Happy New Year! I’m not much of a person for annual resolutions—they’re too easily broken and then I feel guilty. I do, however, believe in personal goals. When I began writing, I had a number of authorly goals, and I’m very pleased to say I’ve achieved quite a few of them. I’ve had books published (a lot!—my 26th novel releases in less than a week), I’ve had translations and audiobooks, I’ve won awards and landed on bestseller lists, and I’ve attended book signings (in the US and Europe) where I’ve had the chance to meet readers. Really, how amazing is that?
I have more goals, and one of the biggest is to retire early from my day job and write full-time. That’s a pretty lofty ambition already, but there’s more to it. I want to travel, staying in various new places for weeks or months so that I truly get to know them. Doesn’t that sound ideal? Choosing a location, moving in, and spending my days strolling around, sitting in cafés, chatting with the locals, and writing all my wonderful new story ideas. Luckily, my husband is totally on board with this plan.
I’ve already started thinking about some of the places where I’d like to temporarily reside. New Orleans is high on that list. Specifically, I’d love to rent an apartment in one of the gorgeous houses in the Garden District, where I can walk to the shops and restaurants on Magazine Street, spend some lazy afternoons in the cemeteries, and see how long it takes me to start saying “y’all.” Of course, New Orleans has a particularly rich literary tradition, and I like to think I’d be suitably inspired.
Where else? New York City. Chicago. Port Townsend (Washington state). Zagreb. Reykjavik. Ghent. Porto. Edinburgh. Those are all places I’ve visited and found fascinating, but with the exception of Chicago and Zagreb, I haven’t had the chance to stay for long. I also have some less specific destinations in mind, such as a beachside cottage, a mountain cabin, and a little house in a tiny town in Wyoming or western Nebraska. There’s also a very long list of locations I’ve never visited but find intriguing; New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Chile, Botswana, and Morocco are all on that list.
The thing about goals is that they have to be reasonably achievable. I think this one is. The biggest variable is the timeline, which depends largely on my daughters’ university trajectories (one of them is currently a junior at a private college and the other is a junior in high school) and my book sales (she says, batting her eyelashes hopefully). If all goes well, it won’t be unbearably distant.
What are your big goals? And what places do you think I should add to my Nomadic Author Itinerary?
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Kim Fielding is the bestselling author of numerous m/m romance novels, novellas, and short stories. Like Kim herself, her work is eclectic, spanning genres such as contemporary, fantasy, paranormal, and historical. Her stories are set in alternate worlds, in 15th century Bosnia, in modern-day Oregon. Her heroes are hipster architect werewolves, housekeepers, maimed giants, and conflicted graduate students. They’re usually flawed, they often encounter terrible obstacles, but they always find love.
After having migrated back and forth across the western two-thirds of the United States, Kim calls the boring part of California home. She lives there with her family and her day job as a university professor, but escapes as often as possible via car, train, plane, or boat. This may explain why her characters often seem to be in transit as well. She dreams of traveling and writing full-time.
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A complete list of Kim’s books: http://www.kfieldingwrites.com/kim-fieldings-books/