Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Launching 2013 the Right Way

Ways I Started 2013 Off Right

1. I cleaned my office, including filing and pending paperwork, so I have a fresh, uncluttered area to work in.

2. I wrote down the mileage on my car on the first day, instead of the 7th (last year) or in March (all the years before that).

3. I moved a year and a half worth of pictures from the camera to my hard drive, and backed them up. (Alas, I did not label and file them all yet.)

4. I put my laundry away as I did it!

5. I did all my tax prep and handed it over!

6. I blogged!

Ways I Intend to Continue Starting 2013 Off Right but Haven't Yet Because I'm Blogging Here First

1. Cover reveal for Heavy Metal. I'm going to do this on the News page of my website as soon as I'm done posting here. Well, after I send a newsletter. Those loyal subscribers deserve first look, right? :) Anyway, go check it out! It's possibly my favorite cover yet.

2. Writing! I want to finish Shattered Glass soon, the first novella in the Goddesses Rising series (not yet acquired for publication, FYI), so I can get Soulflight done soon after.

3. More Firefly, though I probably can't talk Number Two into it. She's loving the show, but there's tennis on today. For five hours.

4. Getting to bed at a decent hour. I'm not sure number 1 is conducive to number 4, but we'll see.

5. Self-evaluation! Which really means just boring the heck out of you guys. You can stop here if you want to.

Words Written:
2011 = 129,194
2012 = 185,125

Wow. That's kind of a surprise. I stopped tracking words created during revisions back in March because it was driving me nuts and slowing me down. I wonder how I did in 2010... (166,606)

I'd like to go for 200,000 in 2013, but there are too many factors affecting it. I'll probably be doing more revision than writing in the first half of the year.

Freelance Work
I know this was wayyyy up in 2012, but I don't want to take the time to add it all up. So let's just say I worked a lot. :)

Books Read
2011:
  92 books read (61 e-book, 14 hardcover, 11 mass market, 6 trade paperback)
  26 started and not finished
2012:
  97 books read (62 e-book, 20 hardcover, 9 mass market, 6 trade paperback)
  20 started and not finished

The books completed include short stories and novellas. They don't match up with my Goodreads shelves, because those might include whole anthologies while my spreadsheet lists the stories separately if I only read some of them.

It's interesting that I read more hardcover this year. I think because I did more young adult that I shared with my kids, and more library books.

Movies Watched
2011 = 47 (one on DVD I didn't finish [Extract], 21 on DVD, 8 on Netflix streaming, 2 on Starz during a free promotion, and 16 in the theater)

2012 = 33 (10 on DVD, 23 in the theater)

Part of the reason...well, probably the whole reason for the drop is the cancellation of Netflix when we cut expenses. It's worth mentioning that the numbers include Thor twice in 2011 and The Avengers three times in 2012. :)

TV on DVD or streaming
In 2011 I watched Supernatural season 5, and then seasons 1 and 2 again. I also rewatched Firefly and watched Justified season 1 before season 2 began. It's possible I failed to track some things, because that seems awfully light.

In 2012 I watched Entourage season 7, rewatched Supernatural seasons 5 and 6, rewatched Doctor Who seasons 1–3 before we canceled Netflix, and Suburgatory season 1 as my "should have tried that last year" show. I also added Firefly, though we have a few eps to go.

So that's my year(s) in review! This year I'm going to record when I read or watched stuff, because I'm curious when my busiest months are, and when I have more time to read/watch. It will also be interesting to see if I can increase both my writing and my reading, without decreasing my day job or freelance hours. :)

Okay, if you read this far, thank you! And wishing you the best year ever in 2013. *mwah!*

8 comments:

The Happy Whisk said...

Woohoo. Look at you go.

Victoria said...

I like that you keep track of books read and movies watched... I might have to try that for 2013! You were busy today!:)

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

I started doing it years ago, probably because someone else (I'm thinking MJ!) did it and I was curious. :) Now I feel like an obsessive. LOL

Ava Quinn said...

Great lists! And happy new year to you too!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I couldnt' begin to keep track of how many movies I watched or books I read. I have started setting them aside very quickly if they don't catch my interest.
New season of Justified next week. Need me some Raylan.

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

Thanks, Ava! Hope you guys are all starting it out healthy.

Sue, it's easy if you love spreadsheets. LOL I don't suffer anything mediocre (or just "not for me") anymore, either. But I'm pretty picky in what I pick up, too, so setting aside doesn't happen as often.

I might get back to Justified eventually. I got tired of Harlan. I like the marshalls better! :)

MJFredrick said...

I didn't keep track of movies this year. I know I only saw a handful in the theater--8, I think. 55 from Netflix and maybe another 10 from Amazon. So a lot.

77 books. Not sure how many I started and didn't finish.

TV: other than what was on, Game of Thrones season 1, True Blood (whichever was the last season released on DVD), Defying Gravity.

See, I LOVE Harlen. Love Raylan's relationship with Boyd and his dad. I didn't buy the book Raylan because his dad's dead in the books, and that's my favorite part!

Natalie J. Damschroder said...

That's a lot of movies, MJ! You watch while you write, don't you? Or other stuff. I don't multitask that well. :)

I can totally understand your love of Harlen. :)