Category Archives: Planning / Plotting

2026 Writing Goals

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I sat down the other day and wrote a list of things that I want to accomplish this year in my Writing. I ended up with 10 in my writing planner, and another 17 which I wrote up while at work on Saturday. Some of them overlap, so lets have a look and see what we can make of the two lists.

Attend the Riwaka Fair and sell my books (6 books!) This was on the 2nd of January and I sold 6 books. That’s 4 more than last year. And I even made a couple of connections with people who were interested in writing. I love encouraging people, so I like making these connections and sharing information.

Publish Finding Faith in March – ebook and paperback. I’ve also written the start of a prologue, that I will release in February – I just need to finish it.

Publish Gaining Grace in July – ebook and paperback.

Publish Having Hope in November – ebook and paperback, and I need to create an epilogue to show the girls in the future – not sure how far yet.

Finish writing Quin and Stef – I want to get this done by the end of March2026

Finish writing Revelations I also want to finish this by the end of March

Write and complete Modern Cinderella by August 2026. I already have this outlined, so it shouldn’t take much to write it up.

Write and complete Redemption by September – this is the last of the Angel books, so I can edit and publish them for 2027.

Start writing Simon and Mel starting in October / November.

Edit Quin and Stef (for publication 2027)

Edit Modern Cinderella (for publication 2027)

Edit Resurrection (for publication 2027)

Edit Redemption (for publication 2027)

Earn $500 from my books (Jan to Dec 26)

Establish Alli Harris – create a website, facebook and instagram page for my darker writing (more fantasy and science fiction romance.)

Create an audio book of Cursed Love – This is one thing I want to achieve this year, in my learning a new skill, is recording and editing Cursed Love. I’m actually keen to video me reading it and releasing it on Youtube – but I need to get a bit more confident in front of the camera.

Have 500 people on my Catherine Mede facebook author page, and 500 people in my newsletter list. Currently I have 210 and 310 respectively, so I don’t think 500 is too big an ask.

I think that just about captures everything. That’s seventeen items all up, so I will keep you posted on updates, probably once a quarter, so that we all know where I am at, and you guys can kick my butt if I don’t get things done on time. Nothing like a bit of accountability.

How did I do in 2025?

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At this time of the year, I like to look back over the previous 12 months and determine whether I achieved any of my goals or not. While I didn’t manage to get a lot of my own personal goals (weight loss), I have started on a very determined regime that is working towards that. But we’re not here to discuss how heavy or light I am…you want to know the writing successes I had this year.

I wanted to write 3, maybe 4 books this year. I have written two, and if you count the two half books, I have written three books. I wrote the last of my Racing Hearts series, (Having Hope) and started writing my Tuivale series – Men in Kilts. I am over halfway through Quin and Stef’s story, but I tell you what, they keep giving me headaches those two.

I also wrote Resurrection, the first in my angel story I’m also a third of the way through Revelation. And I’ll start Redemption next year. I’ll be releasing this series under Alli Harris. This story gave me a migraine until November when I really sat down, looked at what I had written, and reworked my plot, so I have a definite idea of where I want the story to go. I will finish that next year and start on the last story in the series.

I wanted to publish three books this year, but I only published two.

I published Finding Sam Healey and Carol’s Christmas – mostly to crickets (as in, there was no one there to purchase them). I felt quite disheartened, because I pour so much love and attention into my stories, and I enjoyed writing them, and several people have said that they enjoyed reading them (and I love hearing from those who have read my books). I did consider giving up writing, but to be honest, I have way too many story ideas that I can’t give them up. I need to get them out.

Carol’s Christmas was my ninth book released, and next year I am publishing my Racing Harts series with Finding Faith coming out first, in March 2026. Gaining Grace will be in June or July 2026, and Having Hope will be in October or November 2026. I’m really excited to get these books out there because I’ve loved writing this series. The characters were so much fun to write and their partners – are so dreamy! I especially like Hope’s boyfriend, but you’ll have to wait to meet him.

My last goal was to write full time, and earn $50k a year, so that I didn’t have to go back to work. Of course, I was unemployed at the time, and I could give writing a lot of my time, and I got into a great routine of writing in the morning, and then finding something else to do with my day. I was applying for job’s flat out, because… well We need money to feed us and pay bills, and I was going for all the weird and wonderful jobs – including a DoC ranger, and an office position at JB HiFi. Instead, I got a job, working part time as an administrator at the hospital, and it threw all of my writing plans out the window. The hours were unusual and I work on a fortnightly roster, including weekends, so I found I was doing slightly less writing than I wanted. But I have to admit that I can do writing while at work, and I frequently do, especially in the weekends.

So overall, I achieved my writing and publishing goals, and I would love to extend myself further but I still need to make that elusive $1000. Will that happen this year?

I’ll share my writing goals for 2026 next week.

Prying the Story Strands from the Ether

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Sometimes in writing you strike a problem, like painting yourself into a corner, and sometimes it can be hard to find a way out of the problem I’ve written before about brainstorming and bouncing ideas of other people to see what works and what doesn’t. But this time nothing was sticking.

I’ve recently had this problem with my dark Angel story. I had started writing it, but had crunched to a halt, trying to work out where I wanted the story to go. I’d spent some sleepless nights trying to work out the problems, but unfortunately nothing was coming together. Brainstorming only seemed to complicate matters.

I decided I needed to work out what I had and where I wanted the story to go. I had a fair idea of the storyline, but it wasn’t flowing, it didn’t seem to be cohesive and the storyline kept falling part.

I had a piece of paper and I wrote down what I already had. I had about seven or eight chapters already written, but it kind of felt rushed. Like too much was happening in the first few scenes.

Then I worked out where I wanted the story to go. I knew where I wanted it to start, where I wanted it to head, and the climatic ending.

Then I filled in the gaps.

And it worked out! After working out a sentence or two for each part of the story structure I expanded it out until I had chapters. And this is where a character from the previous book needed to come back into this story, and with the addition of this one character, everything fell into place.

And it means that the chapters I’ve already written don’t have to be ditched. I only need to rework them to fit them back into my story structure.

I think the problem came from pantsing the story, and as I told you before, I am a plotter, and so not taking the time to plot out how I want the story to go was my problem. Unlike pantsers, I don’t feel like I’ve already done the story when I plot it out. I feel like it’s a guideline for me to work from. If I find a new direction to go in, I can, but I have the plotting there to come back to and weave the story together.

This angel story is going to be published under my other pen name, because it’s has more fantasy elements in it – in fact it’s all fantasy crossed with science fiction, but at this stage, I’m only concentrating on getting the story to come together.

I hope to have Quin and Stef and this story finished before the end of the year. Fingers crossed I can get it done.

Living Your Best Life

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It has been obvious to me lately that we need to be living our best lives.

So what does that look like for me?
Living my best life is being with those I love, doing the things I love, and not taking things for granted.

Stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new isn’t something that I do often, but when I do, I’m always grateful for the opportunity to try something new. I always yearn to do the things I love, and I’m slowly getting back into doing those things again.

Writing is something that I’m passionate about, and as long as I can write, I will continue to do so. But recently I’ve decided to go back to writing the slightly off the wall books that I’ve always wanted to write, like fantasy and science fiction. Why? Because that is where I really enjoyed the story telling and developing a whole new world (worldbuilding). To a degree I get to do that with Tuivale and my Men in Kilts series, but it doesn’t have that fantasy aspect that takes the story to the next level, adding elements that are otherworldly, or just out of this realm of possibility.

I will continue to write contemporary romance and Womens Fiction, because I still have a lot of what if questions that need answering, but I have a need to express my inner weirdo to get it out of my head and onto paper.

Celebrations

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My son has just turned 21, which is always a big celebration, no matter where the in the world you live. But do we celebrate other things, like Book Birthdays?

I am probably one of the worst of celebrating. Christmas was never my thing, but I’ve always made a celebration of other people’s birthdays. I like to make people feel special. I’m up for celebrating anything, whether it is finally getting IT to finally do something we asked them to do 6 weeks ago at work, or a friend finally managing to get their wardrobe cleaned out.

But one thing I don’t do enough, is celebrate my own successes. I mean, I’m not raking in the money yet, which would be cause for a celebration, but I don’t really celebrate the release of a new book. By the time I’ve got a book released, I’ve read it over a hundred times and I’m ready to move onto the new and shiny project – which I think every writer can relate to. I’m excited that I’ve released a new book out into the world, but I struggle to really make the release something to celebrate.

And then book anniversary’s. I know what year a book was published, but until recently, didn’t keep track of the month it was published, so while Cursed Love was released eleven years ago, I can’t remember what month I released it. (And eleven years ago, my son was ten!)

When I finish a book, I don’t tend to celebrate, because I’m ready to move onto the next project and start the new shiny idea that is glowing (and growing) in my brain.

A friend of mine, who is a life coach, tells me that we need to celebrate those small achievements, the moments when we have done what we set out to do. We need to remind ourselves that celebration is normal in everyday life, and we should celebrate, and uplift and encourage others to celebrate too.

So I intend to start celebrating a bit more vocally about my books. I’ll tell people more about them, celebrate the topic I’ve chosen to write, I’ll spend time creating posts that celebrate what I’ve achieved, and help others celebrate their wins in life too. Because publishing a book is a win, in a world with AI bots churning out books by the day, any little writer knows that to write, edit, drip blood sweat and tears over a book, and then release it, is worth the celebration.

Worldbuilding 101 – Tuivale Map and some locals

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As promosed, a chance to meet some locals at Tuivale.

The Tuivale Tribune is the weekly newsletter which is produced by Elsie from the Tuivale Holiday Inn. Elsie is a busybody and knows everyone’s story, or at least she thinks she does. Between Elsie and Julie, who runs the Crusty Loaf, they think they know who does what and when.

Ian Tiddsdale owns and operates the Tuivale General Store is a genuinely nice guy who actually does know more than the Tuivale Tiddlers as he calls Elsie and Julie. People tell him all sorts of things, but he keeps mum, because he isn’t one to tell tales.

Glyn Davis runs the Highlanders Arms, the pub, and the adjoining restaurant, the Kilt and Kirtle. He started the Tuesday Night Quiz to bring more people into the pub on a quieter night of the week. Each money, money raised from the quiz is donated to a local group who have requested financial help.

It was Glyn who started the Men in Kilts club as a means to connect with others who had Scottish heritage and proud of it. Turns out, Tuivale has a large contingent of men claiming Scottish ancestry.

But only Old Man McDonald knows how to play the bagpipes, and he does so very badly. Glyn hopes that one of the younger men will take them up.

To give you some idea of the size of the town, here is a map of Tuivale.

Tuivale.pdf – 1

Worldbuilding 101 – Welcome to Tuivale

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Any story, whether contemporary or fantasy needs worldbuilding. Most of my previous stories have been based in Nelson, and I’ve created businesses to fit into that the actual world, but I’ve named streets that don’t actually exist. It’s all for the sake of privacy.

For my Men in Kilts series, I wanted to have a seaside town, that was fictional, and I didn’t want it to relate to any existing town, so I created Tuivale. It’s a popular tourist spot, being on the gateway to the Abel Tasman National Park. With a population of around 2,500 people, the numbers swell during the summer season when visitors arrive to start the Abel Tasman Track and visit the golden sand beaches to sunbathe.

Tuivale has a town centre, complete with a supermarket, two cafe’s, two restaurants and a pub called the Highlanders Arms. The restaurant based at the pub is called the Kilt and Kirtle. There’s a garage for all the mechanical needs, along with a car parts shop, a handyman complex that sells outdoor living and plants. There is also a beautician and women’s wear shop. There’s even an engineering workshop, where the first of my protagonist’s work.

There’s a school that caters for years 1 – 8, but they will have to head to Motueka High School to complete Year 9 – 13. There is a small facility in Tuivale, however, that caters for the small number of people who are in apprenticeship training, called the New Zealand Training Institute. It looks after those doing apprenticeships, including the studying part of their training.

There is a sports complex next to a sports field, which provides for soccer, netball, rugby, rugby league and hockey. The inside facilities cater to pickleball, basketball, squash, badminton, and has a rock-climbing wall. One of the inside arena’s also plays host to the occasional Roller Derby tournament.

There is a First Responders Station where the fire brigade is based with easy access to the main road, along with an ambulance and a one officer police station. There is a small emergency department and maternity suite at the First Responders Station.

Tuivale is a popular place for young professionals – but not a yuppie haven. There are a few retired people who live there, but they are in the minority. The average age is about 45. Most of my heroes and heroines are in their late twenties to mid-fifties – with a variety of tropes to cater for every story, like age gap, fake dating, one bed, boy next door, best friend’s sister,

Over the next few weeks you’ll get to meet some of the people who populate the town, and some of them will have books of their own to tell their love story.

Next week we’ll meet some of the people who populate Tuivale.

Progress Report

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We’re half-way through 2025, how did that happen?

So I thought I better update you on progress I’ve made so far. I’ve published Finding Sam Healey, thanks to those who brought a copy. It was a low key entrance into the world, but I’m seeing some results, so that’s great.

I’m currently working through edits on Carols Christmas, which is a modern day retelling of the Christmas Carol. This is due to the editor on 26 June, and I’m steadily getting that finished. It isn’t a big book – clocking in only just at 40k, but I love the story, and the fact that so many people helped me to write this book is just mind blowing. Thank you to everyone who has talked to me during my research into Breast Cancer. Two of them will get to read the finished product before anyone else for their comments and thoughts before I release it, which I’m hoping to do in August 2025.

I’m battling my way through my Angel story for my new pen name. I’m only struggling because I keep running out of time when I’m editing so much at the moment. I want to try and limit my writing to three months, so getting a story written in three months, which is totally doable for me. I just need to be a bit stricter with my deadlines.

Once Carols Christmas has been through the editor, I have the first of my Racing Harts books to be edited. There are three of them. Finding Faith, Gaining Grace and Having Hope. Those names might change, but that’s what I have at the moment.

Writing-wise, I’m in the process of making vision boards and plotting out my Men in Kilts series. Hence the very odd photo I posted yesterday (if you didn’t see it… here it is again… I can’t stop looking at it, for all the wrong reasons so I can’t use it. It’s AI generated…)

He’s rather stunning, but I can’t take my eyes of her missing thigh…and what is her arm and hand doing???

There are seven books in that series so far, and it will be a fictional New Zealand Town that it’s set in, and I can’t wait to start delving into the lives of these men who like to wear kilts (Thanks Mum!)

So the next six months will be busy with writing, finishing off the first angel book, then two more, and starting on my Men in Kilts, and editing the Racing Harts. All going well, I might get one of the Racing Harts books out by the end of the year… Fingers Crossed.

Excitement is building

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After what seems like forever, I’m finally back writing. I think it was only two weeks, but when you’re a writer, two weeks can seem like two years. And because I write when I have a spare moment, and before I go to work, an hour a day feels like a lifetime ago. But I managed to get in three writing days, and a couple of days editing.

I have Finding Sam Healey up for pre-order, and I’m working out what my next projects will be. I have a little bit of writing to go on my last Racing Harts story, and then I think I will write my Cinderella retelling. Editing-wise, I’m working on Carol’s Christmas, and hope to have that out, maybe October or November. But it could be earlier than that. It’s still all up in the air.

What isn’t up in the air is wanting to sell my books myself. From my own website. With my ebooks, that means I’ll make 90% of the costs, rather than 70% (or as low as 60% with an aggregator). It means that I can also provide paperback copies to New Zealand readers at a more reasonable cost as well. I already sell my books for $15, but I’m looking at increasing the costs, mostly due to the fact that it is costing me more to getting them in, but it would still be reasonable. $25 plus $5 postage.

With selling on my own website, I can offer more merchandise as well, like bookmarks, and other publications that aren’t available through any other platform. It also means I can offer discounts on my eBooks, and currently I’m looking at selling them at US$2.99 through my website, while increasing the costs to $4.99 through the other book places (Amazon, Kobo, Apple, Google, Smashwords and other online retailers.

I want to get serious about selling my books, and this is one way I can do it. I would love to sell more paperbacks, but I’m still working out the nuts and bolts of advertising.

So watch this space…something big is happening here soon…

Trying Something New

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I hinted that I would be trying something new earlier this year (was that only three weeks ago?). I wanted to see if I could do it before I told you about it.

And I can actually do it, so what have I been doing? I’ve been writing two stories at the same time.

And it isn’t that hard either. With one exception.

I knew that I had three months to write some stories, before I had full time work for a couple of months, so I wanted to see if I could write three stories at the same time. I had a Racing Harts story to write, an Urban Fantasy story, and a fairytale.

The only reason I wanted to try this, was because I can only write for about an hour a day before my brain goes to mush. It was a gamble; would I be able to write three stories?

The answer is no. And here is why. The fairytale and the Racing Harts story were both contemporary romances, so I couldn’t switch between the two stories comfortably. But I am able to switch between a contemporary romance and an Urban Fantasy with no issues, so I have been writing two stories a day since 5th January.

It’s been an interesting experience, but it also gives me twice as much to think about and plot out before my next writing session.

And then I got news, I have a part time job, working 20 hours a week, mostly in the afternoon, which meant that my original idea of focusing on my writing this year is still happening.

I’m looking forward to my new job, I’m moving back into office work, which is somewhat scary, but also exciting. It means that I’m inside all day, even in winter, so no more finding sunny spots to start the day.

I hope to continue writing two stories at a time, with plans to write the fairytale next, then the Men in Kilts series, so there could be a few new books out next year.

My publishing plan this year is to publish Finding Sam Healey (tentatively April 2025), Carol’s Christmas (July/August 2025) and Faith’s story in Racing Harts (October/November 2025).

I’m looking forward to sharing my successes with you all.