks: the first story I wrote after taking your class was my very first sale. Coincidence? nah….thanks so much."
(science fiction, short story) Because mermaids lay eggs, hundreds at a time, at least that kind did. And the natural-born ones, they didn’t have human minds guiding them. They were like sharks—they ate, they killed, they ate. Most of the original human mermaids had gotten out when they found out that the seas were full of chemicals, or that instead of whale songs down there, they heard submarine sonar and boat signals. When the last few found out that they were spawning whether they liked it or not, they got out too. Supposedly one or two stayed, and now they live in the sea with their children, twice as mean as any of them.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. This site is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
