Making Goals a Priority by Alicia Dean

Rather than actual 'resolutions,' this year, I am attempting to not only set goals, but to actually figure out a way to reach them. This past Saturday was our OKRWA meeting, and each January, we write our goals and seal them in an envelope. (I joked that I was ready to set unattainable goals, but unfortunately, that's really not a joke. I usually set too many unrealistic goals :() Then, at our December Christmas party, we open them and see how many we reached. I failed miserably in reaching my 2015 goals. Although, to be fair, I did accomplish many things that were not on the list. Sometimes, my failure to reach my goals is due to becoming involved in too many other things that derail me from them.

This year, actually in the first quarter of the year, I need to write about half a dozen manuscripts (some, thank God, are novellas). Since I work full-time and edit for the Wild Rose Press and coordinate contests and, etc, etc, that might be a little tricky. There's also the social media thing and email thing and wasting time on the internet thing. Social media and promo are vital to an author's career, but I need to find some balance and set aside a certain block of time, no more than 30 minutes per day, to devote to marketing. I'm working on that.

Something else I am determined to do in order to reach my goals is to give myself more time in the mornings for writing. That means, I need to get out of bed two hours before I really have to. I am not all that self-disciplined, and I'm finding that a big challenging. I discovered a few nifty little alarms that might help in that area. One is a 'Wake Up' app. There are several like this, but with this particular app, you have to walk a certain number of steps to turn off the alarm. You can set it from 10 to 100. Once you've walked the steps, it's unlikely you'll go back to bed. One of the problems is, I need to make myself actually set the alarm the night before, and in order to do that, I need to go to bed a little earlier. Maybe I should start out in 30 minute increments each morning until I'm up to my two hours. Another alarm I am going to try is a clock I purchased where you can custom record an alarm. If I can figure out how to get it to work, I'm going to record a short pep talk to wake me. If that fails, I'm going to go full 'drill sergeant' and threaten and berate. :) (I was in the Army National Guard many, many moons ago, so I know how it's done).

So, do you have any clever tips or tricks to help reach your goals? If so, we'd love to hear about them.

And, speaking of goals, today happens to be release day for LIBERTY EMPOWERED, Book 3 in my Isle of Fangs series. It's a book I should have had written a year before I did, but it's one of those goals I couldn't quite meet.

Click HERE to be taken to Amazon Buy Page

She’s striving to embrace her nature…he’s fighting to restrain his.

Vampire hunter Liberty Van Helsing is responsible for protecting the humans living on Sang Croc, a tropical island in the French Polynesia. While striving to improve her recently acquired hunting skills, Liberty wrestles with her attraction to vampire, Eli Barkley, estranged son of Rupert, leader of the Evil Ones. 

Then the grandparents of a young girl—who Liberty has befriended—is snatched by the Evil Ones, and Rupert offers Liberty a deal: herself for the hostages. 

Rupert is certain his son will, in turn, voluntarily trade himself to save Liberty. Liberty has a better idea. Launch a rescue into Rupert's stronghold. But first she must tap into the elusive Van Helsing strength, and convince Eli he's not like his father... not anymore. 

Excerpt:

 "Can I talk to you for a sec?" Eli's expression was calm, but beneath his words, Liberty sensed a hint of anger. Maybe more than a hint. She squeezed Hannah's hand. "I'll be right back."

Liberty followed Eli into the kitchen and leaned her butt against the counter. "Well?"

"I know what you're thinking, and you can get it out of your head right now."

"You don't know what I'm thinking."

"You want to go rescue her grandparents. But you can't do that."

Maybe he did know what she was thinking. "Why not?"

"Not only is the compound well-guarded and dangerous, some of the humans are there of their own free will."

"So you said, but her grandparents aren't there voluntarily. I can at least help them."

He threw his hands in the air and let them drop to his sides. "You have to listen to me. You can't rescue her family. You're a hunter, Liberty. Your job is to hunt on full moon nights, not charge off like Wonder Barbie. You are the last of the Van Helsing line. If anything happens to you, what do you think will happen to the people on this island? The Evil Ones will pillage and plunder to their hearts' content."

"Nothing will happen to me."

"I know. Because you're not going."

Liberty barked a laugh. "How do you think you can stop me?"

"You forget, I'm stronger than you. If I have to, I'll handcuff you to me."

She ran her hands through her hair and shook her head. "I need to get Hannah home. We'll talk about this later."

He grabbed her upper arms and captured her eyes with his silver gaze. "Don't do anything stupid. Don't do anything without talking to me."

Liberty twisted free and drew in a stuttered breath. "Fine."

"Promise?"

"I said fine!" She stalked out of the kitchen. She couldn't make any promises. If she could help Hannah's grandparents, she would. Yes, it was risky, but what good was she as a hunter if she couldn't save people she cared about?