Winter Challenge Winner; Fiction Goals
11 comments
We have a winner! Special thanks to all who participated in the 2013 Spec Faith 2013 End-of-the-Year Writing Challenge–those who entered, who voted in either or both first rounds, who gave feedback to the writers, and who were part of choosing our winner. As you can see in the poll results, our winner is Mirtika! Congratulations!
With the year drawing to a close, I thought it might be interesting if our Spec Faith family takes a moment to share writing and reading goals for 2014. I’ll go first.
For my reading, I plan to participate in the Christian Science Fiction and Fantasy Blog Tour again this year, so that means 10 to 12 newly published books which I’ll read and review. We’re starting with Outburst by Jill Williamson. We’ve also slotted One Realm Beyond by Donita Paul for February, A Draw of Kings by Patrick Carr for March, Shadow Hand by Anne Elisabeth Stengl for April, and Cloak of the Light: Wars of the Realm, Book 1 by Chuck Black for May.
For my own writing, I have three non-fiction ebooks I’m aiming to complete, the first scheduled to come out in early January. But this is about fiction. I’m still working on the prequel to the four-book series I wrote called The Lore of Efrathah. The working title for the new book is LIARS AND THIEVES.
So how about you? What books have you heard about that you just have to read or, at least, you hope to read? What writing projects would you like to complete?
Of course, there’s also TV and movies. Any TV shows you’re anticipating? (Besides Downtown Abbey, January 5 . . . but who’s looking forward to that one. 😉 And besides, it isn’t speculative, so it doesn’t count.) How about movies you’ve heard about that are scheduled for 2014?
I posted my goals on my blog a few days ago. Among them, I plan 6-7 published books for 2014 (we’ll see if I get them all in). Among those are two non-fiction books and a compilation of my poetry. That and writing weekly for three blogs, should keep me fairly busy and out of mischief. Full details at my blog:
http://blog.rlcopple.com/?p=1045
Congratulations to Mirtika!
Aww, I guess my entry fell to the bottom at the end (I think it was one of the leaders in thumbs-ups before that feature started having issues…that was fun!). Well, it was an honor to make it to the finals, because all my competition was really good! 🙂
Fiction goals for this year…well, my main goal is to just have fun and enjoy fiction, both reading and writing. My third baby is due in February (and I have two under 3 already…busy!) so I’m holding writing goals *really* loosely this year, and I don’t typically make big goals anyway. But I’d also love to finish the current draft of my main WIP and start submitting again, this time to literary agents – it would be even more fantastic to have it picked up by an agent! We’ll see. 🙂
I didn’t vote in the final (just seemed weird to do that since mine was one of the contenders) but if I had I would have voted for yours so add one vote to your count! Would still love to see more of the story if you have the inclination.
This was so fun, Becky, thanks for hosting these writing challenges here.
Congrats, Mirtika! I totally enjoyed your entry!
Kessie, so fun to see us “neck and neck” on this last vote. Really enjoyed yours, too.
As for 2014 goals… I have a bunch of books on my Kindle that I need to read:
Iscariot by Tosca Lee, Distressed by Rebecca Qualls, various stuff by Mike Duran, Alan Loewen, Terri Main, Morgan L. Busse, S.D. Grimm, R. L. Copple, and more. No more books from the library until I read the ones on my Kindle!
Writing goals: Finish writing the first major arcs in my story and determine size and format of the episodes to release as a serial. Review/edit rough draft and pass to alpha readers. Publish the first few releases in the series by June, if possible.
Also, would like to get some other web publishing projects rolling: christiancomputerwallpaper.com, writerzwrite.com, christianspecfic.com, inspiringnaturalbeauty.com, and others.
So much to do, better get on the ball…
I hope to get my hands dirty in editing this next year. No cliche or bland stereotype or stilted dialog will go unchallenged on my turf. I don’t know if anything will happen with my own writing, but I hope to make some kind of progress. Actually finishing a novel would be great, even if it was blah and never saw the light of day.
Congratulations, Mirtika! Well deserved.
My main goal right now is to finish Book Two of my fantasy series, The Prophet’s Chronicle. My deadline is March 1. Book One is in production but I don’t have a release date yet.
Last year for the Goodreads challenge I set a 2013 goal of 24 books and read 30, though some of them were pretty short e-books. For next year, I’d like to read more in my genre. Most of what I read this year was nonfiction.
Well done everybody! And thanks, Rebecca for hosting this challenge. Judging between the entries was difficult and I hope each one of the finalists is developed into a full blown story.
Writing goals? I would love to share my story with readers. At the moment 3 people are giving me deep, meaningful feedback and changes are being made according to their recommendations. I continue to research the possibilities in publishing. Praise God for the brave creativity that is developing in this industry! May 2014 be a year of great literary triumph for us all.
Grats Mirtika, and also to all the other entries. They all were well done.
I’ll be keeping an eye out for any new Christian specfic books. I had to clean my slate of a lot of books that I didn’t want to read, and am starting the new year fresh. I’ll also be reading in my genre as well.
I don’t usually talk about my writing here, but I’m pledging to get back to my main focus and get several chapter/series books out. Probably self-pubbed.
Congratulations on your book, Becky! What’s it called? What’s it about?
What I am anticipating most, in my reading this year, is finishing the Wingfeather Saga. The Warden and the Wolf King is supposed to come out in April, and I’m excited.
I have two reading goals right now. One, to slip in some novels between those I read for review. I enjoy nearly everything I review, but I’d like to get to other books, too: Veiled Rose, Spark, Greetings From the Flipside …
I am also hoping to read nonfiction pretty much nonstop. Right now I’m reading 10 pages of a church history book a day, alongside a couple chapters of Outcasts. A pace like that will get me through nonfiction books slowly – but it will get me through.
As for my writing, I want to get deep into my new Mars novel. I’m not optimistic enough to think I’ll finish it this year – but even getting close would be terrific. I would also like to at least begin to accumulate notes on a fantasy novel and a humorous spy novel, but I have no idea if I’ll make it.
If I keep it in mind as a goal, though, I’m more likely to do it. Gee, maybe I should write all this down …
I only just noticed!!! THANKS to all who voted, commented, thumbed-up, etc. And thank you, gracious hostess. I wish everyone a fruitful and creative 2014. Let’s all shine for Him and learn lots of new things and discover wonderful worlds in our minds.
Again, thanks.
I searched for Mirtika’s winning entry, but I can’t find it.
I know this is probably not the place to ask this type of question, but I couldn’t find that, either.
What I have seen here is challenging.
WriteInTheHead