Reflection

Hi, all!  It’s nice to be here.  I’d like to thank Lee for inviting me.  My name is Opal Carew and I write erotic romance.  I also write steamy romance as Amber Carew. 

This time of year, I like to sit back and take a few moments to reflect on what I would like to achieve in the coming year, and beyond.  It’s tempting to just follow along my current path without really thinking about it, letting things happen by default, but if I just follow the path blindly without thinking about where I’m going, isn’t it like riding a boat without steering?  Drifting along where the current takes me?

I’m currently in the middle of a six book contract with St. Martin’s Press, with deadlines more or less set and I have two novellas to write for Samhain, and that’s more than enough to keep me busy for a year, but are there other things I should be doing to make my career successful? And what about the other aspects of my life?

I think the real question is what can I do to make my life happier?  That happiness could be a result of many things.  For instance, making my career more successful (or fun), spending more time with family, reducing my stress level, or improving my health.

As part of this process, I make a list of goals.  Some are very specific, with clear steps, and some are very broad.  Some are life achievement types of goals.  Clearly, those are bigger and may carry over years.

The great thing is, over the years I see these goals manifesting.  For instance, my big dream used to be getting published, and that finally happened several years ago.  Now it’s being a New York Times bestselling author.  That goal goes on the list every year.  Another was to be an award winning author.  Previously, I’d never won anything, but over the past two years, I’ve won three awards, and this year I’m a finalist for the RT Book Review magazine’s Best Erotic Book of 2011 award.  Also, I might not be a NYT bestselling author, but my short story, THREE, hit #15 on Barnes and Noble in August.

An example of a very specific, easily attainable goal was to submit to a publisher a series of sci fi erotic romance novellas called Celestial Soul-Mates that I’d had on the backburner.  The first two stories were written and the other three drafted.  I just had to send them out, but I never seemed to find the time.  After two years on my goal list, I finally did it, and now they’re being published by Samhain.  The third in the series, PASSION PLAY, came out a few days ago.

Another goal I added last year was to write some erotic short stories.  I love to write short stories, so they would add some fun to my career, and with the growing popularity of eBooks, there’s now a bigger market for short fiction.  So while struggling with one of my books a few months ago, in an attempt to free my creative block, I sat down and wrote a short story.  Ideas started to flow and I came up with the concept for a series, called Red Hot Fantasies.  I published the first story, THE MALE STRIPPER, two days before Christmas, and THE STRANGER a couple of days ago.

  

I find that over the years, this process has helped me find success and happiness, in my career and in my personal life.

What about you?  Do you have a planning process that works for you?  Do you have any secrets for finding success that you’d like to share?

I’m giving away a copy of The Male Stripper, the first story of the Red Hot Fantasies series, to FIVE lucky people.  Just leave a comment to be eligible to win.

Please join me on Facebook: Opal Carew or Amber Carew

Best,

Opal

http://www.OpalCarew.com 

http://www.AmberCarew.com


***Opal's winners are: Jane, Linda Henderson, Leni, Evan Blanc and Alison!!  Congratulations! Please email your full name and address to totebag@authorsoundrelations.com as soon as possible!  Thanks!***