68 for 68? Maybe

For the past three or four years I’ve tried setting a small number of broad goals for each year and getting more detailed in my monthly goals. For example, if I set a goal 300,000 words of fiction, each month I decide what fiction I want to work on.

This year, for whatever reason, I don’t feel like doing that. Maybe because I’m old and feel the need to get more stuff done. Maybe because after spending the last half-a-year working on Jekyll and Hyde, I feel a need to catch up and accomplish other projects. Or maybe something else. In the words of Zelazny’s Lord of Light, pick any of the above and you might be right.

As I turn 68 next year, I decided on a whim to make a list of 68 goals. That may change by the time before 2026 but it feels right. It’s not like they’re insane goals like publish 68 novels or travel to 68 countries. A lot of it is stuff like finishing up my Howard Hawks movie marathon (if you can have a marathon drawn out over a couple of years) and bicycling more.

I’m determined to be realistic about what I can accomplish (which is not to say I will accomplish everything). My writing goals, for instance, have to take into account that the galleys for Jekyll and Hyde will probably come back for proofing next year, followed by indexing. That’s going to take time. And I want very much to take a week off in 2026. I don’t think I’ve taken a week’s vacation since I visited my family and friends in Fort Walton Beach at the end of 2023.

To be clear, it’s not like I’m burning out. I love what I do. But I think a solid week of time off would be good. Maybe see my siblings for the first time since 2023 (see the above poster). Maybe just chill and watch the dogs while TYG works. Maybe something else. I’m rather leery about flying given the idiots running our airspace, but we’ll see.

So that’s one week out of 52 gone and maybe three weeks for Jekyll and Hyde. And perhaps I should make allowance for disaster, sick dogs and other possible problems.

That leaves a lot of time. How will I fill it? I’ll get into that New Years Day.

Cover by Paris Cullens, all rights to images remain with current holders.