Tag Archive | goals

Won Honorable Mention!

Jul3

Topaz Labs had a contest I entered. I figured I wouldn’t win because there are so many incredible photographers out there, but I had Topaz Adjust https://topazlabs.com/adjust-ai/ and I really hadn’t had time to use it yet. So I played around with some photos that I’d taken in Minnesota, entering the four different categories just for the fun of it. Because I LOVE photography, and I LOVE creating new things. No cost to me, though I was on book deadline, bad me, but then I got word yesterday that I made Honorable Mention! Eighty dollars credit for more of their products, and I’m thrilled!

It reminded me of writing a book. If you don’t write it, you can’t publish it. Once you write it, you have to publish, hoping readers will love it. But you’ll never know if you’ll “win” unless you take the chance.

Have you ever waffled about taking a chance like that? If it costs nothing, go for it. If it doesn’t win, try, try again. Or do something else that you can succeed at!

All right, I’m off to write. (Though I had to sneak some pictures of a monarch butterfly that was trying to warm up and dry out, so perfect time for some really closeup shots this morning.) Baby went to daycare today because the daycare is closed tomorrow, and her parents lose a day of babysitting care. And that means Grandma has a break and maybe can catch up on the writing. At least more than she would have had she been taking care of granddaughter today.

Yep, the edits for the last book (not the photo contest), put me behind. Again. I’m at 8,000, should be 12,000. So if I get at least 2,000, I’ll be doing better.

Have a beautiful day!!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
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Trying to Catch Up

May21
Wolf picture I took at the International Wolf Center, Ely, MN

Usually when I’m so far behind on writing goals, I throw out my goals and start over. Not this time. I need to catch up. So I’m back to whittling down the discrepancy. It’s a push, but it’s what I need.

I’m down to 23,000 behind, from 26,000 words on Sunday. So that’s progress. But I have to go to my daughter’s place on Saturday to help her and friends celebrate my SIL’s birthday. *sigh*

Okay, baby’s not here today, so I’m trying to get my word count! I’m hoping to reach 50,000 words today. I was supposed to be at 72,000. See how this sneaks up on you?

Have fun, will you??? I’ll be in my bear cave writing.

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
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Trying to Focus on Goals Again

Mar10

I know I”m sick when I don’t blog, don’t take pictures, don’t pull up weeds, can’t remember if I’ve fed the dogs or not…Writing and other deadline goals? Are you kidding me? Now I have no voice, lost 4 lbs (which is a good thing, now if I could keep it off), fevers have subsided but woke up in a sweat this morning. And I’m coughing ALL NIGHT long. I need to sleep. I think there was one 3-hour stretch where I actually slept straight through before I started coughing again. I cough all day too. I’ll be so glad when I’m feeling better.

I had taken these pictures before I got sick when we had a couple of days hard freeze, but guess what? I’d done everything I could to weatherproof stuff and totally forgot about turning off the water fountain. Thankfully, it’s running fine and it’s been warm ever since. The birds, squirrels, and yes, my dogs, drink from it, so it’s important they have the water to drink from.

Despite being so under the weather, I finally made up the bear for the order on Friday, embroidered the paws last night, struggling to stay awake until they were done, and got some more of my tax stuff together Friday night and spent all day yesterday finding all the stuff, doing the excel sheets, to turn in to the CPA. I used to do my taxes on my own, but I couldn’t keep up with tax laws and I was paying more than I should have. So it was well worth having a CPA do them. I still need to make a sash and bonnet for the bear–it’s a bigger bear, so I’ll have to create a new pattern for it, and turn in my paperwork to the CPA hopefully on Monday.

To top it all off, my editor wanted me to look at her suggestions for a change on the novella. I really couldn’t think when she sent it to me Friday, I think, and told her I’d try to get it back to her this weekend. So today, I want to get that done and the bear done, and them Monday, hopefully I’ll be back on track for Wolff Brother. I told you being sick really doesn’t work with my schedule!

But with no more fevers, I’m hoping I’m on the road to recovery! If I can get some uninterrupted sleep. And I feel great about the taxes and finishing the bear hopefully today too. I’ve been totally stressed over all of it, knowing that time is drawing short for everything. I have to turn in Wolff Brothers in just 20 days . I’m nearly at word count, but need to do a lot more work on it.

I’m off to check out the novella and hope you are having a sick-less day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

Colder Inside than Outside

Feb23

That means your house has good insulation, right? I was shocked to go outside and find it was 71 degrees out first thing. It is winter! Strong wind blowing, felt great, walked back inside and it feels like I have the air conditioner on. I don’t, but it felt like it. The temperature will drop again, but it’s just such a shock to be this warm, this early in the morning! In winter! My flowers think spring has sprung. I’m afraid we’re going to get a shock and end up in the Ice Age one of these mornings. Flagstaff, Arizona had the first major snowstorm, 36 inches of snow, they’ve had in 104 years, so, no telling!

I’m 2,000 words ahead on Wolff Brother and I hope to keep up the pace if I can. The more ahead I get, the less behind I get when I have to do more edits on other books that need final proofing and whatnot. And then I can start on the next deadline book.

African daisy and coreopsis in bloom!

So my friend tells me that her weather app shows it’s going to rain. Mine shows fog. I took the dogs out and got drenched. Her app was right.

Have a super lovely day. I’m writing while I’m drying out. So much for weather reports!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

Done! And Getting There!

Feb21

Something is chasing her! Daddy. Wait, I found a leaf. Playing chase was halted for a moment. Such is the life of a toddler.

I could say that somehow through a miracle I managed to not only take care of my granddaughter, AND finish up the SEAL Wolf Team to the Rescue novella and turned it in last night to beat the March 1st deadline, DONE!!! AND whittled down being 14,000 words behind on Wolff Brother (working title), to being 3,000 words behind to a miracle, but really, it was work, and Keira’s 3 hour-long naps, and giving her little candy boxes from a gift basket I received at Christmas (empty candy boxes) that she played with for hours, opening and closing the little flaps, sticking a rubber star into the one, pulling it out, sticking it in–all engineering feats, I’m sure, and having some ideas that came to me that allowed me to go forward!

Fun work and I’m feeling great about the progress! Okay, so I’ve had requests for writing sequel books for: The Magic of Inherian–the third book in the trilogy, Emerald Isle of Mists, and the second book in Ghostly Liaisons. Both were started and I looked and I still have them. Sometimes I’ve had major computer crashes and I have lost a couple of stories. I also have the 2 sequels to Kiss of the Vampire (YA) started. And I was asked where Bound for Trouble, the sequel to Bound by Danger, was??? It”s also written, but needs major revisions. I work on it periodically when I’m not in a deadline panic. And usually when I’m trying to come up with an idea on a new deadline book. It helps me to be doing SOMETHING writing-wise, makes me feel like I’m accomplishing something.

My daughter asked me the other day how many books I have published. Around 70. How many books have I written that I haven’t published yet? Needing major revisions, around 20. How many started books? Around 15. So what am I doing about it???

Laughing. It took me a year to finally finish writing Claiming the White Bear and it took me 8 years to write the sequel to Shadow Elf, Darkland Elf. I think it was 3 years to write Demon Hunter, which is the third demon YA story. It’s not that I don’t want to write the other books, but I have a ton of HAVE TO books to write each year. And it seems the number keeps going up. The others WILL get done. Eventually.

Speaking of which, I’m off to write! Have a fun-filled, productively fun day!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear


Thought I was Getting Ahead of the Game

Feb1

But it was all an illusion. Have you ever thought that and then new deadlines are looming and you’re like…well, shoot, now you’re even behinder (author made-up word that should be a real word) than before.

I managed to write my word count for yesterday, 2,000 words, catch up the 1,000 I was behind, and write an additional 1,500 to put me ahead of the game on the Wolff Bros, due April 1st, because I need to start writing on the new novella, due March 1st. BUT, I ended up with SEAL Wolf Surrender to proofread last night, due in two weeks. So yes, I was getting a little ahead, and now….behinder.

That means I’m off to work! Hope you have a deadline-less day. Hope I get an inspirational idea for the novella, SEAL Wolf Team to the Rescue. I keep thinking of where I want this to go, but it doesn’t work with my hero and heroine having a romance. So, still searching for a good idea.

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear

It’s Done!!

Jan8

Fall colors and waterfalls. See? We do get some fall colors in Texas!

I finished proofreading Claiming the White Bear! Woohoo! I sent it early this morning to my sleeping beta readers. Now I have a million things to do: write up several promo blogs for You Had Me at Jaguar, finish the white teddy bear, work on the cover for Claiming the White Bear some more, properly format the book, purchase an ISBN, copyright it…and start working on the next book. I don’t think I’ll have time for it today. I’m not sure I’ll have time for all this today. But I’m off and running…after I have my 2nd cup of hot lavender tea. Though the puppies are sitting at my feet waiting for me to feed them. I might have to do that first.

Wait. I’m the alpha. My tea comes first.

Hope you do what needs to be done today, and have lots of fun and free time just to goof off too!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”
Connect with Terry Spear:
Website: http://www.terryspear.com
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear
Wilde & Woolly Bears: http://www.celticbears.com
Newsletter Sign Up: http://eepurl.com/u63qP

Follow Me for new releases and book deals: www.bookbub.com/authors/terry-spear


I Planned to do What???

Aug7

Write!

But other things are filling up my day, so I’m still going to write, but I still have to do all these other things!

Wolves howl

Not these things, though I have to take a break, right? The one of the cougar I took as he was walking toward me at the Cameron Park Zoo. I was glad there was glass between us. 🙂

I have to take Tanner in for shots, *sad face*, and after I drop Tanner off at home, I need to ship off books, book marks, some for men and women in uniform Overseas, and a bear for a literacy fundraiser.

Storm clouds are building. It’s mucho hot out already at 7:30 a.m.

When I get home for a second time, I have an interview with a representative of Monmouth University where I earned my MBA.

And then? I HAVE to write. I’m a 1,000 words behind from working on proofing Falcon Fae, so need 3,000 today.

Then my daughter said her friend has a newborn and asked if  I’d take newborn photos. At my house. That meant I had to stop writing last night and clean house. It’s not that bad, but I get behind on dusting and vacuuming.

Soooo, picture taking is later this afternoon.

When I made up my word count goal, I had nothing planned at all. 🙂

But, I’m determined to do it all.

Tomorrow, I take care of baby…so I’ve given myself two days off a week from word count goal–the two days I have her. Then it’s photo days, or teaching and playing days. Cuddling days. I still plan to write some after her momma picks her up though.

So I’m off to finish getting ready to take Tanner in to the vet. It’s already been a whirlwind morning, and now, it just continues–only I’m going to be running out in stormy weather. Hmmm, I might have to ship all that stuff on another day.

It’s pouring! Thundering like crazy.  We needed rain, but….

Have a wonderful day!!!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://www.terryspear.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear

Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears

Fog of the Brain

Mar24

fog, 900 026

Do you ever have so many projects to do, you don’t know where to begin?

Hopefully, I’ll begin them right and all will be done as planned.

I’m aiming to get the first 10,000 on Bounty Hunter Gets Her Wolf–which means 2,000 words today.

Plant 4 mini boxwood shrubs. I planted all the flowers last night until it got too dark to see what I was doing. 🙂 It’s supposed to rain today, so I’ll have to figure out where to put them sometime today.

Do edits my first beta reader sent to me and then turn this over to my second beta reader. Book is due April 1st, so running out of time.

AND, proof Exchanging Grooms for print. I really, really need to get all my ebooks into print. It’s already in audiobook too! So it needs to be in print. I spent a good part of yesterday formatting it and creating the cover.

Okay, that’s it!!! So as long as I do first things first–edits to Flight of the White Wolf, I’ll be all set to go onto the next assignment. No time for fog brain.

Have a great clear brain day and live up to your potential. You can do it!

Terry

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://www.terryspear.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear

Wilde & Woolly Bears http://www.celticbears.com

 

May the Force be with You

Dec28

blaine-darth-vader-sometimes-the-force-is-with-you-900My son as Darth Vader and one of his AF friends, while her fiancee took the picture. I added the cool room and special effects. 🙂

Okay, so next up is New Year’s. Have you set goals?

Looks like I’ll be finishing Loving the White Bear, writing three new books for Sourcebooks–another white wolf, Billionaire Wolf Christmas, and Brett’s Silver wolf story. And, I need to write a fae story, Highland, cougar, and I’m missing someone, but can’t think of it now. I want to also write 2 more cougar Christmas novellas and a Highland novella. I also will be in a boxset with Taming the Wild Highlander and other Highland novels, so trying to get that ready pronto.

We’ll see what I can manage! No moves this year, but my daughter’s baby is coming, and I’ve promised to take care of the baby two days a week, so that will be starting probably in May.

I have a writer’s retreat in January, a baby shower to host in January, a bear to make for the baby, and a reader’s convention to attend in February, and Rita published books to judge in January. So lots of stuff to do writing-wise! AND, I want to plant more sky pencil holly along the fence. I need 18 more of them to line the whole fence. 🙂 I also want to play more with composites, learn how to get better, and take better photos!

Off to work! Make the most of the next 3 days, because after that, you have to start all over again and have fun in the New Year! No plans for New Year’s Eve except to work on all the writing projects I need to, and New Year’s Day, I’m going to a ladies’ luncheon.

What about you? Have some plans for the New Year?

Terry Spear

“Giving new meaning to the term alpha male where fantasy is reality.”

Connect with Terry Spear:

Website: http://www.terryspear.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/421434.Terry_Spear

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TerrySpearParanormalRomantics

Twitter: https://twitter.com/TerrySpear