All work and no play makes...? by Cathy Ace

The balance between life and work can be difficult to manage as a writer, because we all "work at home". How do you succeed, and fail?

It might be a new year, but I’m still using this blog as my personal confessional, so here goes: I am not good, nor have I ever been, at even knowing what “the right” work/life balance is.

They say some people work to live, while others live to work; I have always fallen into the latter category. To be honest, I think there’s about as much chance of me changing at this late stage in my life as there is of me winning the lottery.

If anything, the fact that I work at home allows me the best possible chance of achieving some sort of balance – albeit accidentally – because at least I’m on the spot to get “life” things done when I take a break from my work as an author.

Besides, I’m not very good at taking advice, and just because one vision of “balance” is right for some, it really doesn’t mean it’s right for me.

But, you see, that in itself raises an interesting question: I have a passion for writing, and still find it difficult to think of the invention, plotting, researching for, and writing of, a first draft as work at all. It’s only after that point that it really “feels like” work to me…a full-on slog (though, yes, I am aware I’m not putting in a twelve-hour shift down a coal mine, like my grandfather did).

So, if writing is part of my life, because it’s my passion, doesn’t writing really fall under the “life” rather than “work” category? This means that all the editing, polishing, designing covers, promotional effort, and publishing are the only real “work” parts, right?

Yes – yes, let’s go with that. 

SORTED. DONE. I have achieved the right balance for me😊

You can find out more about how I make my passion 

my life AND my work at my website:

https://www.cathyace.com/

 

Mr. Zero, One Thing, and Ira by Gabriel Valjan

 

Q: The balance between Life and Work can be difficult to manage as a writer, because we all ‘work at home’. How do you succeed, and fail?

I’ve failed at this Life-Work balance thing multiple times. What I have to say on the matter is borne of Trial and Error, so proceed with caution. What works for me might not work for you. To use the tired metaphor in circulation for travel, it’s been a journey.

Since I’ve cited pop culture, allow me to quote from two movies. Why my subconscious reverts to two films with Billy Crystal is a mystery. First, from City Slickers:

 

             

 

            Curly: Do you know what the secret of life is?

            Mitch: No, what?

Curly (holding up one finger): This.

Mitch: Your finger?

Curly: One thing. Just one thing. You stick to that and everything else don’t mean shit.

Mitch: That’s great but, what’s the one thing?

Curly: That’s what you gotta figure out.

 

The second quote is from When Harry Met Sally. Harry Burns is with his friend Jess, a writer, at a football game. He tells Jess that he has discovered that his wife is leaving him, and the hired mover Mr. Zero knew a week before he did. Jess responds that ‘marriages don’t break up on account of infidelity—it’s just a symptom that something else is wrong.’ Harry’s colorful response was all subtext: Life happens, and he had have no control over his wife’s behavior.

 

The ‘symptom’ was Ira the tax attorney.

 

Two points I want to make here. Knowing that you are writer is huge. You found your finger, the one thing. Don’t underestimate THAT because most people go through life wandering the aisles. I did. I wasn’t a writer until my early 40s.

 

My second point is Perspective, with a capital P, because Ira exists.

 

Writers will write no matter what. Some writers, such as John Kennedy Toole, receive their due posthumously, while, others such as Robert B. Parker and Mickey Spillane, were explicit, in that they wrote for money and didn’t give a damn what anybody thought, including critics.

 

Publishers are fiscally conservative, and they want what sells. There is a reason why Hollywood recycles films from yesteryear. Publishing is not a level field. Fifty Shades of Gray was a serial on a blog that gained traction and was then rushed into print without so much as Spell Check. E. L. James was a pseudonym of a successful producer for the BBC, whose sister wrote The Hunger Games. Some people know people. Keep writing.

 

 

Perspective is the Balance.

 

A former friend once told me that writing was nothing more than exercising your ego. His remark hurt because writing matters to me. I had found my finger, my one thing. If there is democracy, it’s that we all have mortality in common. We live. We die. Put another way, it’s a decision on how to use your time. Statista (2021) says the typical American watches three hours of television daily. If we become what we behold: we are the zombies, we are The Walking Dead. Three hours is a lot of not writing.

 

People ask me how I can write crime fiction because I’m writing about awful people doing awful things. My response is that we all have to be criminals with our time. Writers have to be ruthless, stealing whatever free time they have. Lori Rader-Day wrote during her lunch hour, on weekends and vacations. She wrote her way out of a miserable job. Rob Hart wrote on post-its.

 

 

Perspective. Live to work, or work to live? Do what you love and it’s NOT a job.

 

Life found a way of telling me I was a writer. Ira handed me a cancer diagnosis. I fought back by writing so I didn’t lose my mind. In those horrible months, I underwent radiation, survived it, only to watch a dear friend die in a matter of days. He once sang professionally and loved it. He stopped to take care of his ill mother and never returned to the stage because he was terrified of rejection. No exaggeration, the man had the voice of Sinatra in his prime. I promised myself I would not live my second chance at life in fear. Sense of perspective.

 

Being ruthless doesn’t mean you have to be a bad person. Simply, prioritize what matters to you. In simple terms, it could mean less TV, or doing what Richie Narvaez and his friends do: they throw themselves out of bed early and write at 5am. In a perfect world, those in your life will understand, or not. I don’t know.

 

To paraphrase Brian Johnson from Breakfast Club: People see you as they want to see you—in the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions. It’s never been easy, nor will it ever be, but it’s your life.

 

Pay yourself first because no one else will. That, I bet, is something Mr. Zero knew.

 

Screw Ira.

Life and Work

 Q: The balance between life and work can be difficult to manage as a writer, because we all "work at home". How do you succeed, and fail?

-from Susan...Excuse me, I have to check on the simmering pot of beans downstairs, and I think I hear the washing machine in the hall coming to a stop, and – wait – my pesky younger cat is giving me that special meow that says attention must be paid!

Yes, that’s me trying to write this and trying to write my current manuscript in between distractions. If that weren’t enough, my too-small desk is overflowing with pieces of paper that distract me: everything from health insurance docs to recipes to a printout of part of the Scrivener manual that makes me anxious every time I glimpse it. 

Balance? Succeed? It’s a wonder I get anything done at all. Periodically, I tell myself to get a grip and I clean the desk surface or persuade the cats to take a nap; but paper self-generates and cats, well, cats are cats, and they do not take orders. If it weren’t for editorial deadlines, I would have no spine at all.

The irony is I love to write. I love digging in to the lives of my characters, putting them into stressful situations and then helping them dig their way out. I enjoy the flow of words, when there is a flow, and seeing a story take shape and life. I love writing the very last scene where I can stitch together a restoration of balance between good and bad, and give my characters a few moments to bask in the warmth of their relationships.

There is a door to my home office. Why don’t I use it? Have you ever seen what happens when you close a door and leave a cat on the other side of it? Yeah, well. I live alone and can’t yell “Honey, would you stir the pot?” or “Would you take the trash out?” I participate in community projects and am committed to carry out my assigned tasks. (See below.) I don’t eat frozen meals. I did recently buy a Roomba as a present to myself, but she still needs my help maneuvering, so she doesn’t just wander down the hall.

What can I do about all of this? What advice do I have?

• 1      Forget about having cats.
• 2.     Door Dash
• 3.     If you don’t have a partner, sweet talk someone into your life who likes taking out the trash.
• 4.     Learn to say “no” to a lot of cool things. 
• 5.     Grin and bear it because life is messy, rich, lively and having too much energy in your life is a lot worse than having too little.

 

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is today, and I'm getting out to do some "good trouble," as the late Rep. John Lewis  urged us to do. A great way to get new energy!

"All Our Children United" tunnel art celebration November, 2022

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Felcitations & Prognostications

 by Abir

Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

 

Happy Belated New Year to you all! I hope 2023 brings you all joy and happiness and many, many books to read.

 

Let’s get down to it.

 

Do I have New Year’s Resolutions as a writer?

 

I learned a long time ago that my natural state is one of inertia and that any attempts to change that by way of positive mental attitude and fresh starts are doomed to inevitable failure. In the past, this used to concern me, but there comes a point in one’s life when the best thing to do is just make peace with oneself, say ‘sod it’ and just bumble along as best one can. So, no, I don’t have any resolutions. 

 

But I do have plans. Mighty plans, wonderful plans. The best plans. So big. So beautiful. 

 

As I sit here, in my dressing gown, on my bed, typing this two minutes before the submission deadline, my mind is elsewhere: miles away – in the future, spending all the cash I’m going to be swimming in this time next year, when all my plans come to fruition…or at least, that’s the plan.

 

I won’t bore you with the details, but in essence, the plan is this:

 

1.     Finish writing the book I’ve been working on for the last two years, making sure it is the best damn book that anyone has ever written. (I’m quietly confident this is achievable).

2.     Submit said best book ever to agent and editors and bask in the warm glow of their praise.

3.     Embark on worldwide publicity tour (four continents, five if you count Australia as a continent – which I don’t) remembering to get teeth straightened and whitened before the north American leg, because teeth is how North Americans judge people.

4.     Sit back (on new golden bed and in new dressing gown, also made of gold) as sales outstrip prince Harry’s and Shakespeare’s combined and watch as the cash rolls in.

5.     Once rich, do what all A-list writers do and employ impoverished but talented ghost writer to write all my future books while paying them minimum wage.

 

And there you have it. My simple plan for 2023.

 

On the off-chance that it doesn’t quite work out that way (probably due to malign political forces ranged against me) I have a back-up plan.

 

1.     Finish the damn book.

2.     Start writing the next book.

3.     Think of ideas for the one after that.

4.     Rinse.

5.     Repeat.

 

Cos that really is the job of a writer - to write - and I haven’t been doing enough of it recently because, as we’ve established, I’m lazy.

Happy New Year one and all.

 

 

I Hereby Resolve from James W. Ziskin

Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

I’ve posted this in the past and intend to put it up here every year until I’m named poet laureate.

I Hereby Resolve

Upon the first of Jan-u-ary each and every year

I choose a comfy cushioned chair on which to park my rear

Then taking pencil, pen, or plume I think with all my might

About my life, my hopes, my dreams, and then begin to write

I make a note of all my flaws, my missteps, and my sins

And number them from one to ten and sort them into bins:

A catalogue of wishes, goals, and changes to achieve,

To lose some weight, to write more books, and royalties receive!

But not all thoughts are for myself, I also have a heart

So I resolve to do some good, pitch in, and play my part,

To be a better person and to help human-i-tee,

Or maybe just be satisfied to keep my san-i-tee

For all in all you must admit that things are not so good

At home, abroad, in Baltimore, and in your neighborhood

With guns and hate and politics and fears we cannot quell

It often seems we’re on a highway heading straight to hell 

But then I reason as I sit here in my pensive pose

Some things I can control and fix, so why not start with those?

My wrath, my sloth, and moods most foul are faults I could improve

Why not correct them right away? Cast out, erase, remove?

While in the past I must admit that my resolve was frail

This time my pledge is resolute; I don’t intend to fail

I vow to change, to grow, to thrive, and forge myself anew

And through hard work and sweat and blood I’ll make my dreams come true

But just in case my will is weak and my plans gang ag-ley

I’ll save this verse for twelve months more until next New Year’s Day

Then with high hopes and best intents I’ll shout for all to hear

The very same prom-is-es that I made and broke this year

A running start

Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023

by Dietrich

I’m not in the habit of making New Year’s resolutions, but I do have some plans for the coming year. I’m currently working on two novels. The first one is set in Chicago during the 1920s — hard times and prohibition. I’m deep into a second draft, and it’s starting to feel like I’m on the right track. The characters are at that point where they’re starting to talk back, and that’s always a good sign, right? I plan to have it wrapped up by summer.

The second book is at the conception stage. I’ve got a title in mind, some scribbled notes, a bagful of ideas, and a loose storyline that’s set in the sixties around the emerging folk music scene of the time. It focuses on a budding musician and the corrupt management he falls in with. I’ve got a couple of choices for the location, but I’m not sure about that yet.

Outside of the writing, I’ll be promoting the book I currently have out, Nobody from Somewhere. It goes like this: When long-retired cop, Fitch Henry Haut, sees two men forcing a runaway girl into their vehicle, he steps in and gets the upper hand. He and the girl escape in his broken-down Winnebago, and as Fitch listens to her story, he realizes the men will come after them. A bond forms as he and the girl struggle to escape out of town.

Then there’s the new one, The Get. It’s coming out on June 6th, from ECW Press. Here’s the pitch: Lenny Ovitz has plenty of secrets. He works for a volatile crime boss, is drowning in debt to the wrong people, and he’s certain his soon-to-be ex is aiming to screw him over. Somebody is going to have to get whacked.

On top of the writing, I’m aiming to attend some events and festivals this year, and as soon as plans are set, I’ll post locations and dates on my website: dietrichkalteis.com

I trust that everybody’s New Year is off to a good start, and here’s to ’23 being a banner year for all of us.

Suggestions, Not Resolutions

 

 Terry here. This week we are talking about the new year and whether we have made any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what our plans are for 2023? 

 I’m not sure you’d call them resolutions, because that would require me to be “resolute.” Definition of resolute: “admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering.” I can do the purposeful and determined part, but the unwavering, not so much. I’ve been known to waver. 

 So instead of resolutions, I make what I think of as “suggestions” to myself. By the end of this year (and most years) I’ve become lax in my habits. Before I get down to work I do the NY Times crossword. Okay, okay, I’m a liar. I also do the hard sudoku. All right (geez, you’re so strict) I also do the Wordle. I start skipping over articles about writing, promising myself that I’ll come back to it. And of course I never come back. I start glancing at MWA and SinC newsletters and think, “later.” Later never comes. I look at interesting up-coming on-line or in-person writing talks and think, “Oh, that could be interesting. Let me think about it.” And it promptly flies out of my head. 

 So at the beginning of the year, I SUGGEST to myself that it would be really more professional if I got back to my best habits, which include: 

  1) Time Management. Only look at things once, and make decisions NOW. That was the gist of a talk I went to hundreds of years ago (okay, fewer than that, but a long time ago) with Alan Lakein about using your time to best advantage. He said to look at each piece of paper only once (this was back when everything was on paper, but I take it to mean emails as well). 

     a. If it’s Urgent, do it now. 

     b. Important, but not urgent, put it in B stack. 

     c. Mildly interesting: C stack. Toward the end of the day look at the B stack. If anything has become urgent, take care of it. If not, put it in the C stack At the end of the day, throw out the C stack. This is so efficient. If you throw something out that turns out to be important, an amazing thing happens: someone will remind you! 

 2) Per Gigi Pandian: As soon as you get up and brush your teeth, do nothing but grab a cup of coffee or tea and sit down at your computer and start working. For me, it’s like a miracle. I get SO much done that way. But then one day I say, well, just a peek at the puzzle. And before you know it, the good habit has been replaced with the one that is not as productive. 

 3) Every day think of one thing to further my professional life. a. Dig out an old manuscript and spend an hour deciding if it’s worth working on “some day.” And then make a plan to do it. b. Organize tips on promotion. c. Read a couple of chapters in a book about writing. d. Read a blog post about writing/about a new book or author/about publishing. e. This list could be endless! I also try to re-gear doing things to stimulate my imagination: Reading, going to art galleries, taking walks in interesting new places, getting together with other authors, reading things outside my usual lists.

As for my plans for this year, I’ll have a new Samuel Craddock coming out. The immediate challenge is to go through it one more time (I’m sick of it) and coming up with a title! 

 Also, Murder at the Jubilee Rally will be coming out in paperback, so I plan some bookstore events to promote it. 

 Then there’s the standalone novel I’ve been beavering away at for a few years and which is creeping toward completion. I’d like to get it done and find a publishing home for it! 

 And I plan to read more! So many books, so little time. Last, it’s too early to reveal, but I’ve had some good news in the last couple of days, and it means getting to work on other projects! Stay tuned. 

 Happy New Year everyone!

Writing Resolutions for 2023

Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

Brenda starting off the week.

This question makes me think I should make some resolutions ... (not that I'm not always on the lookout for ways to improve).

My top writing resolution, and perhaps life resolution, is to get more organized. I'm not great at cleaning out cupboards or getting rid of stuff I'll never use, so definitely room to maneuver here. I'm also a rather chaotic writer and believe that organizing my current manuscript early on will pay dividends.

In addition, I haven't pursued all the publicity and marketing opportunities that are out there, and I'd like to tackle these more systematically with my next book, When Last Seen (currently up for preorder on Amazon). (Already making good on the resolution to get better at marketing :-)

My final writing resolution is to take more time to appreciate the process and to enjoy the here and now -- to be grateful for all my blessings. There's lots of challenges and down moments in this writing business, but there are also many, many moments to savour. Holding a new book after a year of working on it, kind messages from strangers, meeting readers, celebrating with friends and family - these and many more joys are always present and I want to take the time to enjoy what's important and to keep perspective.

As for my 2023 plans, When Last Seen comes out April 1st so I'd like to get in some events around that, including a launch with family and friends. My publisher Dundurn is also re-releasing all of the Stonechild and Rouleau series with new covers as well as the last five books in audiobook format, also in the spring, and I'm eager to help promote these too. I'll continue writing book three in the Hunter and Tate series and know this will take up my summer. I don't foresee much boredom in my future!

Website: www.brendachapman.ca

Twitter: brendaAchapman

Facebook & Instagram: BrendaChapmanAuthor

Staring Down the Barrel of 2023, by Josh Stallings

Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

In the last three or four years it has felt like surviving with my mind and body intact was enough to ask for, anything else was a bonus. Staring down the barrel of 2023 I am ready to raise the bar. Writing wise, I aim to finish my new novel…

Okay, I wrote that last night, trying for positivity. Today truth is taking over. Writing is for me a wonderful avocation but with the down turn in the world economy and the rising prices of everything I question wether I can afford to spend my days typing. This is not a poor me post. Just the real facts. Over a year writing a follow up to Tricky and then a year of very near misses at some great publishers, the time I spent writing that book mapping a sequel to a book we didn’t sell, left me stinging. Added to this was time spent being present for my son’s, has left me wondering how long I will keep typing on a new stand alone MS I may never finish. 

I am sorry this isn’t the upbeat opening of a new year post I was hoping to write. I’ll try again…

My resolutions for 2023 - To keep my head above water. To be kind and loving to all I meet along the road. To be grateful for the gift of writing. To be grateful for so many great writers who are my friends. To be grateful for my wonderful friends regardless of their avocations. To be grateful for my love of reading. To be grateful for walking in the hills with Buster and Ernie. To be grateful for time spent with my family. To be grateful…

To be grateful. That says it all. 

When times feel impossibly difficult, gratitude is the active form of hope. “I hope things with get better.” feels like it has an invisible question mark. “I am grateful.” is a statement. I am grateful speaks to my past, present and therefore my future.

Every one of you reading this, know that I am grateful you are in the world.

Happy New Year. 

Keep on keepin' on, by Catriona

Q: Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

I'm a sucker for New Year's resolutions. I make them every year and don't usually keep more than half of one of them. But that's okay. It gives me a boost in the receipt-logging, vegetable-eating, exhibition-attending, rose-pruning stakes.

(It helps that I stick to the 12 days of Christmas and none of this starts until Jan 6th. The tree comes down, the shortbread tin goes away and the alarm is set for you're kidding me o'clock again.)

But when it comes to writing . . . I don't think I've ever made a NYR. Every bit of this job is still such a joy and feels like such good fortune that there's nothing for me to grit my teeth and make myself do.

Hang on, wait. I probably *should* make a resolution to do with promotion and publicity. That's the area - not dreaming, drafting, researching, editing, proofing, blogging, reading, "networking" (it feels a lot like talking to pals about stuff we love), blurbing, teaching, or learning - where I suck like a Hoover. 

So.

This year, I will think about promotion months in advance and set stuff up in good time. I will ask people for blurbs (brrrrrrr hate doing that). I will pitch articles and lay in swag.

Except I probably won't lay in swag. No point starting a new year lying about who I am, right? Happy 12th Night of Christmas,

Cx

 

Try, try...and try again by Cathy Ace

Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

Write better

Write smarter

Write faster

Don't beat myself up if I don’t achieve all my resolutions (this is an annual resolution I ALWAYS fail at, whatever the others might be!)

Will I be able to stick to the first three? Hmm…only time will tell.

Write better? This is what I always strive for. I hope I’m writing “better” now than when I began, in the same way we all hope our craft improves as we practice it. But improvement doesn’t just come from doing more of the same, it has to come from trying different things, too. So my plan (hope…aim?) is to do that this year. See below...

Write smarter? I'm a plotter – anyone who knows me, or has read my posts here, or has listened to me speaking at events, knows that. What I learned during 2022 is that I plot better when I plot faster…by which I mean I have to get it down on paper as quickly as I can after I've finished seeing the movie in my head. In the past I’ve let a plot/"movie" percolate, but the last two books I wrote were noted on paper pronto – and that worked well for me, so I plan to repeat that in 2023, and aim to nail this technique - maybe helping with...

Write faster? Do I mean write more books in the time available to me? Not really, but I found with my last two books that if I’m able to organise my time better, I’m able to write a book more quickly – this means putting in more hours over a shorter number of weeks, and that’s worked for me during 2022, so I shall try to keep up with that for 2023, and improve upon it. In 2020-2022 I wrote and published six books, and my hope is to write three books in 2023, but...hmmm...see below...

Do I have any specific plans for 2023? Oh, this is dangerous…but, yes. I plan to write a new Cait Morgan mystery (it’s pretty much plotted), a new WISE Enquiries Agency Mystery (ditto), and a new psychological suspense novel that won’t be exactly a “second in series” for retired DI Evan Glover, but he will feature in it, as will his wife, and it will revisit some of the characters from The Wrong Boy - which I very much enjoyed writing, and which was well-received.

But…only if time allows: if the past few years have taught me anything, it’s that life can change your plans in a heartbeat, so that fourth resolution – about not beating myself up if I don’t write three books this year – is the one I might find myself most challenged by towards the end of the year.

If you have resolutions for your writing or reading, I wish you luck with them…and recommend you consider adding my fourth resolution to your own 😉

HAPPY NEW YEAR - AND HERE'S TO YOU AND YOURS BEING HEALTHY AND HAPPY, WHATEVER YOUR RESOLUTIONS MIGHT BE! 

And THANK YOU for allowing the release of the 6th book in the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries series be the most successful I've ever had!

click here to reach my website with details of all my books

Writerly Resolutions, and this Mind’s plans for 2023 by Gabriel Valjan

 

I’ve always looked at New Year’s as a second birthday. With our first birthday, we acknowledge the day we first appeared on this blue marble. It’s personal to us, our unique day. We receive energy. New Year’s is different. We set intention and we direct our energy. A resolution is a commitment we impose on ourselves. It signals Change and whatever IT is, IT implies a journey. IT will take time.

I’ll write IT down in my pocket calendar ahead of time and check-mark it when it’s done. I find that writing out the goal is powerful. The check-mark makes me accountable to myself. Deadlines are targets. Some are built-in. My fifth Shane Cleary mystery, The Big Lie, is due to the editor in mid-July 2023.

I do three things when I make a goal.

One, have gratitude. My first book, for example, turns 11 this year. Liar’s Dice, which Level Best Books will publish in March, is my fifteenth novel. I’m grateful to be published.

Two, establish perspective. I’ll look behind me, to see where I’ve been, so I can appreciate where I am today, and I’ll orient myself to where I want to go.

Three, I’ll ask myself, How do I get from Here to There? How do I effect Change?

I’ve decided I’m not happy with where I am in my writing career. What does that mean? Answer: I’m not in libraries. I’m not in bookstores. I haven’t been reviewed in the major trades. I have some visibility on social media, but it hasn’t translated into Sales, as far I can tell. I want to change this, and I don’t think I can do it on my own.

My goal for 2023 is to secure an agent, ideally one who can help me with promotion. I do have one in mind. I am Elmer Fudd and they are Bugs Bunny.

This is the year I will pitch one of my other projects. I will have a zinger of a log line. I will craft a pithy synopsis and identify the audience for this novel. I hope we mesh well. Not to sound like online dating, but I think we’re a good match. I’ve been fortunate to have received several prestigious nominations. I take criticism well. I work hard. I don’t complain. Introverted though I may be, I am no fainting goat when asked to do something. I need someone with expertise to do what I can’t do alone.

There it is: I want an agent this year. As for other writerly goals?

Get better each day, even if it’s 1%.

Personal goals: Do one thing that scares me.

 Q: Do you have any New Year's resolutions as a writer, and what are your plans for 2023?

-from Susan

Well, let's start by saying post on time to Criminal Minds. Sorry, everyone.

I never make New Year's resolutions for all the reasons that are discussed endlessly in op-ed pieces. They always seem to be destined to fail, frequently before the end of January. You know: Lose 10 pounds, eat no sugar, write 2000 words a day every day, don't look at Facebook....

As a writer, my best and most powerful resolutions have to do with meeting imposed deadlines by my editor. Probably because they're attached to advances paid out in bits like peanut rewards to monkeys. But, hey, it works. I have a manuscript due in July, so here's pone resolution I know I will keep: Turn in 75,000-word manuscript of French Village mystery in July.

But this year, having gotten the rights back from several publishers for my Dani O'Rourke series, and having a book designer and illustrator already at work, another writer's resolution is to see this first series, which still has fans who send me emails, in fresh POD and e-book formats by March. I'm really excited that I'll finally have covers that relate to each other and are fun. I resolve to promote them separately and as a package. One reader who loves them and has been unable to find them to give to friends back east is asking me if 

I plan to write a new one. Not ready to make that a 2023 promise, but who knows?

My biggest writing resolution is one I hope I practice every year all year round: To support and read as many of my fellow crime fiction authors as I possibly can. We are a tight group, so different and yet alike in being part of a mutually friendly and non-competitive profession.  I salute my fellow Minds, bay Sisters in Crime friends, and the Mystery Writers of America members who reach out to cheer each other on all year round.