Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: hopeful
  • Music: Jeff and Maya, "High Desert."

Things I am hoping to accomplish in 2012.

We are rapidly approaching the middle of November—as in, it's tomorrow—and that means that 2011 is almost over. December will largely be taken up with editorial notes, holiday preparations, and going to DisneyWorld, so I'm getting my crazy-pants introspection out of the way early. These, then, are five things I am really, really hoping to accomplish in 2012.

1. Finish four books.

In 2012, I want (and in some cases, need) to finish four books. Midnight Blue-Light Special, The Chimes at Midnight, an undisclosed YA project, and an undisclosed Mira Grant project. (Please don't ask me to disclose them. You'll just get looked at with profound sadness.) Basically, it's about half a million words of fiction by the end of the calendar year. I can do it, although it helps if I look at it in slightly smaller chunks. They're less terrifying.

2. Re-print Stars Fall Home.

I'm going to do a Kickstarter to pay for re-printing my first studio album, Stars Fall Home. Looking at my deadlines and responsibilities for the first quarter of the year, I'm estimating somewhere around March for the announcement. That also gives me time to put together incentives for higher support levels, although "I will be really, really grateful" features fairly heavily.

3. Move to Snohomish.

Is this possible? I don't know. But the house I've wanted for the past eight years is about to be within my grasp, if I can just convince the bank that I can handle the mortgage. And yeah, adding "buying a house" and "leaving the state" to my four-book year is a little bit insane...but I want it. I want to never have to move again. It's literally the house I've based my house hunting off since the first time I saw it. I love it so much. It needs to be mine.

4. Finish the current "Velveteen vs." cycle.

I don't know that I'll ever finish the Velveteen stories, because her world is infinitely flexible and insane, but there's a certain big event that everything is building toward, and I'd like to get there. I think that getting there would be awesome.

5. Record Terror from the Alintangy Wood.

So yeah, I'm going back into the studio, this time for the followup to Red Roses and Dead Things. It's me and Jeff again, and while we're having to juggle to make everything work, I think it's going to be awesome. Planned songs include "Pumpkin Patch," "Zombie Wedding," "Time Travel Girl," and "Ozone in October." It's going to be a blast.

Got any big goals for 2012?
Tags: busy busy busy, i make music, making lists, recording, velveteen vs., writing
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vulpine137

November 14 2011, 17:20:14 UTC 5 years ago

Boy, I feel like a slacker. Right now the plans for 2012 are to make it to 2012. Yeah, I know it's only 6 weeks, but I have a feeling it will be a crazy 6 weeks or so.

Yay for your plans thought, go go crazed writer, go :)

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 17:33:15 UTC 5 years ago

I never stop!

vulpine137

5 years ago

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paksenarrion2

5 years ago

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vulpine137

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 17:33:25 UTC 5 years ago

Good luck!

scifantasy

November 14 2011, 17:25:57 UTC 5 years ago

Six Weeks, Five Cons

January-February 2012: Gafilk. Arisia. Confusion. Conflikt. Capricon. And did I mention I'm spending my usual New Year's Weekend in Chicago?

I need to look closely at what my most common airline has been and actually consider getting a frequent flyer's program. At least I get plenty of Amazon points.

"I do solemnly swear..."

This isn't exactly within my control, but in 2012 I'm hopefully/presumably going to actually get sworn in as an attorney in the State of New York. I need to file my materials with the relevant people soon--which means I need to talk to the two people who still need to give me stuff to make the application complete.

Nihongowo Hanashimasu

Once I clear my decks a little bit, I want to investigate learning Japanese. I took it in high school, but I don't remember much. Still, that should give me a decent foundation. I just need to figure out the best method (Rosetta Stone, classes, other?) and do it.

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 17:33:42 UTC 5 years ago

Nice goals!

jslinder

November 14 2011, 17:27:30 UTC 5 years ago

Just a little note -

Quote - "We are rapidly approaching the middle of November—as in, it's tomorrow—and that means that 2012 is almost over. "

Um.. Please don't rush 2011...

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 17:33:53 UTC 5 years ago

Whoops! Fixed.

vixyish

November 14 2011, 17:37:05 UTC 5 years ago

Actually start writing and recording again. I'm only just starting to really feel the desire for that type of creativity coming back.

Finish and send in my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. It's been fun so far, and relaxing, and refreshing.

Get a handle on time's passing for once...

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:41:16 UTC 5 years ago

Good goals all.

tenaya_owlcat

November 14 2011, 17:40:42 UTC 5 years ago

I really hope you get that house that you love! :)

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:41:23 UTC 5 years ago

Me, too.

sheistheweather

November 14 2011, 17:45:31 UTC 5 years ago

I am working out plans to go back to school. I also hope to have made cast for Spring Mysteries Festival XXVII, to have completed my short comic based on an undisclosed song that I loved and got permission to make something based on it, and to have completed and returned on time my sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project. I am also planning an EP. Lastly, I hope to have either good job that enables me to also go to school, or to have a way to just do school.

moongirli

November 14 2011, 17:47:19 UTC 5 years ago

Personal Goal: To get my savings and debt better on track. My ultimate goal, eve, obviously, is to be out of general debt. (I am not including my student loans, because those will never go away, ever. By "general," I mean medical bills and credit cards.)
So, to get better on track, I want to continue saving monthly so that a car disaster (of which I usually have many) will not run my savings back to $0.

Professional Goal: To plan and execute some kind of program at work. Super extra bonus is it is grant-funded.

Fun Goal: To work on a radio drama with my very good friends, and actually produce and release it as a podcast.

phoenixsansfyr

November 14 2011, 18:12:24 UTC 5 years ago

Recommendation! Mint for budget stuff (best tool I've found; they're browser and app present, owned by Quicken). SmartyPig for savings (FDIC insured). You set different goals (emergency fund, car stuff, vacation), how much you want by when, and it helps you easily save when you didn't think you could! In conjunction with Mint I've used SP to save a rather alarming amount of money that I didn't realize I had because it was disappearing to nebulous crap I no longer miss. If you aren't sure Mint or an envelope system will help, or aren't sure if you can set yourself on the right track without external help first, I may be able to help you (am not selling services). Am a budget fiend.

Good luck either way!

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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kyburg

November 14 2011, 17:53:45 UTC 5 years ago

Um. I'm your source for cheap furniture, now with new gig. Move it only if you must. It will probably be cheaper for me to deliver new, with the whole 'I can get it for you at cost' thing.

I am all go for Snohomish. If it's what you want, it's what I want.

For 2012? Start writing again, period. Everything else is up for grabs, including getting ready for #2 in every way you can imagine.

Please, contact a credit union first for the house thang. Four books. Holy chrome.

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:41:52 UTC 5 years ago

I am very happy with my bank, actually.

celtic_catgirl

November 14 2011, 17:56:06 UTC 5 years ago

In addition to personal (health) and financial goals I'm seriously considering creating a series of weekly art challenges for my self. I'm really bad at saying I should paint something but then not knowing what so I'm thinking that if each week has an assignment (Assigned medium, topic, timed, a piece of music)

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:42:02 UTC 5 years ago

Awesome!

tereshkova2001

November 14 2011, 18:02:36 UTC 5 years ago

My goals are to go to Worldcon, make my Padme lake gown (probably the single most beautiful/elaborate thing I'll ever wear), design and build a Prince Zuko costume with leather armor and compelling yet con-safe flame effects, and sew a military-style Starfleet uniform (from the 2009 movie).

My dreams for 2012 include winning either another best in show or a master-class award, at either a local or international convention, demonstrating that I really can hold my own at that rank and that it's not just that the Na'vi costume is really flashy. That's not under my control, of course, which is why it's a dream and not a goal.
Oh, and go to a book release party/traveling circus show held in Seattle, not San Francisco. :)

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:42:34 UTC 5 years ago

Well, if you've got a couple hundred grand, you can help make sure those book parties move your way... *grumble banking grumble*

scarybaldguy

November 14 2011, 18:03:18 UTC 5 years ago

1) Rewriting and expanding my own book (no worries, not going to spam it here in your LJ). Everyone who's bothered to review it says "It's great content, it's just too short!" And when I ask where I need to fill it out, I hear, "Uhhhh...".

2) Sell the truck what I am currently making payments on, pay off my remaining debts, and save what I'd been paying on all of these...

3) To use as a down payment for an airplane.

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:42:45 UTC 5 years ago

Yay, plane!

pola_bear

November 14 2011, 18:04:08 UTC 5 years ago

Wedding. It's ended up being a bigger and more complex thing then intended, but I feel good it actually working.

Moving. I hate my place, I hate my landlords (just got a ridiculous email) and I am not getting any benefit from being in London, really. So either pick somewhere else here, or possibly SF just as you leave.

Be creative. I realised last week that I somehow started thinking of writing songs as something I use to do. That is not ok. Get back into writing and knitting.

Good luck with yours!

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:42:53 UTC 5 years ago

You, too!

vettecat

November 14 2011, 18:06:53 UTC 5 years ago

Hope the house works out! (Pictures, we want pictures!) Would this necessitate getting a new "day job"?

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:43:10 UTC 5 years ago

Nope, I could do my current one remotely.

idancewithlife

5 years ago

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vettecat

5 years ago

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pnkrokhockeymom

November 14 2011, 18:09:04 UTC 5 years ago

Go you! You can do it!

All of my 2012 goals are HUGE and, um, contractually and otherwise secret and nondisclosable for the time being. More on those later.

My short term remaining-2011 goals include, just for the beginning of this week, three motions and briefs in a pro bono case I am running. When they are roughly about finished, I get to purchase An Artificial Night. If I buy it before then, the briefs will never be finished, so right now your books are my carrots.



seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:43:24 UTC 5 years ago

Yay, carrots!

mac_arthur_park

November 14 2011, 18:21:09 UTC 5 years ago

Good luck! That's one heck of a list!

*crosses fingers about the house* Owning a house is one of my biggest dreams.

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:43:36 UTC 5 years ago

It's big and scary, but amazing.

beccastareyes

November 14 2011, 18:24:27 UTC 5 years ago

Finish my goddamn dissertation, defend it and gt a job with my shiny new PhD.

Other than that, start writing fiction again. And... maybe a drawing goal, and a 'finish my custom doll projects' goal.

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:43:51 UTC 5 years ago

Good goals!

martianmooncrab

November 14 2011, 18:26:40 UTC 5 years ago

goals are pretty much the same since .. well.. tame the feral book herds roaming the house, finish unpacking the boxes in the garage from the move in 2005, refinish the kitchen cuboard and move it into the dining room, finish planting stuff... get the last of the books entered into The Great Work.

Its my Pinky and the Brain routine, same as every day.

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:44:02 UTC 5 years ago

Try to TAKE OVER THE WORLD.

martianmooncrab

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:44:23 UTC 5 years ago

It's in Washington, so California houses don't help anyway!

mac_arthur_park

November 14 2011, 18:33:12 UTC 5 years ago

Oh, and my goals for 2012?

1. Go to see the boys. I haven't for a couple of years now, because I can't afford tickets and a hotel room and their father refuses to help. Today is Ashe's 13th birthday, and I'm missing it. :(

2. Finally finish The Incredibly True Tales of the World's Oldest Living Barista and see if I can get up the nerve to shop it around.

3. Be more social and not get dragged kicking and screaming out of the house every time. I'm (almost) always glad when I do, but it takes a shoehorn to get me out the front door.

4. Learn to bake bread that doesn't resemble a doorstop.

5. Get the unfortunate tattoo on my hip covered.

phoenixsansfyr

November 14 2011, 18:36:19 UTC 5 years ago

The Tales thing sounds fascinating! Good luck!

seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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elialshadowpine

November 14 2011, 18:42:08 UTC 5 years ago

Snohomish is a beautiful area. I grew up in the Olympia area and we visited on a few occasions. I remember the waterfalls and being utterly stunned. I haven't been in years; I should get back there sometime.

Are pictures of the house in question something you can share? I understand if you don't want to, though, given your journal is mostly public. :)

If you move up this way, does that mean we might possibly be seeing you at some of the local Seattle cons? >_> NOT THAT I'M BIASED OR ANYTHING HERE. *cough*

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:45:18 UTC 5 years ago

Not yet. Pictures will come eventually.

You'll probably see me at some cons, but it will depend on a variety of factors, including cost.

solarbird

November 14 2011, 18:56:06 UTC 5 years ago

Does "figure out exactly what the hell I'm doing?" count? XD

0. I'd include "wrap up the Cracksman Betty project," but that's EOY 2011.

1. Tour like a goddamn rock star! Or, at least, a properly working musician. I've been touring the last few weeks. <3 so much. ε>

2. Pull off some plans I can't talk about yet for nwcMUSIC 2012, the geekmusic festival I'm building under the auspices of Norwescon.

3. Record Din of Thieves.

4. Post this before power goes out. Oh wait, that's goal of right now. PREPARE FOR POWER HIT!

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:45:29 UTC 5 years ago

Woo!

dormouse_in_tea

November 14 2011, 19:33:01 UTC 5 years ago

Anything I can do, anything at all, it's on the table. I'm for sure buying everything in first week sales, that's a given, but anything else at all. <3

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:45:50 UTC 5 years ago

Thanks, honey.

orikes13

November 14 2011, 19:34:38 UTC 5 years ago

Good luck on all of them but especially on #3.

I've been coveting the idea of my own home for a few years now. I currently have a nice sized apartment for cheap, but it's got a lot of issues that need addressing that the landlord doesn't have the resources to fix. It's also in a neighborhood that's not as nice as I would like. So, I look at houses for sale and wonder and wish.

Unfortunately, the finances are not anywhere close to allowing it to happen, so I have to cheer for anyone else who can make that move to owning their own place. :) Good luck!

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:46:03 UTC 5 years ago

Thank you!

djonn

November 14 2011, 19:35:48 UTC 5 years ago

Either I've missed an announcement (always possible) or perhaps there's a project that's changed titles recently, because I don't recall seeing a description of The Chimes at Midnight before now. Can you give us a bit of background (or point at the post I've cleverly failed to find)?

seanan_mcguire

November 14 2011, 19:46:14 UTC 5 years ago

No.

djonn

5 years ago

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seanan_mcguire

5 years ago

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