New Year’s Resolutions 2017



That January 1st lands on a Sunday this year is a very good sign to me. Looking back over the last two years’ resolutions, I find that I was fairly successful at completing most of 2015’s resolutions in 2016, but 2016’s seem a little dull, so I’m not even going to attempt it.

I’m still going to try and read all of Stephen King’s books in order of publication, but that proves harder than I thought. Turns out, I only like some of his books. Also turns out, having seemingly unsurmountable goals causes problems—there’s other novels I’d like to be reading in the interim.

So, it’s not a goal for 2017, more like a goal for life. Perhaps I’ll switch back and forth or something. I don’t know. Right now I’m more interested in going through the history of science-fiction novels and seeing how they evolved over time; that might take my priority.

This last year, stress shot out my memory, and in some ways I almost had a reset. Things have changed, for once. I’ve learned more about why I don’t do the things I didn’t do before my resolutions, and I’ve been granted permission by my violin teacher to bite my nails. In fact, I find my nails grow annoyingly fast, having to be cut nearly every day. I don’t even chew them enough.

So, without further ado, here are my goals for 2017:

1. Travel somewhere I’ve never been before.

My cousin and I missed a concert by violinist Lindsay Stirling before she went across the country on her tour. We decided catching her in Dublin in April is the best option. Since my mom wanted to go to Ireland for the past year or so, this seems like a good bet. If not, I’ll have to make a trip to Niagara Falls December 31st in order to meet my quota.

2. Submit to at least 50 agents before retiring the manuscript.

I’m proud of my book, so much so that if I can’t sell it, I can put it aside in dignity. I believe in it, though I recognize some of the weaker points of its marketability (its genre oversaturated the market two years ago). I’ve done all I can with it—many, many drafts, many, many readers—so unless someone gives me an unexpected epiphany, my decision is to really dedicate myself to publishing it before change my focus to publishing other manuscripts. Fifty is a low-ball, but I decided to cut myself some slack.

3. Go somewhere new in the city twice a month.

Trying to get out every week is too much of an effort, not enough time for creating. But I moved to New York to live it, so that is what I will do.

4. Read one book a month.

Sometimes I read more, sometimes I read far less, but this seems like a manageable goal considering all the books I really need to get through.

5. Fix up the navigation on my website.

The mobile is always slightly off, and the comic and Stories of the Wyrd archives have grown large enough that it’s really not the best way to present them. I’ve been thinking long and hard about how to organize them, and the truth is, I don’t know!

Last but most important! Finally cross out everything on my long term to-do list.

Two years ago, I bought a little notebook to put my to-do list in. I wrote out a series of things I wanted to get done, and slowly but surely I have been crossing them off. There are only three things left. I’ve kept that notebook all this time, got in the largest argument ever with my then-boyfriend when he left it somewhere until he found it, and so, this year, I will finally cross that list off.


You know, so I can make another one.



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