Wednesday, January 27, 2010

40 for 40

Sally (weeping): And I'm gonna be *forty*!! Harry: When?
Sally: Someday...



Well friends, it's finally here. And I gotta tell you, so far it's rockin'.

I know I've been a little list-crazy as of late, but here's the last one for awhile. I promise.

40 things I want to do/complete/achieve this year (in no particular order):

1. Hit #1 on the Kindle best-seller list. (What's fabulous about this is that I started compiling this list last week, having no idea that I'd come so close today -- I'm at #11!!)

2. Buy a Volkswagon Beetle. Red.

3. Meet my friends from a certain discussion forum in person. (Just because we haven't met in person yet doesn't mean they're not "real" friends.)

4. Finish WILS.

5. Attend a writer's conference.

6. Start a Reiki practice.

7. Resume playing my guitar, and get better at it. (Lessons would be nice)

8. Sell more print copies, and get into more bookstores.

9. Sell movie rights to Faking It and Ordinary World.

10. Buy a new bed. (Seriously, I haven't had a new mattress in a friggin' long time, and my headboard is just plain bad feng shui.)

11. Meet Nora Ephron for lunch.

12. Meet Aaron Sorkin for dinner.

13. Meet Duran Duran for the helluvit.

14. Start painting again (pictures, not walls).

15. Take a trip w/ my best friend since birth. (Not my twin brother, my other best friend, although I've known her almost as long. Although he's invited too.)

16. Travel to at least 3 cities I've never been before.

17. Go on a chocolate-themed vacation.

18. Host a dinner party. (I was gonna say Thanksgiving dinner, but I don't know if I'll be ready for that this year!)

19. Spend less time on Facebook and more time writing. (Yeah, right. Good luck with that one...)

20. Write a pilot script for a TV series.

21. Pay off my credit card debt.

22. Attend the premiere of The Social Network.

23. Be invited to the premiere of The Social Network.

24. Attend a Major League Baseball game.

25. Do an interview with NPR.

26. Meet Richard Russo.

27. Color my hair (aka, get rid of the damn grey! It's the only thing I'm complaining about as far as age goes.)

28. Stop reading my reviews.

29. Take better care of my teeth.

30. Record a song.

31. Make audio versions of my novels.

32. Buy a bicycle and use it (and seriously, learn how to ride again!)

33. Find out my grandmother's golden cake with chocolate frosting recipe. (Although who am I kidding? It'll never come out as good as hers. Ever.)

34. Spend less time watching re-runs on TV. (I mean really, how many times can you watch Law&Order, any version?)

35. Reduce my courseload to part-time.

36. Get an agent and traditional publishing deal. (I've been waffling on this one. Certainly I've been doing ok on my own, and I've been critical of some agents' and others' attitudes toward self-publishing and indy-published authors. But the fact remains that there are advantages and opportunities available to authors with agents and traditional publishing deals. I think the real accomplishment for me would be knowing I *could* get one if I want, and I believe I can and will this year.)

37. Buy a turntable (You knew that one was comin', didn't you. The funny thing is that I don't even own an iPod yet. Or a Kindle, for that matter.)

38. Re-vamp my website. (Or, at least update it.)

39. Better manage my time and energy.

40. Celebrate our birthday with my siblings on Long Island.

And to my dear twin brother: Without you, my entire life would've been short on joy and long on loneliness. Happy Birthday.

11 comments:

Elspeth Futcher said...

Sending you every good wish, my friend. Many of the items on your list would be on mine as well.

Happy, happy birthday to you! May we actually meet in person sometime this year!

With a big hug;

Beth

Bossy Betty said...

Nice list! May you accomplish every goal!

Elisa said...

Thank you, my dear friend Beth! I have written it, therefore it must happen -- can't let my readers down!
<3

Thank you, Betty! Here's hopin'!

Andi said...

Fantastic list! I wish you the best of luck on completing it - and Happy Birthday!

Chrissy said...

Happy birthday from a new fan! Just purchased Faking it and Ordinary World from amazon last night and ended up staying up half the night reading them both. Looking forward to enjoying your future works. Congratulations on your recent successes and wishing you much luck on accomplishing each and every goal on your list.

Elisa said...

Andi, glad you liked it since your blogpost inspired it!

Thank you for the birthday wishes, Chrissy, and for buying my books! So glad you enjoy them.

christine walker said...

Hi! I just finished Faking It and An Ordinary World...loved, loved, loved them! I downloaded them on my Kindle! Glad to help out with that. I was thinking during Faking It what a wonderful movie it would be. Now that I have finished Ordinary World (literally about 15 mins ago!), I know they would both be fabulous movies!
I read both books in about 4 days. Could not put them down. I needed to know what would happen. I also could not get the Duran Duran song out of my head. I actually welled up thinking of the lyric, "Where is the life that I recognize?" when I thought of Andi. So happy with the way things ended. You are a terrific writer and storyteller!
Thank you!!

Also, great 40th birthday list! When I turned 40 last year I made a "Things I've Learned in 40 Years" list.

I look forward to reading more from you!

Christine

Terri H said...

Check it out, from Amazon:

Bestsellers in Romance
Updated hourly


1. Faking It by Elisa Lorello
$0.99

2. Hide in Plain Sight by Marta Perry
$0.00

3. Slow Hands by Leslie Kelly
$0.00

4. Irresistible Forces by Brenda Jackson
$0.00

5. Duality: Guardians of the Light, Book 1 by Renee Wildes
$5.20

6. Tiger's Curse by Colleen Houck
$1.00

7. Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels
$0.00

8. His Lady Mistress by Elizabeth Rolls
$0.00

9. Dancing in the Moonlight by RaeAnne Thayne
$0.00

10. Ordinary World by Elisa Lorello
$0.99

AWESOME!!!

Elisa said...

Thank you so much, Christine -- I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Would love to see them hit the big screen one day.

Terri, even I'm impressed with that!

:)

christine walker said...

I just realized I added an 'an" in front of Ordinary World. Sorry! But I did recommend the books to several people!

Elisa said...

No problem, Christine (I don't check for grammar and spelling on my blog, haha). And thanks for the recommendations!

:)