Punny, I know, but did you really expect any less. All cheeky plays on words aside, I cannot even begin to express how excited I am to be done with 2019. While several good things (great things) personally happened to me–got a promotion, a partial request from Carina Press, and celebrated three years of marriage–the rest of it was a straight-up dumpster fire and I know I’m not alone in that sentiment.

But, do you know what? It’s over. Gone. Fin. Done. There’s no reason to dwell on all of the could-have-beens of yesterday when tomorrow is waiting to be fulfilled. So without further ado–yep, you guessed it–

New Year’s Resolutions!

I know what you’re thinking, I do. No, seriously, I totally do.

No one ever keeps their New Year’s Resolution, so why bother?

We bother, because goals are important. Whether they be fitness, personal, or writing focused, they still matter as a guiding blueprint of how we want to live our lives. Now, I’m realistic and recognize that there is a difference between lofty, “dream-big” goals and attainable ones that can be implemented in everyday life.

So what are mine?

Before I get into that, you need to understand the wake-up call I got at the end of the year. Nothing crazy or life altering, more like the universe giving a subtle nudge and saying “I tried to tell you…”. Yeah, yeah, you did and now I’m paying attention.

The story goes like this, I was at my aunt’s (semi)annual Solstice party which just so happened to magically fall on Yule this year. There I had the privilege of spending time with friends and strangers, drinking too much wine, seeing a fire dancer, and getting a rune reading. To head off any likely skepticism that I’ve allowed a rune reading to dictate my life, remember the interaction is more about what you bring to the table (literally) and how open your mind is. The key is to let your reader’s words and interpretation of the base meaning of each rune and their general position guide your own inner perspective. At the end of the day, only you can really understand what those exact runes mean for you.

Last year started pretty rough for me in the writing sphere. I begged the powers that be for inspiration. What I didn’t realize was that in my blind determination that I needed inspiration for one, specific story, the universe was busy lobbing ideas at me in spades, all of which I threw back. Yep, I’m an ungrateful universe urchin. To put it to you plainly, I came up with eight–Count them EIGHT–original story ideas. Probably more, I don’t even know when some of the others came to me. At any rate, my ungrateful ass refused to give any of them the time of day they were so clearly demanding.

Fine. Lesson learned. That brings us back to resolutions.

1. Recognize and appreciate the gifts the universe is graciously bestowing upon me, even if they don’t fit my current plan.
2. Yes, get my health back on track. Believe it or not, sitting and writing all day is not exactly conducive to an active lifestyle.
3. Submit query letters to literary agents (already even have a mock that isn’t half bad if I say so myself).
4. Polish my synopsis. You have no idea how difficult it is to condense 131,000 words into less than a thousand without any flourishes, all while spoiling the entire book.
5. Just keep writing. Everything. This blog, those eight stories, blurbs, more queries, pitches. All of it. I owe it to myself. I owe it to you.

So what are your goals for the year? Are they lofty? Are you already on the road to accomplishing them? What methods do you use to stay motivated and on track? Let me know in the comments below or put them on my Facebook page, I’d love to hear, maybe even implement a few myself 😉