Resolutions

The house is quiet. My wife is out to dinner with some old work friends who wanted her to bring Maddie along. I just finished my own dinner (a toasted chicken and bacon ranch on the Italian herbs and cheese bread from Subway) while watching some episodes of Star Wars Rebels (an incredibly good and addictive show - I'm very impressed at how adult it is and how dark it can get), and thought I'd take advantage of the time to listen to the soundtrack for The Force Awakens (scores are my absolute favorite type of music, and already I'm loving the minute changes to the Main Title - quickened pace with the horns and trumpets) while I update the blog.

Resolutions are cliche - I don't think anyone will raise a hand to deny that - however they also serve as a guide towards self-betterment. For the last couple of years I've kept mine simple - eating better, exercising more to be in better shape (not with any specific body goals in mind), and staying on top of my writing work. The goals heading into 2016 don't change much, with the exception of one: I won't be stressing too much on my writing for the New Year. In place, I want to focus more on family.

My daughter is at the stage where she's ready to play and interact, rather than just be entertained by toys that make sounds, shine lights, or have different textures (as she was a year ago). Today I was home with her and we played all day with almost all the new toys she got for Christmas - watching how quickly she picks up using these toys the way they were intended is quite amazing. I'm taken aback, but also very much proud, at how quick of a learner she is. And now that we're in this stage, I find myself strangled with guilt when it comes to any work that might get in the way of time spent with her, not to mention getting in the way of time with my wife. As adults, we always have work to be done, whether it's work around the house or a story I need to finish or something she has to bring home that couldn't be finished during the day. It happens. It's also unavoidable. But I want to do less of it when I can, especially when it comes to my own work. Right now, I'm writing during my lunch break and after Maddie goes to bed. When I feel up to it, that is.

Tonight I'll finish my second draft of An Unexpected Visit (out in October from Winter Goose Publishing), then I'll take a month off and won't touch it again until February, where I'll work on the draft that'll be proofread by my wife and a select group of close friends. Draft three will be complete by the end of March. I'll then take April off, and use the following two months to completely finish the book. The way it looks now, Visit will hover confidently in the novella realm, and I'm happy about that. Like I said in a previous post, this book will have no subplots - the whole thing is the main event.

Once Visit is finished, I really don't have any pressing work. I want to take a bit of time before working on what will be my fourth book, which will be a novel, and which is already titled, outlined, and prepared (just not written).

In addition to focusing more on my family in 2016, I also want to read more. In 2013 I read twenty books. Respectable. In 2014 I read fifteen. Not bad. This year I read nine. Whoa... I'm hoping to get that number way back up.

I also want to blog more, so here's hoping I can keep to that.

Before I call it a post, I want to share these, as I discovered I hadn't yet here on the blog: these are two professional reviews for The Painted Lady, one by fellow author Kathryn Mattingly (Journey), and one by Chef John Malik of The Huffington Post. I am incredibly thankful to them for the words of praise they used toward my work.

Kathryn's review: "An Emotionally Haunting Tale"

John's review: "The Painted Lady"

To all of you that read this blog, thank you for following me on this incredible journey. Have a wonderful, and safe, new year. See ya in '16.