Happy New Year to all my blog readers and visitors! Hope you enjoyed whatever it was you did to welcome in the new year. We had a quiet night in with a bottle of wine and the Game of Thrones season 7 box set – just what we needed after a busy fortnight over Christmas.

At this time of year I always like to look back at last year’s resolutions, see how well I did, and make some more for the coming year. Posting them publicly means I am committed to achieving them!

Here’s what I wrote last year:

So, my 2017 goals are:

• To make the most of the six months travelling
• To come home part way through the trip so we can make it to our son’s graduation!
• To complete the book I am currently working on
• To be about 2/3 through the next book by the end of the year

How did I do?

Well I think we definitely made the most of the six months travelling in our motorhome. We left the UK 3 days after I stopped work and returned 3 days before I was due back at the day job. And yes we made it to our son’s graduation in July!

I completed the book I was writing – it will be published in August 2018.

I’m not quite 2/3 through the next one – that would be 60,000 words in and I have only written 50,000. But near enough for a tick, I think.

 

Time to think about what I would like to achieve in 2018.

Writing – complete a draft of the current novel and complete a draft of another one after that. It’s possible they’ll be published the other way round… who knows! Either way by the end of the year I’d like a completed book ready for publication in 2019.

Fitness and weight – I’ve let both go a bit lately. So I need to lose a few kilos and work on increasing my fitness level. We have a ski trip booked at the end of January and a Lake District walking trip at Easter so I’d best get going quickly with these! Actually I already restarted running in December having not run since March, so I’m already on the way.

I also want to make a start on sorting out some of the accumulated junk in this house. So I’ll make another resolutions to begin chipping away at it, probably beginning with the loft. Although maybe starting with the worst bit is not so very wise…