Taking a breath.

#ROW80 is A Round of Words in 80 Days. It’s a quarterly writing challenge where you define your personal goals and blog each week about your progress. It’s made to be flexible and allow for tweaking.

I actually forgot to hit publish on this blog this morning. Oopse!!

I know there is one more week left in #ROW80, but as of this week I am completely finished with all of my goals. Yes, you heard me right. I’m done!! As of this week, I have met all of my 2013 goals and deadlines. Most importantly, the deadlines. This was my first year to write with hard due dates and it has added a certain fire, or urgency, to my schedule. Some people don’t do well under the pressure, but I feel like I’ve really done well with it.

This week I got to read a book for the fun of it. You read that right! I read. For fun. And it was awesome. I haven’t been able to read something cover-to-cover in ages. I chose one of my favorite authors and dug into a book I’ve had for a while but couldn’t read because of time. Now that I’m done, I’m hoping to make it through several books I’ve wanted to read, but haven’t had time to.

Okay, so what did I want to accomplish this round?

• Finish Line of Duty, Good Guys Wear Black #2
• Edit Line of Duty, Good Guys Wear Black #2
• See How Zombies Stole Christmas released
• Finish Project Paper Bag, AKA Committed
• Edit Project Paper Bag, AKA Committed

Line of Duty is due December 31st. I turned it in December 17th. Yesterday!! It felt so good to not only get the book done, but being ahead of schedule and feeling really good about this book. This book made me cry so many times. I know not everyone will be able to read it. For some people it could be a very triggering topic that the hero and heroine deal with, but it was a story I’ve wanted to tell for a long time. And I told it.

Committed is done and out to readers. It won’t be due until January, but at this rate I could very well get it in ahead of time, which would be awesome!

For the next week I really want to try to relax and enjoy myself. I’d like to read a few books, clean and enjoy the holidays. And just that. No writing or edits, just taking a breather. Because 2014 is right around the corner and there’s a lot going on next year.