January 2015 Month in Review

Recapping my monthly progress serves two purposes: 1. it keeps me honest and accountable to my goals, and 2. it reminds me just how much work I’ve done over the last year. So let’s get down to it:

January has been a wild ride – not dissimilar from the good ol’ ride at Disney World: Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride (ah, I loved that one. Good thing the Winnie the Pooh ride is just as good ;)).

First and foremost, January brought vacation (woo hoo) and running (Dopey Challenge Achievement Unlocked).

We also spent time with family and friends at Disney.

January was basically kick @$$!

I loved our Disney trip and I had a blast running the races (check out my Walt Disney World 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, and Marathon recaps).

I also got to see both sets of my parents this month (my parents and my in-laws). I always feel super-charged after spending time with family.

Oh, an interesting side note, I finally went to see the eye doctor about my headaches. I had my vision surgically corrected (yay Lasik!) back in 2008 and had been vision-issue free since that time…until now. Turns out I need reading classes to keep me from over focusing. I am really excited about the idea (frames can be fun!) and hope that I can report fewer headaches as my eyes and brain adjust.

With all this going on it might be hard to believe that I got anything done this month – but I did. Here are the details for January 2015:

1 Amazing, Wonderful, Fun Walt Disney World Vacation
4 runDisney races (5k, 10k, 13.1, 26.2) completed!!
13 gym workouts (including elliptical/treadmill and personal training)
1 YA novel read “for fun”
2 law school prep books read for…eh…”fun?”

And on top of all of that I still had words. *does happy dance* This month’s grand total is 7,545 words. Which brings my total ‘tracked’ word count for 2015 to 7,545! Not too shabby. I feel like I’m off to a good start.

And as for miles, this month’s grand total is 74.3 miles, bringing my total ‘tracked’ mileage to 74.3 miles. I am making a bet that January’s mileage will be the highest recorded mileage this year (for me). It’s hard to top running a marathon AND a half marathon in the same month. And knowing my race schedule is going to be light this year (mostly 5k’s and 10k’s) I’m pretty confident this will be my best mileage month this year.

All in all, January was tremendous. I feel good about starting off 2015 with a bang. #NeverGiveUp #NeverSurrender

How are your goals coming along?

My Writerly Goals for 2015

If you’ve hung around this blog for a while you know I’m a huge fan of stating your goals (See my Importance of Avoiding Neck Beards post).

Why is it so important that we document our goals? Because writing down your goals has an almost magical effect. It cements the goal in your mind and you consciously (and sometimes unconsciously) move toward completing that goal. But there’s more to it than ‘magic’.

Documenting your goal makes it real. And real things have value. Your goals have value and meaning and worth. But we can, too often, focus on the daily grind of our lives and pack our goals away for another day.

Stop packing away your goals. Start documenting your dreams today and you may just breathe life into them.

In the spirit of the new year and new beginnings I’m defining my goals for all to see. I believe goals should be four things:

1. Goals should be both personal and professional (meaning don’t sell short your personal life, those goals matter too).

2. Goals should be stated in the affirmative, like ‘I will rescue 8 kittens this year’ and never in the negative, as in, ‘I will not let any kittens go unrescued this year.’

3. Goals should make you stretch (hello, challenge) but should also be realistic (I learned this one the hard way in 2014).

4. And last but not least, goals should be SMART:

Just saying “I want to write more” or "I want to run more" aint gonna cut it. You need to be specific when defining your goals.

Now, I’m thrilled (terrified) to be starting law school in 2015. This means my life, writing time, and fitness time will be in major upheaval this year. Knowing that I can’t control what my life will be like after I start school (in Aug) I decided to shorten my year. Instead of allowing myself 12 full months to accomplish my goals I’m allowing myself 8 (Jan – Aug).

Less time to accomplish goals meant I had to laser focus my goal setting on what’s important to me.


Here are my SMART goals for 2015



Professional: Improving Craft

Take one online writing classes before Aug 2015

Query at least one project before Aug 2015

Complete 2 revisions before Aug 2015


Professional: Idea Generating

Plot NA sequels before Aug 2015

Plot YA sequels before Aug 2015

Plot UF sequels before Aug 2015

Plot any shiny new ideas before Aug 2015


Professional: Efficiency

Define writing time (once law school class schedule is finalized)

Research alternate platforms before Aug 2015

Better integrate social media presence before Aug 2015


Personal: Fitness

Run a 10k before Aug 2015

Run 2 or more 5k’s before Aug 2015

Define law school fitness time (once class schedule is finalized)


Personal: FUN! (Because I’ve heard my 1L year of law school might not be fun)

Go on a Caribbean cruise before Aug 2015

Visit Alaska (one of my bucket list items) before Aug 2015

Go camping or backpacking before Aug 2015 (a local fun thing that we sometimes forget to do because we get ‘too’ busy)

Go tubing/float trip before Aug 2015 (another local fun thing that we sometimes forget to do because we get ‘too’ busy)


Personal: Family

Take at least one highway ride on the bike with Handsome Jack

Visit STL before Aug 2015

Visit FL before Aug 2015



Now these goals are pretty steep goals. But it’s called goal setting for a reason. You don’t want to remain content with the status quo (or else you wouldn’t be setting goals in the first place). Just remember to keep things reasonable. This is actually the 4th edition of my 2015 goal list. Why? Because I had to cut and trim goals to be reasonable.

There is nothing crappier than setting a goal and failing to meet it (in my opinion). Might this be why I gave up on ever finishing NaNoWriMo? Yes, yes it is.

As always, I plan to evaluate my progress often. Since my goal year is shortened (Jan –Aug) I plan to check in around April. If I’m falling short I can make the necessary corrections in an attempt to get back on track. But if my corrections can’t get me on track that’s okay, too. These goals can be restated (like I did in 2014. See my goal restatement post here).



What goals do you have for 2015?

Cover Reveal: Naked by Stacey Trombley

I'm so excited to bring you details on a hot new novel scheduled to release this summer:

Title: Naked
Genre: YA Contemp Romance
Author: Stacey Trombley
Release Date: 07/07/15
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Length: 305 pages
Cover Reveal Organized by:YA Bound Blog Tours


Summary of Naked from Goodreads:

A teenage prostitute looking for redemption must face her secrets before they destroy her...

When tough teenager Anna ran away to New York, she never knew how bad things would get.

After surviving as a prostitute, a terrifying incident leaves her damaged inside and out, and she returns home to the parents she was sure wouldn't want her anymore.

Now she has a chance to be normal again. Back in school, she meets a boy who seems too good to be true. Cute, kind, trusting. But what will he do when he finds out the truth about her past?

And when a dark figure from New York comes looking for Anna, she realizes she must face her secrets...before they destroy her.


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Sounds amazing right? I know I was like 'Um, What!!!' This book sounds a little dark, a lot sad, and topped - hopefully - with a happy ending. (There is a hint of a happy ending in there, right? It's not just me.). In other words, Naked is my kind of read.

Add to Goodreads or Pre-Order here: Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Kobo Books

Now, let's get a look at that cover.

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Cover:

Okay, now this image is perfect for the cover, IMO. It's a little dark and a lot sad. But, again, there is hope here. It's just a perfect cover image. Congrats to Stacey and the folks at Entangled on the upcoming release.


About the Author

Stacey Trombley lives in Ohio with her husband and the sweetest Rottweiler you’ll ever meet. She thinks people are fascinating and any chance she has, she’s off doing or learning something new. She went on her first mission trip to Haiti at age twelve and is still dying to go back. Her “places to travel” list is almost as long as her “books to read” list.

She wants to bring something new to the world through her writing, but just giving a little piece of herself is more than enough. Keep a look out for her debut novel NAKED, coming from Entangled Teen in 2015

Want more on the Author: Website│Goodreads│Twitter│Facebook