Goals 2021, Update 1

Goals Update
2021

I'm going to make a dozen excuses for not doing what I thought would be achievable this year. They do say if you want to see God laugh, tell him your plans.

With lockdown in place, you'd expect to have more free time than at any other time in your lifetime, wouldn't you?

Well... we decided to move house, so have spent much of lockdown planning, decluttering, packing, unpacking, and further decluttering. We brought with us about 8 dustbin liners of 'stuff' which we ultimately didn't need; but that has all now found its way to the various charity shops in the town, having been carefully repacked into smaller bags so that we could carry them rather than drive into town. We've also had to get various jobs done in the new house, but haven't started to redecorate yet. We're still settling in.

So with my attention firmly on the house, I've not been keeping an eye on my intended targets for 2021. To remind myself, these are:

1. Read and review 30 books

              Target set for Goodreads Reading Challenge: 30 books to include:
              The 4 books on my SmashWords shelf
              The 14 books I bought for myself during #DecTheShelves 2019


2. Create a regular feature for my blog


3. Write a short story

                 
4. Support other Indie Authors

Now that I've had a quick look, I can see that I've read 17 books towards my 30 books target. That's good, you say. Well... I haven't actually read any of the ones on my SmashWords shelf, and I've only finished one, Clara at Christmas, on my #DecTheShelves2019 shelf. 

I have an excuse for this though... I've started taking on Blog Tours again, and it's been almost impossible to ignore some of the fabulous books that come up. 

I'm going to have to wind down on the tours because we've got a few changes ahead that might prevent me publishing a review on the due date. So rather than disappoint the author and the blog tour arranger, it's best I stop taking on any more blog tours for now. I'll just have to fill my reading hours with books on my #DecTheShelves2019 & SmashWords shelves first! And I'll have to rein myself in hard when I see tours for an author I've previously enjoyed, or a blurb that screams "This is right up your street" at me.

For item 2, I have an idea for a regular feature on my blog, but I haven't got the reading-time to do anything about it now. 

For item 3, there are a couple of ideas kicking around my head (nothing on paper) for a short story, but the more I think about them, the less like a short story they become.

Item 4 on my list, support for Indie Authors is not really quantifiable. I can say I've achieved that already because I read and review stories by Indie Authors; I take part in their promos; and I look to buy their books for friends and family at Christmas or for birthday presents rather than a traditionally published author.

So now I must stop procrastinating and pick up my next read. Something from my #DecTheShelves2019 I think...