Some Kind of Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ☺️🎉

I hope that 2025 is an awesome year for all of us.

For me, January usually feels like a clean slate, but this year I'm carrying forward a project.

In the past, by the time December hits, I'm mentally exhausted and stop working on new stuff. But this past December, I started writing a new novel even though I knew there was no way I'd get it finished by December 31st. 😅

Either way, I'm still going to add a list of personal plans and goals right here. I don't like to make New Year resolutions because I never stick to them. But I do put together a goals list because it's a lot easier to accomplish.

So, here are my 2025 Goals:

• Continue to go for long daily walks
• Try to get back into (at least one weekly) yoga workout
• Finish writing my current first draft WIP 
• Celebrate the release of my first short story collection: MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS 
• Write between 100-200k words
• Read 52 books
• Revise/finalise the two vampire first drafts
• Work on edits when they hit my Inbox
• Write a novel (or two)
• Write a novella (or two)
• Write a few short stories
• Keep playing Animal Crossing daily
• Get into other cozy, cute puzzle games

Well, that's it! ☺️

Are you making a list this year?

Books Read in 2024

THE LOVER:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

THE TIGER CAME TO THE MOUNTAINS:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

HER HEART BEATS FOR ANCIENT BEASTS:

Calvin Demmer

OPEN HOUSE:

Nico Bell

BLACK VAULT:

Alma Katsu

MANDY:

Stephanie Sparks

THROUGH THE BLUR:

Yolanda Sfetsos

HELENA:

Claire L. Smith

TRUE CRIME:

Samantha Kolesnik

BLEEDING INTO NEW WORLDS:

Sarah Jane Huntington

PIRANESI (DNF):

Susanna Clarke

BARREN COVE:

Ariel S. Winter

THE CRANE HUSBAND:

Kelly Barnhill

IN EXCESS OF DARK:

Red Lagoe

WINGS OF SORROW:

Yolanda Sfetsos

GOBLIN MONDAY

(Goosebumps House of Shivers #2):

R.L. Stine

THE FIRST EVIL

(Fear Street Cheerleaders #1):

R.L. Stine

THE PROM QUEEN

(Fear Street #15):

R.L. Stine

BLUEBEARD'S CASTLE:

Anna Biller

CHOPPING SPREE:

Angela Sylvaine

BURY THE CHILD:

L.C. Marino

DAISY JONES & THE SIX:

Taylor Jenkins Reid

WOMAN, EATING:

Claire Kohda

THE IDEA OF YOU:

Robinne Lee

THE WICKED UNSEEN:

Gigi Griffis

MY ROOMMATE IS A VAMPIRE:

Jenna Levine

THE FIRST HORROR

(99 Fear Street: The House of Evil Trilogy #1):

R.L. Stine

SHORT SCARES

Two Sentence Horrors Anthology:

edited by Lauren Carter

YOU LIKE IT DARKER:

Stephen King

EARTHLINGS:

Sayaka Murata

NIGHTBITCH (DNF):

Rachel Yoder

COUNTDOWN TO OBLIVION:

Brian Bowyer

VERITY:

Colleen Hoover

A CERTAIN HUNGER (DNF):

Chelsea G. Summers

RED:

Daniel Lorn

INSOMNIA:

Sarah Pinborough

THREADS OF ASH: SOUTH

(The Frayed Kingdom #1):

S.H. Cooper

POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL (DNF):

(Disney Villains #3):

Serena Valentino

MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL

(Disney Villains #4):

Serena Valentino

BEAUTY & THE BEAST

(Usborne Peek Inside a Fairy Tale):

Anna Milbourne

LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD

(Usborne Peek Inside a Fairy Tale):

Anna Milbourne

SLEEPING BEAUTY

(Usborne Peek Inside a Fairy Tale):

Anna Milbourne

NUMB:

Yolanda Sfetsos

THE RACK

Stories Inspired by Vintage Horror Paperbacks:

edited by Tom Deady

ONLY DARKNESS:

Yolanda Sfetsos

BLACKOUT

Micropoetry:

Brian Bowyer

NANA:

Mark Towse

STATIC:

Stacey L. Pierson

LADY MACBETH:

Ava Reid

SWEETPEA:

C.J. Skuse

SOXORCIST II:

Jamie Kort

REALITY BUT MORE FUN:

Madeleine Swann

CASTLE OF THE CURSED:

Romina Garber

SALLY'S LAMENT:

Mari Mancusi l

DIAVOLA:

Jennifer Marie Thorne

NOW OR NEVER

(Stephanie Plum #31):

Janet Evanovich

TROG:

Zachary Ashford

MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS:

Yolanda Sfetsos

REAP, SOW:

S.H. Cooper

Books Read in 2024: 55/52

(DNF books: 4)

________________________

Number of series/duology/trilogy books read: 13

1. GOBLIN MONDAY (Goosebumps House of Shivers #2)
2. THE FIRST EVIL (Fear Street Cheerleaders #1)
3. THE PROM QUEEN (Fear Street #15)
4. THE FIRST HORROR (99 Fear Street: The House of Evil Trilogy #1)
5. THREADS OF ASH: SOUTH (The Frayed Kingdom #1)
6. POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL (Disney Villains #3)
7. MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL (Disney Villains #4)
8. BEAUTY & THE BEAST (Usborne Peek Inside a Fairy Tale):
9. LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD (Usborne Peek Inside a Fairy Tale)
10. SLEEPING BEAUTY (Usborne Peek Inside a Fairy Tale)
11. SWEETPEA (Sweetpea #1)
12. SOXORCIST II
13. NOW OR NEVER (Stephanie Plum #31)

My 2024 Reading Goal: 52 books

2024 Goals

Well, it's time to grab the goals list I put together/posted back in January, to see how I went.

This year turned out to be a very strange one. Lots of cool stuff happened, and some not-very cool stuff happened as well. Some shitty people revealed themselves and some disappointing crap went down, but I'm not going to concentrate on that mess because as a result, my first self-published book is now available and I'm SO PROUD of it. Yay! 🥳

Anyway, here's how this year turned out:

• Go for long daily walks: THIS IS SOMETHING I CONTINUED TO DO ALL YEAR. (FROM MONDAY TO FRIDAY, I WALK FOR ALMOST TWO HOURS. ON WEEKENDS WE GO FOR LONG SUBURBAN WALKS.)

• Really get back into yoga and schedule maybe two workouts a week: THIS WAS A TOTAL FAIL. WE SQUEEZED IN SEVERAL YOGA WORKOUTS, BUT THEY WERE SPORADIC. 😬

• Brainstorming a bunch of ideas: YES! I BRAINSTORMED 4 NEW IDEAS & I CAN'T WAIT TO WRITE THEM. (WELL, I ACTUALLY ALREADY WROTE ONE.)

• Celebrate the book/s coming out this year: I CELEBRATED THE RELEASE OF THREE NOVELS (ONLY DARKNESS, NUMB, THROUGH THE BLUR) + HAD A TWO-SENTENCE SHORTIE INCLUDED IN THE VERY COOL SHORT SCARES ANTHOLOGY.

• Write between 100-200k words: I WROTE 196,816 WORDS. 

• Read 52 books: I READ 59 (DNFd 4).

• Revise/finalise the first draft (unhinged women/girls novel) I wrote during November: I REVISED & FINALISED THIS BOOK BACK IN JANUARY.

• Work on edits as they hit my Inbox: I DID THIS AS WELL.

• Write a novel or two: BECAUSE I SPENT SO MUCH OF THIS YEAR EDITING & REVISING, I DIDN'T ACTUALLY WRITE ANYTHING NEW UNTIL NOVEMBER. THEN STARTED WRITING ANOTHER NOVEL THIS MONTH! 😳 YEP. (AND I WON'T BE FINISHING THIS ONE BY THE END OF THE YEAR.)

• Write a novella or two: I DIDN'T WRITE ANY NOVELLAS THIS YEAR.

• Write some new short stories: WHILE I DID START WRITING A FEW SHORT STORIES, I DIDN'T ACTUALLY FINISH ANY OF THEM. 😖

• Finally put together/finalise my first short story collection & find a place to sub it to: I DEFINITELY DID THIS! ACTUALLY, I COLLATED SO MANY STORIES THAT I PUT TOGETHER TWO SHORT STORY COLLECTIONS! I REWROTE/REVISED EVERY SINGLE STORY. THAT'S 34 SHORT STORIES! THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT MY DEBUT COLLECTION, MELANCHOLY DELUSIONS, WILL BE RELEASED BY CEMETERY GATES MEDIA ON JANUARY 28!

• Continue to submit stories: I DID THIS TOO! AND ASIDES FROM THE ABOVE ACCEPTANCE, I ALSO HAD TWO NOVEL ACCEPTANCES: THESE STAINED WALLS (Horrorsmith Publishing) + FALLEN DESTINY (Brigids Gate Press).

• Keep playing Animal Crossing and get into some other cozy, cute puzzle games (ie. Fae Farm): STILL PLAYING ANIMAL CROSSING: NEW HORIZONS. OF COURSE I AM. 😁 BUT I DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO START ANY NEW GAMES. 🫤

As I mentioned above, I had three novels published this year and one shortie included in an anthology:

ONLY DARKNESS is my first self-published book. NUMB and THROUGH THE BLUR were published by Anuci Press.

Another thing that I did this year was deactivate my Twitter account. Yep. After 15 years, I had no choice but to leave. I had enough of the right-wing bullshit, the pathetic non-stop ads, the AI crap, and the disgusting owner. And I haven't looked back.

Instead, you can find me on Bluesky. 😁

Oh, and another thing I've managed to do is to keep posting on my blog. Yes, right here!

That's it for now. Guess I should put together a 2025 list soon...

Some Kind of Goals

HAPPY NEW YEAR! ☺️🎉

The beginning of January always feels like a clean slate. A time to make personal plans and goals. A chance to get stuck into new things or continue doing the familiar, but with a new twist.

So, it's time for me to post my 2024 Goals.

I don't like to make New Year resolutions because I never stick to them. But I do put together a goals list because there are always things I want to accomplish.

This is everything I'd like to achieve/continue to do this year:

• Go for long daily walks
• Really get back into yoga and schedule maybe two workouts a week
• Brainstorming a bunch of ideas
• Celebrate the book/s coming out this year
• Write between 100-200k words
• Read 52 books
• Revise/finalise the first draft (unhinged women/girls novel) I wrote during November 
• Work on edits as they hit my Inbox
• Write a novel or two
• Write a novella or two
• Write some new short stories
• Finally put together/finalise my first short story collection & find a place to sub it to
• Continue to submit stories
• Keep playing Animal Crossing and get into some other cozy, cute puzzle games (ie. Fae Farm)

Well, these are my goals. ☺️

Are you making a list this year?

Books Read in 2023

IN AN ABSENT DREAM

(Wayward Children #4):

Seanan McGuire

JUICE LIKE WOUNDS

(Wayward Children #4.5):

Sean McGuire

THE TOLL HOUSE:

Carly Reagon

THE LITTLE WITCH:

M. Rickert

THE COLOUR OF EVIL:

Sarah Jane Huntington

BAD DOLLS:

Rachel Harrison

ALL THE LIVING AND THE DEAD:

Hayley Campbell

EMILY WILDE'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF FARIES: (DNF)

Heather Fawcett

WASPS IN THE ICE CREAM:

Tim McGregor

SAGA #61:

Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

SUFFER THE DARKNESS:

Yolanda Sfetsos

LOVE, PAMELA:

Pamela Anderson

THE GOONIES:

James Kahn

THIS IS WHERE WE TALK THINGS OUT:

Caitlin Marceau

DEAD EYES

(Rewind or Die #18):

E.V. Knight

ALONE WITH MYSELF:

Kev Harrison

THE GROWTH

(The Growth #1):

Adam Hulse

THE BLACK CABIN:

Wayne Fenlon

HEARTBURN:

Damien Casey

THE GROWTH LIVES!

(The Growth #2):

Adam Hulse

IT DOESN'T GO AWAY:

Wendy Dalrymple

WAIF: 

Samantha Kolesnik

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER:

Edgar Allan Poe

INHERITING HER GHOSTS:

S.H. Cooper

HOW TO SELL A HAUNTED HOUSE:

Grady Hendrix

BRAD, UNWOUND

(A Puppet Scorned Yarn):

Jamie Kort

LINGHUN:

Ai Jiang

SQUISHMALLOWS OFFICIAL COLLECTORS' GUIDE:

Squishmallows 

STAR WARS: PRINCESS LEIA:

Mark Waid & Terry Dodson

SAGA #62:

Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

SAGA #63:

Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

SQUAD:

Maggie Tokuda-Hall & Lisa Sterle

UNTAMED SHORE:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

THE LONGEST THIRST:

Roxie Voorhees

OUR OWN UNIQUE AFFLICTION:

Scott J. Moses

MOTHERTHING:

Ainslie Hogarth

SAGA #64:

Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples

SPELL ON WHEELS

(Spell on Wheels Volume 1):

Kate Leth, Megan Levens & Marissa Louise

THE GHOST IN YOU:

Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

HEX WIVES:

Ben Blacker, Mirka Andolfo & Marissa Louise

DC's HARLEY QUINN ROMANCES:

Alexis Quasarano, Max Sarin & Marissa Louise

WYTCHES

(Volume One):

Scott Snyder & Jock

SPELL ON WHEELS: Just to Get to You

(Spell on Wheels Volume 2):

Kate Leth, Megan Levens & Marissa Louise

IMMORTALITY: A Love Story

(The Anatomy Duology #2):

Dana Schwartz

SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH

(Sabrina, Volume 1):

Kelly Thompson, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish & Jack Morelli

SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH

Something Wicked

(Sabrina, Volume 2):

Kelly Thompson, Veronica Fish, Andy Fish & Jack Morelli

THIS ONE'S GONNA HURT:

Cody J. Thompson

WUTHERING HEIGHTS:

Emily Brontë

SUFFER THE DARKNESS:

Yolanda Sfetsos

EXPECTATIONS:

B.T. Hayes

HUNGERS AS OLD AS THIS LAND:

Zachary Rosenberg

28 DAYS SASSIER:

Damien Casey

BELOW ECONOMIC THRESHOLDS:

Adam Hulse

THE HIBISCUS AND THE GRAVE:

Wendy Dalrymple 

EERIELLA: SUPER-FIEND:

Sophie Ingley

THE DISMEMBERED:

Jonathan Janz

ALIVE UNDEAD:

Brian Bowyer

I AM AI:

Ai Jiang

SILVER NITRATE:

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

E.T. 

The Extra-Terrestrial:

Arie Kaplan & Chris Fennell

JAWS

Big Shark. Little Boat:

Geof Smith & Kaysi Smith

BACK TO THE FUTURE:

Arie Kaplan & Meg Dunn

D&D DUNGEON CLUB

ROLL CALL:

Molly Knox Ostertag 

REAL LIFE SUCKS LOSERS DRY:

Cassandra Daucus

SCARLETT:

Brian Bowyer

KINDRED:

Octavia E. Butler

MY FIRST BOOK OF GIRL POWER:

Julie Merberg 

BEAST OF BURDEN:

Yolanda Sfetsos

YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO DIE TONIGHT:

Kalynn Bayron

HIDE:

Kiersten White

FUNNYBONES:

Allan Ahlberg

TIM BURTON'S THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS COLOURING BOOK:

Disney

PARASOCIAL:

Wendy Dalrymple

PRE-APPROVED FOR HAUNTING AND OTHER STORIES:

Patrick Barb

THE FOLLY:

Gemma Armor

ANKLE SNATCHER

(Creature Feature collection:

Grady Hendrix 

SAGA # 65:

Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples

SAGA # 66:

Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples

THE PRAM

(Creature Feature collection:

Joe Hill

HOLLY:

Stephen King

MY HALLOWEEN ROMANCE:

Wendy Dalrymple 

THE SOXORCIST:

Jamie Kort

TAMPA:

Alissa Nutting

MAEVE FLY:

C.J. Leede

WHAT HIDES IN THE CUPBOARDS:

Cassondra Windwalker

WINGS OF SORROW:

Yolanda Sfetsos

DIRTY THIRTY:

Janet Evanovich

SCARIEST. BOOK. EVER:

(Goosebumps House of Shivers #1)

R.L. Stine

THE POWER OF CRYSTALS:

Hinkler Books

REGRESSION, Way Down Deep

Volume 1:

Cullen Bunn

REGRESSION, Disciples

Volume 2:

Cullen Bunn

REGRESSION, Sacrifice

Volume 3:

Cullen Bunn

LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND:

Rumaan Alam

TALES FROM THE CRYPT #2

Can You Fear Me Now?

Various

TALES FROM THE CRYPT #3

Zombielicious

Various 

TALES FROM THE CRYPT #4

Keeping It Real:

Various

TALES FROM THE CRYPT #5

Yabba Dabba Voodoo:

Various

SEINFELD

The Day of Nothing:

Micol Ostow & Brittany Baugus

GIRLS' NIGHT OUT:

Wendy Dalrymple

YOUR DARLING DEATH:

Lauren Carter

THE VISITOR:

Sergio Gomez

KOSA:

John Durgin

Books Read in 2023: 103/100

(DNF books: 1)

________________________

Number of series/duology/trilogy books read: 27

• IN AN ABSENT DREAM (Wayward Children #4)
• JUICE LIKE WOUNDS (Wayward Children #4.5)
• SAGA #61
• DEAD EYES (Rewind or Die #18)
• THE GROWTH (The Growth #1)
• THE GROWTH LIVES! (The Growth #2)
• BRAD, UNWOUND (A Puppet Scorned Yarn)
• SAGA #62
• SAGA #63
• SAGA #64
• SPELL ON WHEELS (Spell on Wheels Vol 1)
• SPELL ON WHEELS: Just to Get to You (Spell on Wheels Volume 2)
• IMMORTALITY: A Love Story (The Anatomy Duology #2)
• SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH (Sabrina, Volume 1)
• SABRINA THE TEENAGE WITCH: Something Wicked (Sabrina, Volume 2)
• ANKLE SNATCHER (Creature Feature collection)
• SAGA #65
• SAGA #66
• THE PRAM (Creature Feature collection)
• SCARIEST. BOOK. EVER (Goosebumps House of Shivers #1)
• REGRESSION, Way Down Deep (Volume 1)
• REGRESSION, Disciples (Volume 2)
• REGRESSION, Sacrifice (Volume 3)
• TALES FROM THE CRYPT: Can You Fear Me Now? (Volume 2)
• TALES FROM THE CRYPT: Zombielicious (Volume 3)
• TALES FROM THE CRYPT: Keeping It Real (Volume 4)
• TALES FROM THE CRYPT: Yabba Dabba Voodoo (Volume 5)

My 2023 Reading Plan

Some Kind of Goals

Welcome to my 2023 Goals post. 😁

I'm not a big fan of resolutions because they don't usually stick, but goals are a different story. I love putting together a goals list at the beginning of the year, and post them here.

These are the things I'd like to achieve/continue to do this year:

• Go for two daily walks
• Get back into yoga and schedule more workouts 
• Write between 100-200k words
• Read 100 books
• Revise/finalise my NaNoWriMo 2022 first draft
• Write a novel or two
• Write a novella or two
• Keep writing short stories & subbing
• Try not to self-reject & submit stories no matter how much of a longshot it is
• Take part in NaNoWriMo
• Continue playing Animal Crossing and get into some other cosy, cute puzzle games.

Well, there it is!

This is my list for 2023.

Are you making a list this year?
 

Reading 2023

 

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

A new year means a new Goodreads Reading Challenge:

So, this is when I say: I want to read 100 books this year. 😁

I also usually give myself mini-challenges, but this year I'm not going to do that. 

During 2023 I want to read any novel, short story, novella or novelette that catches my attention. I want to read hardbacks, paperbacks, and eBooks. Listen to audio books and get back into comic books. Adding some biographies/memoirs sounds like a great idea as well. I don't care if they're review books or books that I've had on my bookshelf for years.

Whatever, whenever.

I just want to have fun reading. And if a book doesn't work for me, I'll put it aside because there aren't enough hours in the day. 

Well, that's it!

You can keep up with my progress on My Reading Page or at Goodreads.

How many books do YOU plan to read this year? 

Here's to another year full of awesome reading!