I feel like in the last six months, and especially in the last two to three weeks, I have popped out of some kind of opaque chrysalis that I didn’t know I was living in into a new life, a new me. I have a new outlook on life, a greater feeling of maturity (I’ve always been a little emotionally behind others my age), and an energizing feeling of direction and purpose.

I know with crystal clarity what kind of life I want to live and am taking steps in all aspects to get what I want.

I feel like there is no limit on what I can do. That’s why I chose the phrase “infinite possibilities,” as my Word of the Year for 2021. I am optimistic that this year will bring me endless possibilities for success, growth, money, and all good things. And I plan to take advantage of every one of them.

To that end, I’ve established both author and personal goals for 2021. I’m fine with sharing both here because I am the same person whether you are talking to me as an author or a regular person and I aim to be authentic in all I do.

Writing Goals:

• Get a contract for Minor bio. (Okay, that’s more in my agent’s hands than mine.)
• Finish Colonial/Revolutionary War histfic by end of July.
• Finish WWII histfic by end of July.
• Write female inventor histfic by end of 2021.
• Start on modern retelling of a classic (I’ll be working on ideas for this while I am writing the other books) by the end of the year.
• Write poetry again. (I did this as a child and teenager, but I’ve lacked the confidence as an adult.)
• Attend the Biographer’s International and Historical Novel Society virtual conferences.
• Hopefully the Ethics in Arthurian Legend book a I wrote a chapter for will be published. (That is out of my hands.)
• Do what I can to get Madame Presidentess and Daughter of Destiny optioned.

Personal Goals:

• Lose 40-50 lbs by June 1.
  • Walk outside when the weather is nice. Swim if the pools open again.
  • Dance, barre, basic cardio, weight lifting indoors.
  • Eat a mostly pescatarian/Mediterranean diet.
  • Stop eating delivery.
• Pay off debt.
  • Focus on paying off credit card.
  • Every time I have the urge to buy something, put that amount of money in my savings account and use it to pay on credit card that month.
  • Continue to pay off loans.
• Continue working with the League of Women voters to fund a permanent suffrage memorial of some kind in St. Louis.
• Learn to read French.
• Teach myself to sew.
• There’s another one that I’m not ready to talk about yet, but I will if it ends up working out.

I realize this is an ambitious list, but I always set high goals for myself. That is the way I am happiest. I plan to achieve them all but if I don’t, that is fine too.

What are your 2021 goals?