18 Before 2018

Summer’s almost over, and the last quarter of the year is coming up quick. Which means it’s time to do a little bit of assessment and see where I’m headed with my yearly goals.

Lucky for me, Lisa Jacobs has challenged us all to “18 Before 2018” – write up a list of 18 goals to accomplish before 2018. These can be big, small, or a combination of both. I did a bit of brainstorming, and here’s what I’ve come up with…

  1. Finish my World’s Coolest Jobs book proposal and start pitching it to agents
  2. Write a second proposal for a totally different book and start pitching it to different agents (this one is still in the kernel phase, so I don’t want to say much more about it, for now!)
  3. Write a 3-Day Novel about middle-school ninja (Sept. 2-4)
  4. Publish my ninja novel
  5. Take a train trip to LA

    “Surfliner” image by Flickr user Nick Chill
  6. Visit with my BFF, Jenna, in November (and possibly try to convince her to write a joint novel with me, à la Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke)
  7. Visit with my parents, aunt and uncle in December
  8. Sell books at the San Diego Festival of Books – August 26!
  9. Sell books at the San Diego Zine Fest – October 8!
  10. Attend San Diego chapter meetings for SCBWI
  11. Read 52 books
  12. Get a new mattress
  13. Journal daily, on paper (I’ve started Bullet Journaling and want to start an art journal as well)
  14. Walk 10,000 steps every day
  15. Attend John Lithgow’s free lecture at UCSD
  16. Make a French Silk pie for my birthday – October 14
  17. Try one new recipe every week (for some reason, I’ve decided I need to start with a pot roast – something I have never cooked before – but I am also reading a lot of cookbooks that I’ve borrowed from the library)
  18. Start a NaNoWriMo write-in at my local library

As you can see, some of these are pretty big goals, others are pretty small, and some are just for fun.

I need a little more fun in my life!

What about you?

What are YOUR 18 Before 2018?