Friday, December 22, 2006

New Beginnings


As I was staring up at my ob's ceiling this morning getting my yearly "woman" thing done, I realized that it's that time of year to do something else I hate. Make my New Year's Resolutions. I usually fail horribly at my resolutions and that's why I hate them.

Last year I printed off something fancy and stuck it on the refrigerator thinking if I had to stare at it every day I'd accomplish my goals. SO wrong.

The following are my 2006 Resolutions & next to them I put how it all worked out.

1)Lose 50 pounds~ I was doing really good this summer & had lost 25, then something happened (like I started shoving food into my mouth uncontrollably), and I gained it all back. I'm pretty sure I'm exactly, to the ounce, what I weighed when I typed my resolutions last year. We'll mark this one down as a failure.

2)Get an agent~ OMG, I SO rocked on this one. Not only did I get an agent, but I sold my first two books. Yeah, me!

3)Spend less money~ Yeah, I totally blew this one.

4)Mind my own business (this was kind of family related)~ I think I did better on this one, but I could still use some work.

5)Potty-train my youngest by his 2nd birthday. He turned 2 last Friday and he would still rather pee on the floor.~ I don't really see this as a failure completely because I'm pretty sure he does it on purpose. Trust me, you'd just have to know him.

Okay, so I failed miserably on two, rocked on one, so-so on one, and lastly, I just refuse to hold myself accountable to a 2 year old's bladder.

So I thought if I published my resolutions on the Buzz Girl blog, with who knows how many people holding me accountable, maybe I'll accomplish every single one this year. Or maybe I'll just be really embarrassed! So here goes.

Stephanie Hale's 2007 Resolutions

1)Lose 50 pounds.
2)Write two more books.
3)Sell one more book.
4)Spend less money
5)Demand more time for my writing
6)Get that potty training thing down
7)Promote my upcoming book to the best of my ability
8)Clean my house more

I know that you are probably all thinking that some of this I can just lie about. But I am not that kind of girl. So do I have any brave volunteers who would care to humiliate themselves with me?

xo,
Steph
All that matters is what's inside...as long as your outside is wearing the tiara.REVENGE OF THE HOMECOMING QUEEN, coming from Berkley Jam in July 2007
www.stephaniehale.com


13 comments:

Dona Sarkar-Mishra said...

Ooh, love your resolutions Steph!
Mine are something similar:
-Write 2 more books
-Lose 10 lbs
-Get physical therapy for my knee and run my half marathon
-Kick some serious ass at the office

Let's hope 2007 is a good year!

TinaFerraro said...

Hey, Steph, congrats on the resolutions you attained, and best of luck on your new ones!

Mine are similar to yours and Dona's, to lose weight (any pounds will do), and write and sell 2 books.

And here's an odd one that I've already started working on. When someone reads and has something nice to say about my book, to learn to accept the compliment. My natural instinct is to backpedal, and tell them how sweet they are for bothering to read it, etc. But I realized that when I've met an author whose books I've liked, and have complimented her, what I really wanted to hear back was something like, "Thank you, I enjoyed writing it." Not some expression of her insecurities! :) So...deep breath...that's what I've been trying to do.

Let's be sure to have another check-in at this time next year and see how we all did!

Tina

www.tinaferraro.com

Anonymous said...

Just think what all you've accomplished, Steph!
In one year you joined the best critique group ever, wrote and revised your book, got a fabulous agent, followed by a two book deal only four days from when your agent sent out your manuscript (and one of those days was memorial day, right?) I'd say that you have had an amazing year.

Oh, and if you have your two year old almost potty trained, well, you are even more amazing than I thought!

Anonymous said...

Okay, screw it, I'll go there (at least I won't be alone when I don't meet them all...I hope)

* Lose 25 pounds (the same 25lbs I've ben trying to lose since I had my 12 year old!)

* Exercise 5 days a week no matter what!

* Sell 2 more books

* Delegate more to the fam
to free up writing time

Let the games begin.

Anonymous said...

Oh, guess I better state some resolutions, lest anyone think I am perfect!

Write two more books! (I realized that though I wrote three books in the 2005-2006 school year- Aug through May) that I only wrote one piddly book in 2006. Must write more.

Tone up stomach, work out, drink more water

Do more creative stuff with the kids.

Pay off credit cards

Kelly (Lynn) Parra said...

Hi Steph, great resolutions!
I'd love to lose 10 lbs, but I can't even hold myself to that! I'm terrible at being healthy because let's face it, I'm a SAHM and a writer. I barely have time for anything else. haha! But I'll say I'll promote my book to the best of my ability! =D

Simone Elkeles said...

Steph, you're so brave to point out all the stuff you didn't do, but you didn't mention ALL the stuff you DO.

Like write a book and sell it. Less than 1% of the population can say that, probably (fudging stats here).

I'd say the losing weight and working out are on the top of the list. I just wish there were more than 24 hours in a day.

~Simone Elkeles
www.simoneelkeles.com

Me said...

Thinking about resolutions more than a week before New Year's? Crazy. But I'll jump on the crazy bandwagon.

-Lose weight/exercise/eat healthy (repeat per years 1990-2006).

-Write, oh tons. I'm usually insanely prolific (no hubby, no kids, etc.) but the last year and a half have been practically barren due to other commitments. No more.

-Save money.

-Buy a car (mine kind of caught on fire last month).

-Volunteer at... something.

Cheers to 2007!

Marley Gibson said...

Great resolutions! Great to see what everyone has to say. I'll toss in a few:

- Lose 20 pounds
- Keep the condo clean
- Write 2 more books (in my series)
- Go to more "cultural" things in my city
- Drink more water
- Lower my cholesterol

Marley = )
http://www.marleygibson.com

MaNiC MoMMy™ said...

Just stopping by some of my fave blogs to say Merry Christmas!

Anonymous said...

Oh, erm. Okay, I'll bite.

Lose 40 pounds.
Make both of my teens get their driver's license.
Write two more books
Make out a business plan

I didn't include sell a book because I have two proposals out there and one of the best agents evah. And since she is Steph's agent too... I know she can sell:)
I HOPE to sell a book this year. How's that?

Teri

Young Adult Authors said...

Good resolutions, everyone! I hope you go for it!

So, at the beginning of the year, I wrote my 2006 goals in a "goal notebook" and then tracked my progress day by day... anal, I know but read this:

2005:
1) Write a damn good book
2) Further contacts w/agents and editors
3) Grow in confidence in my skills and craft
4) Record my progress

Uh... yeah. I did that all in the first half of the year. Other things in my life didn't go the way I planned, but somehow my career did. I totally believe in the write it down, make it happen phillosophy, now. Also, I only pick goals that I have control over, ya know?

This year, my goals are:

1) Keep getting physically and mentally stronger
2) Write two more damn good books
3) Nurture my relationships with friends and family
4) Be kind to myself
5) Laugh more

Thanks, you guys, for being there for me in 2005. You Buzz Girls are wonderful friends and writers. This is going to be a big year for all of us. Go BGs!

Anonymous said...

Great goals! I'm a chicken, and my only resolutions are things I KNOW I can do. This year's is to read 365 books. It sounds ridiculous, but I usually do about that anyway--the only change this year is that I'm keeping a list of them. There are a ton of things I WANT to do, but if I make them my new year's resolutions and then don't do them, it'll be worse than just not doing them...At least, that's my crazy philosophy :)