There are exactly five weeks from today until Christmas (YAY!!), which means there are exactly six weeks left until the 1st of January, 2015. (And, since I’m sure you’re dying of curiosity, that also means there are exactly eleven weeks until my debut book launch—yippee!!).

Focusing on the six weeks remaining of 2014, I’ve been thinking lately about what I still want to accomplish before the year ends. About this time last year I heard someone say that, yes, there might only be a few weeks of the year left, but there’s no reason why those weeks can’t be amazing. His exact phrase was along the lines of, “The rest of your year can be the best of your year.” He then went on to encourage that, by the same principle, “The rest of your life can be the best of your life.” I thought those were extremely motivational words even if, at the time, I didn’t necessarily believe them. (I wasn’t in the best place emotionally back then, so while I hoped he was right, I still had my doubts). Ultimately, the remaining weeks of that year weren’t all that fabulous for me, but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to have another shot this year! Because I’m confident that the rest of my year will be the best of my year.

So, in the next six weeks I want to do the following:

1. Finish writing another book. I’m currently about 20,000 words into a new YA thriller/dystopian/not-quite-sure-what-sub-genre novel and I’m loving where it’s going, even if I’m having a bit of trouble keeping my characters in line. Let’s just say they’re not behaving. For the first time ever, I’m considering scrapping everything I’ve written and starting again since I can’t get my hero to cooperate. He’s meant to be all dark and brooding, but he’s way too cheerful and he won’t stop flirting with my protagonist. That is not what I want. It’s extremely frustrating. But I’m looking forward to the challenge of sorting them both out!

2. Read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. A friend, a work colleague, the bane of my existence, an okay person, an arrogant meanie, someone who gives awesome Christmas presents… A guy (*waves* Hi, Ben!) gave me a copy of this book for my birthday (or Christmas?) a few years ago and it’s been on my TBR pile for way too long. It’s almost like a running joke now because I devour books in a matter of hours and yet I haven’t read this one (oopsie). But I have to say, even though it’s not my normal genre, nor does it give any kind of vibe towards being even remotely Disney-like (cue: sigh), I’m still definitely intrigued. Because, really, The Cemetery of Forgotten Books? How awesome does that sound! I’m looking forward to—finally—carving out some time and getting stuck into this one.

3. Edit the second book in The Medoran Chronicles (again). This manuscript has already been sent off to my publishers for approval, but after some of the editing changes made in the first book, AKARNAE, I want to go through the second book again (before it goes off to my actual editor) to correct any new inconsistencies (like an aunt and uncle who are now parents, etc.). I seriously love this second book, so this will absolutely not be a hardship!

4. Be more social. It can be hard to balance a working/writing/socialising life when it’s easier to be a book hermit during down-time. But relationships of all kinds are important for mental and emotional wellbeing (not to mention, they’re just fun!), so this is also an important priority of mine for the rest of the year. I’ve missed out on seeing a lot of my friends over the last few months for a number of various reasons, so it’ll be awesome to reconnect with a heap of them again.

5 ….

Well, I think that’s enough to be getting along with for the moment. As it is, finishing a book in the next six weeks AND editing another entire manuscript might be pushing it, especially considering my desire to be more social as well… But I guess I’ll just have to wait and see. If push comes to shove, I’ll extend the timeframe on these goals to go through to the end of summer. *Nods* That works too. But my aim is to focus on the above for the rest of the year.

So, how about you? Any goals you want to meet by the end of 2014? How do you plan on making the rest of your year be the best of your year?