My spotless record!

Here's my progress chart for Mini Habits so far in 2016! So far I've hit my tiny targets every day, sometimes only just, sometimes by a mile! Go me!

W = writing
R = reading
G = getting rid of an item of junk/clutter

Mini Habits

In 2016, I'm trying to motivate myself by using a system called Mini Habits. This amounts to setting ridiculously tiny goals for myself each day. They're so small that it's almost impossible not to achieve them... and once they're completed, kidding myself that I might as well just do a little bit more, while I'm about it.

The system is outlined in this book and on this web site. I read the book recently, and immediately knew it could help someone like me, who's struggling with motivation. It's one of the most useful books I've read in a long time!

As part of the Mini Habits adventure, I'm reinforcing them by awarding myself stars on a Mini Habits calendar each day, if I manage to:

1.  Write 100 words
2. Read for 15 minutes
3. Throw away one piece of clutter/junk

See, I told you they were very small and achievable! And I've got my three stars already today, and it's only 2.24pm.

ps. blogging isn't included in my Mini Habits, but I'm going to try and do that a bit more often too. :)

Edited to say.... 'it's almost impossible not to achieve them'. Mind you, there will still be days when I'm so useless I can't even meet those minuscule goals! LOL

Best laid plans and all that...

Well, so much for my post about goals. So far, this week, I'm failing magnificently at achieving anything! Have half written one blog post, but for the rest of it, am not getting very far...

Sadly it doesn't look as if I'll be publishing IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS this week, due to a technical hitch. Basically, I forgot, when I got my all new all singing all dancing Win7 64 bit laptopamabob, that some older programs might not work on it. Most things are fine, but dear old Mobipocket Creator just won't play. It worked well on my old system, but because it's a fairly elderly program, it's just not compatible with 64 bit technology. So I've been faffing for hours on end, wrangling various workarounds using online converters and whatnot, but not finding anything completely satisfactory. However...

Just yesterday, I downloaded a program called Jutoh, which I think shows a good deal of promise. I'm still in the early stages with it and cocking things up a lot, but I can see that once I've learned it, it could be a much better way of creating Kindle ebooks and epubs, and lead to me producing a slicker, more aesthetically pleasing job. I'm pretty proud of the books I did with Mobipocket and various online converters, but I think I can do even better with Jutoh. But, I need to put in the hours learning how to get the best from it.

Hence the delay with SEBASTIAN.

So, looks like I need to get my finger out and get on with my goal tasks. The freebie I mentioned will probably be next week now too, but hopefully worth the wait, for those who didn't pick it up before...

Goals for the week - sort of...

Inspired by a chum from Twitter, Maria Smith, I'm going to try and make a goal list for the new week ahead.

First up is to assemble, format and publish a new mini novella. It's called IN SEBASTIAN'S HANDS, and it's what I call a BDSM love story in three acts. In the first story Megan and Sebastian meet at a party and discover that they share a deep seated need to play games of pain and pleasure. In the second story, the two have been together some time, and their relationship is growing richer and more fulfilling... and kinkier than ever with each day that passes. In the third story, Sebastian and Megan are a committed couple, happily looking forward to a long and happy life together, with lots of love, laughs... and spanking.

I'm also planning to set up a super freebie giveaway at Amazon for three days, another story of spanking and BDSM games, for those who enjoy a slice of romantic super perviness. Watch for that mid week. :)

I have three guest blog posts to write by the end of the week. I've done a rough draft of one, and have ideas for two more. So that's a start. Sort of...

Months ago, before I got caught up in work on my second Victorian opus, I stared writing a fun menage a trois romance about a girl who takes a holiday in a sleepy country village, and gets involved with not one gorgeous hunk but two! It's called TEMPTED BY TWO, I'd like to return to that, and write lots more of it. I'm at 20K so far, but it would be nice to make it to 30K at least, although probably not all next week.

I need to plan a bit of promo for my next Spice Brief. A GENTLEWOMAN'S PLEASURE is out on 1st February, the same day as GABRIEL'S NAUGHTY GAME, from one of my writing pals, Madelynne Ellis.

Speaking of Spice Briefs, I'd like to start making some notes for two more of them. THE RED CHAIR and THE WHITE ROOM are #2 and #3 in my Three Colors Sexy trio. The first of these THE BLUE BOOK, comes out in October 2012.

Yikes, I'm going to need to get busy and not mess about too much!