Embracing the Unknown – Making Goals Outside of My Comfort Zone

So what is my blog topic now that I’ve written a full paragraph
and haven’t mentioned it yet? Okay, yes, it’s in the title. My “One Little
Word” for 2015 is “embrace.” I wrote about this in my Jan. 14 post “Embracing the ‘One Little Word’ Challenge. As I set
goals for myself as an author, I am trying to see beyond what I have been
comfortable with to new possibilities. Here are some of my goals.

For someone like me, Goodreads is a nightmare. It has so
much to offer that I enter the site and feel overwhelmed. I am clutching my recent copy of Writer’s Digest and
rereading Michael J. Sullivan’s article “Get in Good With Goodreads.” He offers
solid advice and clear instructions—I highly recommend the article. Trouble is,
I go to the site to start applying his advice and suddenly I’m following a
thread about “Whimsical Southern girl obsessed with teeth” because, well who
wouldn’t follow that? So my author profile doesn’t get updated and I haven’t created
a compelling bio. But I am going to do this. And I believe spending more time
on Goodreads instead of say, looking at cats on Facebook, will further my
success as an author.

It’s the ADD thing again. First of all, there are so many
sites to research—where do I begin—oh, is it time for a cup of tea? Then I’m in the kitchen and the dishwasher needs to be unloaded… When I start to research possible reviewers for my mysteryThe
Cavanaugh House, I get lost in all the titles they’ve reviewed that I now want to read. Also, as I
read the submission guidelines, I start to feel a bit unworthy. I had one
reviewer tell me she couldn’t review my book because I didn’t have a dog or cat
in the story. But I’m going to dig in and settle down to research review sites
that will work for me. Maybe in my sequel to The Cavanuagh House my protagonist can rescue a puppy…

I entered a few contests with my first two novels, Love’s Destiny and Love’s Spirit. Yes, I shelled out some money and submitted my
babies.  One judge said my language was
too old fashioned and it read like a historical romance. Yes, well, they are
historical romances. So I lost the fire in my belly for that road, but many of
my author friends have wonderful bios listing all kinds of contests they were
winners or finalists in, and it sure sounds good to me. So, “enter contests” –
check.

Where do I begin with this one? I have a website and a blog,
but I wanted to up my game with a more professional, hip, current look. My
friend Suzanne has been amazingly helpful. She sits right next to me and shows
me how to navigate around WordPress. She helped me pick a theme, a hosting
site, you name it. Trouble is when Suzanne leaves, so does my brain and I stare
dumbly at the screen scratching my head. What did she say again? My notes leave
little clue. I will do it though. I will sit down at my website-in-progress and
stick with it until, of course, it’s time for a cup of tea.

These are my goals for 2015. Oh, and publishing three books.
Yes, the aforementioned goals take me totally out of my comfort zone, and yes,
I will have to make a conscious effort to HOKBIS, but darn it all, I can do
this.

How are you stretching beyond your comfort zone in 2015?