Ok, wow.

I did not expect to leave the site lying fallow for 6 1/2 months. Sorry about that. There was work, I got married (I can now write about “my husband” here instead of “my fiance”!), and I let things slide after a while.

I’m going to do better in 2014. Here’s what I’ve got in mind:

• Write at least 250 words every day. Ideally, these would be words of fiction rather than non-fiction. I don’t have any plans yet for stories or novels – I just want to write in response to prompts and see where this takes me. Ultimately, I hope to pin down what kind of writing routine works best for me, and figure out what my strengths and weaknesses are in terms of style.
• Write 40 book reviews. In 2012, the plan to read 40 books and write 40 reviews worked out really well in terms of audience-building. In 2013, I planned to read 50 books (which I did, although that count does include some novellas) and write at least 1 review a month (which I didn’t). I’m revising the goal in 2014 to match that of 2012; 40 just feels like a nicer number to deal with.
• Expand my reading horizons. Speculative fiction will still be my bread and butter, but I’d like to read more historical fiction and mystery books too.
• Revamp the site a bit. Nothing too major here – the colour scheme will stay, but I want to change the fonts and background a bit, and do some better social media integration.

Other than that, I’ll try to continue with freelance work, keep on reading, and hope for a better, stabler, 2014. Happy new year!