Well, happy December everyone. I was going to take some time to calm down and quiet my mind after a successful National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, but I went right into holiday mode instead. I have a massive to-do list. Just like writing a book, I’m trying to wrangle my shopping list, baking list, and wrapping list one item at a time.

Writing a novel is a huge accomplishment, one a lot of people would like to do, and it isn't that difficult. Having done this now three times, I can proudly share that like almost anything else it is easier if tackled with consistent small steps. It comes down to small decisions every day, such as whether or not to sit down and watch Netflix, letting another episode roll right on by, or in my case whether or not to pick up a book and read.

Now, I should point out that this weekend felt like a rebirth of sorts. NaNoWriMo does have a tendency to take over. After all there are still only twenty-four hours a day. I made dinner for the first time in a week, baked bread, decorated the house, went Christmas shopping, made a list of to-dos, and in essence just caught up on my home life. I still have plenty to do, and just like writing, plan to tackle it in one small act at a time.

The biggest thing on my to-do list is to edit Firemark. About a year ago, I made entering The Golden Heart a goal of mine. The Golden Heart contest's purpose is as follows:

The purpose of RWA’s Golden Heart contest is to promote excellence in the romance genre by recognizing outstanding manuscripts written by members who have not published a Novel or Novella.

I hadn't even finished the book back then. I only had about twelve thousand words into it, which I had written in last year's NaNoWriMo. I made a plan, wrote in April and July, finishing it in August, clocking in at about 1,700 words a day. During that time, I also launched this blog and website to help build my platform in preparation for publishing this story. After that, I entered Firemark into a barrage of contests to get feedback from a variety of romance authors. I still haven't received feedback from all of them, but some of them gave me great ideas and insight, and I even made finalist in some that I'm still waiting to hear back from with the results. While researching the Golden Heart I stumbled on a lottery, that I ended up winning. I now have track changes on the first fifty-five pages of my manuscript from another author who won in my category. Over the next month, I will edit my sample to submit for the last ever Golden Heart awards.

The deadline is January 11th, 2019.

Onward one baby step at at time.

Kathryn