Happy New Year 2013

For so many of us today is the first day of a new year, and a time for new beginnings and the putting away of old things. For some, it's just Tuesday, and in some cases, it's a Tuesday with a wicked headache and a desire to watch the world burn.

Every year many people make no resolution or plans for the coming year. I used to be one of those people, but I realized that there was no harm in making plans for the future and planning to have a future gives its own sort of hope and drive.

We do these things on January 1st, but it doesn't have to be done on any particular day. You can make a resolution any hour of any day as long as you have the drive to stick to a commitment.

2 years ago at the end of February I resolved to get myself in better shape by going to the gym. I'd hit a plateau in getting healthier that changing my eating habits wouldn't get past and I needed to kick things up a bit. 2 years into that resolution I'm still going to the gym at least 4 days a week and still improving (albeit slower than I would like). It wasn't a New Years resolution, but it was a new ME resolution.

I started making resolutions after a long hiatus last January 1st. Succeeding in the gym and changing from the 104kg (230lb) blob that I was to the 69kg (152lb) man that I see in the mirror convinced me that I could do things when I set my mind to it.

January 1st 2012 I resolved to write a novel from start to finish. I've wanted to be a writer (or a master thief) since I was a child and it certainly seemed like an attainable goal. I did it. Crow's Blood is currently in revision at 103,000 words and it's been a blast.

This year I'm getting a little more detailed in my resolutions, but I will still strive to meet every one.

First and foremost, the writerly side of things.

I do not resolve to get an agent or get published in 2013. That will happen when it happens and I won't let its lack stop me from writing and working my hardest to improve my craft.

I resolve to:

• Write good stories. Be they short or long, I will write them to the best of my ability.
• Work out how to get the humour and wit into my stories that I find so effortless in conversation. For some reason it disappears when I'm following a plot.
• Get better at revision, because right now it's kicking my ass and making me feel that my writing is all manner of suck.
• Revise Crow's Blood (BookB) enough to get it out to some Critique Partners, who's advice I will use to better my craft.
• Work better with my Alpha Readers. They're doing this for me and getting little more than gratitude in return. Make it easier for them.
• Refine my Pitch, Synopsis and Queries and the processes that generate them.
• Submit Queries to Agents and learn from each rejection.
• Write at least two more Zero-Draft books in 2013.
• Read more. I've broadened the genres and catagories that I read in 2012, I'm going to do MORE of that in 2013.

Now on the personal side of things.
I resolve to:

• Continue trying to be the best Husband and Father that I can be. I'm far from perfect and I'll never be perfect, but I can always try to be better.
• Continue to advance and put out the best work I can at my day job. Something has to pay the bills until I have a few best-sellers under my belt ;-)
• Be a good friend. I know this writing thing I'm doing has isolated me a bit from the people I used to hang out with and talk to every day. I want to keep those connections alive and some of them are in pretty bad shape.
• Eat even better than I did in 2012. It helps that every time I've gotten into junk food over the holidays I've felt truly dreadful afterwards.
• Push myself even further in the gym. Not only do I want to work harder, I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can and doing it right.
• Face at least one fear and overcome it. I don't know what this is yet, whether it will be writing related or otherwise, but I will overcome at least one fear I have in 2013.
• Watch lots of movies!
• Have fun!

That's about it. It's an extensive list in a public place. 2013? Bring it on.

P.S. I've updated the Movie List with last night's movies.