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Kathleen McGurl

~ Where past and present collide…

Kathleen McGurl

Tag Archives: New Years Resolution

Welcome to 2021!

01 Friday Jan 2021

Posted by kathmcgurl in Uncategorized

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New Years Resolution

And good riddance to 2020. I think we are all hoping that this year will be a little better.

At this time of year I always write a blog post looking back on the year and setting out some aims for the year ahead. I considered not doing it this year, as no one really wants to look back on 2020 do they? But I think I’ll stick to my tradition. There have (for me) been a few good things in the year.

Last year, none of us could have foreseen what was ahead. I envisaged another year like 2019 for me – lots of travelling and writing, but slow progress on thinning down house contents ready to move. That’s reflected in last year’s resolutions. Here they are:

  • Complete the two novels written last year. Both are slated for publication in 2020. — Done, The Secret of the Chateau and The Forgotten Gift
  • Write first drafts of two more novels. — Wrote a full draft of one, and the starts of two others, so I guess I’m a little behind here.
  • Continue thinning down possessions, with a view to selling this house in 2021. — The pandemic and lockdowns helped us here – we completed the declutter, put the house on the market in July and moved on December 1st – ahead of schedule!
  • Continue enjoying life! — Not as easy as it had been the previous year. Of course all our travel plans were scuppered. But we had our sons living with us on and off all year, and managed lots of family walks and bike rides and board games. So not all bad.

Looking ahead, of course the one thing 2020 showed us is that life is never certain. It’s hard to plan in detail, when we don’t know how this pandemic will pan out. And Brexit means our travel plans are not as achievable as they were, now that I’m no longer an EU citizen (although my Irish husband still is). But here’s what I hope to do in 2021:

  • Complete writing two more novels
  • Pandemic allowing, spend a couple of months in France in late spring/early summer (a booking from 2020 that was postponed a year)
  • Finish sorting out the new house, including building a garden room which is to be my writing space
  • Make the most of every day, even when we’re restricted in what we can do. There are always possibilities.

Thanks to all my readers for your support, and I hope the year was kind to you. Best wishes for 2021.

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Happy New Year!

31 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by kathmcgurl in Writing

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New Years Resolution

I hope all my blog readers had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the best for 2020 – in fact, all the best for the new decade. I bet some of you still feel it’s only about two or three years since the Millennium. Where do the years go?

But then I look back on this last decade and realise how far I’ve come. Ten years ago I was working in IT, writing short stories, with little thought or hope of becoming a novelist. Now I am a full time novelist with eight novels published, two at varying stages of the editing process, contracted for another one after that and with a lovely long list of ideas for future books. Life’s been good, lately. I wrote a short Twitter thread reviewing the decade – you can read it here.

Untitled design (8)

At this time of year I always like to look back on last year’s resolutions and then make more. If I write them here I can easily find them again, also making them public means I’m more likely to stick to them!

Last year I resolved to:

  • Get The Stationmaster’s Daughter ready for publication Done – published August
  • Write two further novels (with no day job I ought to be able to!) Done – at least the first drafts
  • Work on thinning down the amount of stuff in the house, so that in a year or so we can downsize Done a bit of this but my word, why have we hoarded so much in the attic?
  • Go travelling in our motorhome Gertie for a couple of months Done – 10 weeks in the spring/summer and another 6 in the winter
  • Make the most of my time, and basically enjoy life! Oh definitely done, and ongoing!

 

And as for 2020, here’s my new resolutions:

  • Complete the two novels written last year. Both are slated for publication in 2020.
  • Write first drafts of two more novels.
  • Continue thinning down possessions, with a view to selling this house in 2021
  • Continue enjoying life!

 

In other news, in 2020 my three older dual timeline novels (The Emerald Comb, The Pearl Locket, and The Daughters of Red Hill Hall) will all be published in paperback at last. I’m delighted about this! They are all available for preorder on Amazon and will be published in the spring – Daughters comes out in February.

It shouldn’t be too long before I’m posting here about my next novel, which is also due out in spring, but for the moment I need to keep its title, cover and blurb under wraps. Just one tiny hint – it is set in France. Looking forward to finding out what everyone thinks of this one!

 

 

Happy New Year!

01 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by kathmcgurl in Goals

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

New Years Resolution, The Drowned Village

I should first say a belated happy Christmas. Sorry for the lack of a Christmas post – we had a family bereavement in December, a funeral in Ireland, and then were away on a skiing trip for Christmas week. All of which gets in the way of blogging.

But here we are, in 2019, at the start of what I hope will be a great year for everyone.

new year 2019

It’s certainly going to be a year of change for me, as I give up the day job in mid February and concentrate on my career as a novelist. I’m currently getting a novel ready to submit to my editor and beta readers – hope to send it next week. I have a stack of new ideas waiting to be worked on – never any shortage of ideas!

At this time of year I always like to look back on what I’ve achieved in the previous year and make some goals for the coming year. Here are last year’s goals which were essentially to complete The Forgotten Secret (done! Coming out on 1st March!); complete a draft of another novel (done! The Stationmaster’s Daughter is the one I’m about to submit to my editor); lose a few kilos and get a bit fitter (done, but put them on again and lost the fitness, isn’t that always the way?); and begin reducing the amount of junk in the house (made a start but didn’t get far).

And my goals for this year:

  • Get The Stationmaster’s Daughter ready for publication
  • Write two further novels (with no day job I ought to be able to!)
  • Work on thinning down the amount of stuff in the house, so that in a year or so we can downsize
  • Go travelling in our motorhome Gertie for a couple of months
  • Make the most of my time, and basically enjoy life!

Finally – The Drowned Village is now on a Kindle promotion in the UK, selling at just 99p. Grab yourselves a bargain – the perfect antidote to a New Year hangover!

preorder promo

So, happy New Year to everyone, thanks for all the support in 2018 and may 2019 be a year of happiness and prosperity for you all. Cheers!

 

 

Welcome to 2018!

01 Monday Jan 2018

Posted by kathmcgurl in Goals

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New Years Resolution

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.

fireworks-2223570_1280

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…

Happy New Year!

31 Saturday Dec 2016

Posted by kathmcgurl in Goals

≈ 14 Comments

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New Years Resolution

So here it is – another year over, a new one about to begin. 2016 was an odd year, wasn’t it? Referendums and US elections yielding unexpected and (to me) unwelcome results; the worrying rise in popularity of the  far right; all those celebrity deaths; the ongoing tragedies in Syria.

I don’t do politics on this blog – there’s enough of it elsewhere. Instead it’s time for my annual goal-setting exercise. I looked back at last year’s new year blog post to see what I’d targeted myself with in 2016 and found this:

So what am I planning to achieve in 2016? Actually for once I don’t have as many definite goals. It’s more a case of keep on keeping on. I want to maintain fitness and try to keep weight off. I want to keep writing the dual timeline novels I love writing, and which people seem to like reading. I will definitely write another complete novel in the year, and as that will be the second contract completed I’ll then need to work on getting another one.

Keep on keeping on. Easy enough, for once! Maintain fitness – yes, kind of. Keep weight off – hmm, crept up a little over the year. Keep writing – yes, definitely done that. I completed a novel which is currently awaiting publication, and I did manage to secure a new contract for three more books, one of which I’m a third through writing.

2017 is going to be a rather different year for me. The company I work for in my day job (John Lewis) give employees six months paid leave when you have completed 25 years service. I qualified a while ago but we’d always known we would wait until both sons had left home for university before taking the leave, and 2017 is the year we ear-marked. My husband’s retired so no issues with him having time off.

Back in February 2016 we bought a  motorhome and our plan is to travel through France, Italy, around the Adriatic, back through the Alps and across to Spain, starting in April and coming home in early October. I’ll be blogging about it – for anyone who wants to follow our travels! While we’re away travelling I do intend writing each day. I have to – to meet the deadlines of my new contract – but I also can’t imagine not writing for that long. It’s too much part of my life now.

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

Finally, let me wish you all a very happy and prosperous New Year, and I hope 2017 is better for the world than 2016 was. Have a great evening, whether you’re out partying or curling up alone with a good book, and here’s to 2017!

fireworks
(free fireworks image from here)

 

Happy New Year!

01 Friday Jan 2016

Posted by kathmcgurl in Goals

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

New Years Resolution

Happy New Year to all my blog readers! Hope you all had a great night out and I wish you all the best for 2016!

new-year-glitter-champagne-animated-gif.gif

For several years now I’ve put my New Year resolutions on a blog. Makes it easy to review them periodically and see how well I’m doing. Also, making them public means people are more likely to ask how I’m getting on with them, and that provides some wonderful encouragement.

First, here’s a review of last year’s resolutions:

  • Complete the editing of The Pearl Locket – Done, and it was published in February
  • Write synopses and plans for three further novels and see if I can get another book deal – Done, and I got another 2-book deal from Carina!
  • Produce paperback versions of Mr Cavell’s Diamond and Give Up Ironing – Not done. If ever my Carina books come out in print I’ll do a paperback version of Mr Cavell’s Diamond.
  • Write another complete novel – Done, and submitted just before Christmas, to be published in April.
  • Do the pier to pier swim again. Not sure about a half marathon – knees are getting dodgy. But definitely need to increase fitness and lose a few kilos. Let’s say 4kg. – Hmm, is all I’ll say to this one.

2015 was not an easy year. My mum died in June, so the first half of the year was all about hospital visiting, and the second half was all about dismantling her life – obtaining probate, clearing her flat etc. It was a struggle to keep going with all my targets for the year during all this, but I managed most of them.

So what am I planning to achieve in 2016? Actually for once I don’t have as many definite goals. It’s more a case of keep on keeping on. I want to maintain fitness and try to keep weight off. I want to keep writing the dual timeline novels I love writing, and which people seem to like reading. I will definitely write another complete novel in the year, and as that will be the second contract completed I’ll then need to work on getting another one.

2014 round-up, and 2015 resolutions

31 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by kathmcgurl in Goals

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New Years Resolution

It’s that time of year again! Time to look back at 2014’s resolutions, see how I fared, and set some new ones for 2015.  Here’s the link to last year’s post, and here are the resolutions I set together with the results:

  • Lose 6kg weight — Let’s not discuss this one, shall we?
  • Take part in the Bournemouth half-marathon in October — I signed up, but owing to too many other pressures I wasn’t able to train enough and had to drop out
  • Take part in the Bournemouth pier-to-pier swim in the summer — Yay, did this, loved it, got the medal! 
  • Complete next novel, edit and submit by end of the year — completed a draft, currently editing in line with editor’s suggestions
  • Combine my two How To Write books into one print version, with some added material, and publish through CreateSpace — decided to keep them separate but I did publish as paperbacks and they’ve sold nicely
  • Persuade him indoors to do up the living room — amazingly, 3 years after this started appearing on my resolutions list, we did actually complete it, with the help of lovely son while he was home from uni in the summer.

I achieved more than the above list suggests. I submitted a novel to a publisher and got a two book deal – The Emerald Comb was published in September and has lots of lovely reviews now. I also published a historical novella, Mr Cavell’s Diamond, and wrote a time management book for writers, as well as working on that second novel.

There were some rough points in the year – my husband’s cycling accident in the summer tested my nursing skills, and on Boxing Day my lovely cat Sal had to be put to sleep while we were away on holiday.

But in terms of writing, it was a great year. In fact, the best yet. I’m a contracted novelist, with 6 books to my name on Amazon and that feels very, very good.

So, what’s next for 2015?

  • Complete the editing of The Pearl Locket
  • Write synopses and plans for three further novels and see if I can get another book deal
  • Produce paperback versions of Mr Cavell’s Diamond and Give Up Ironing
  • Write another complete novel
  • Do the pier to pier swim again. Not sure about a half marathon – knees are getting dodgy. But definitely need to increase fitness and lose a few kilos. Let’s say 4kg.

If you’re wondering how on earth I’ll find the time for all the writing jobs, then you need to read (shameless plug coming up, sorry) my latest book, Give Up Ironing – a Writer’s Guide to Time Management. It is due for release on 1st January, and I hope will inspire you to write more books or stories!

I hope you all had a productive 2014 and a merry Christmas. I wish all my blog readers a very happy and productive New Year. May you achieve all your goals and be happy in the process!

Give Up Ironing!

08 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by kathmcgurl in Books

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

books, good news, New Years Resolution, time management

I was in the shower, a couple of months ago, and was mulling over how come every time I used a tweet about how writers should give up ironing to make time to write (to promote my book Short Stories and How to Write Them) the tweets would get retweeted more than any other. Maybe, I thought, as I shampooed my hair, I should write an entire book called Give Up Ironing, as the idea clearly resonated with many writers.

By the time I came out of the shower the book was fully formed in my head. All I had to do was sit down and write it. Which I did, during October and early November.

This is the result:

Cover small
It’s quite a short book, at just 15,000 words, but then busy writers don’t want to have to spend too long reading self-help books, do they?

It’s full of advice on how to free up more time to write, make the best use of the time you have, and also approach your writing with the right mental attitude to help you get a lot done.

Many facebook friends responded to a plea for time management hints and tips, and I’ve included a lot of those in the book.

It’s currently available for pre-order from Amazon at a price of £1.53 (links below). It will be released on January 1st, just in time to help with your writerly New Year Resolutions!

Buy from Amazon.co.uk

Buy from Amazon.com

New Year Resolutions

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by kathmcgurl in Goals

≈ 30 Comments

Tags

New Years Resolution

I’m a great believer in writing down and making public your new year resolutions. That way, everyone will keep asking you how you’re getting on with them, and reminding you what you wanted to achieve. It helps spur you on.

Last year I posted my resolutions over on the womagwriter blog but now that I have this shiny new personal blog I think they fit better here.

So, how did I do with last year’s resolutions, and what am I aiming for this year?

Last year I resolved to:

  • keep the 8kg of weight I’d lost, off. Hmm. Sadly I put 6kg of it back on.
  • build up my running to half-marathon distance, keep up zumba, try open-water swimming. Nearly. Built up running to 10 miles (though usually I only do 8 miles). Did zumba through most of the year. Did some open-water swimming training sessions in the summer.
  • complete novel, edit it, send to agents. Yep, did all that. No luck yet with agents but I’m still trying.
  • do up the living room. Move along please. Nothing to see here.

And this year’s targets:

  • Get that 6kg weight off again
  • Take part in the Bournemouth half-marathon in October
  • Take part in the Bournemouth pier-to-pier swim in the summer
  • Complete next novel, edit and submit by end of the year
  • Combine my two How To Write books into one print version, with some added material, and publish through CreateSpace
  • Persuade him indoors to do up the living room

As always, I’ve tried to make my goals SMART – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-boxed. What about you? Do you make resolutions, and more importantly, do you stick to them?

And finally, may I wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2014!

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