Of course, you know I have procrastination down to an art form – and what better way to prove it than to make my New Year’s Resolutions on January 13? Still, in our family we say that “13″ is a lucky number, so perhaps I’m doing it just right.

Anyhow, I’ve already hinted that 2009 will be a year of submissions and agent-hunting for me, as well as finishing another novel. I’m also revisiting some of my 2008 resolutions to guide what I plan for this year. So without, as they say, further ado, my fiction writing resolutions for 2009 are:

1. To submit 20 short stories to contests or potential markets (as of today, I’ve already submitted one to Every Day Fiction. Just 19 to go!) I’m putting this resolution at the top of my list because short fiction is something I keep neglecting, even though I think there’s a lot of value in it for me – to practice the skill of writing and to get published outside of travel writing.
2. To finish revising my novel Kanako’s Foreigner and submit it to agents. I’m having New Year angst about this one – is it still any good? Is there a decent novel in there worth saving? I hope so. I’ll have a good look at it this month and finish my new round of edits and hope I still believe in it.
3. To finish my second novel and edit it ready to submit to the Australian/Vogel award in May. I’m confident I can do this, my only problem is deciding which is my second novel. Is it the Bratislava novel I’ve got three or four chapters into, or the NaNoWriMo attempt from November? I think it’s the Bratislava one, but I need to sit down and make a real decision. Am I a procrastinator or what?
4. Increase readership of this blog, Becoming A Fiction Writer. Last year, my writing resolutions included travel writing goals too, but this year I’m focusing on fiction – the travel writing seems to more or less take care of itself.

To keep myself more accountable to these goals – and to get some support from you people too – I’ll be posting a monthly summary of how well I’m doing in regard to these resolutions. Those twelve checking-in spots throughout the year should keep me well on target. After all, last year I actually achieved the majority of my writing resolutions – and this year I’ve made less – so I can’t see any reason why I can’t do it all. Wish me luck.