Updates, Quotes, and New Years Resolutions

Fast Updates:

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year!

We met some amazing creative folks and had a blast at the events we participated in during the month of December and we are really looking froward to the upcoming conventions in 2022!

I am excited to announced that my short story “The Three Percent” was included in a collection of lockdown Tales – Titled: Goodreads Best Short Stories 2021 by Collected Works , which was published on January 1st by the Goodreads author group.

It was an honor to participate with the wonderful writers involved in the project and I hope that you will check out the imaginative pandemic themed story’s within its pages. You can find out more about the book here on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AbcT0L or here on Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3rnmmhu

In December we received a review from Mark Shultz at Wordrefiner.com. You can explore his informative website and find the review here: wordrefiner.com

These tales come at some traditional topics from an unusual perspective which delighted me quite a bit. _{– Mark Shultz, wordrefiner.com}

The limited time sale on The Warning Signs: Tales of Horror and Dark Fantasy (Kindle Edition), is active until the 2nd of January. This countdown deal is available through Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com

In this fantastic and inviting collection, the...... review gif

Also:

readersfavorite.com will have all three of my available books listed as prizes in the monthly book giveaway. If you are interested in winning some amazing books by great authors you can check out the monthly giveaway here: book giveaway /Rise or/and here: book-giveaway/lost and here: book-giveaway/endow

Upcoming Event Reminders:

2022

We will be participating at the Northwest Indiana Comic Convention! NWI comic-con is scheduled to take place at the Lake County Fairgrounds in Crown Point, IN on February 12th. To learn more visit: www.nwi-comic-con.com

We are scheduled to participate at PeoriaCon on March 5^th and 6^th. This event takes place at Expo Gardens, Peoria, IL.

We plan to participate at the Mighty Con Event – Quad Cities Comic Con April 2nd and 3rd at the Quad Cities Expo Center in Rock Island, IL -https://mightyconshows.com/show/quad-cities

We are scheduled to participate at the ST. LOUIS MIGHTY CON. The event will take place June 18th and 19th at the St. Charles Convention Center in Saint Charles, MO.

Concealed Realms plans to participate at Planet Funk Con, June 24th – 26th. The event will take place at the RiverCenter in Davenport, IA.

Quotes about the New Year:

“The best is yet to come.” – Frank Sinatra

“We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched.” – Ellen Goodman

“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” – C.S. Lewis

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.” – Edith Lovejoy Pierce

“You are never too old to reinvent yourself.” – Steve Harvey

“Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.”

– Alfred Lord Tennyson

“Life’s not about expecting, hoping and wishing, it’s about doing, being and becoming.” – Mike Dooley

“I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past.” – Thomas Jefferson

“Many years ago, I made a New Year’s resolution to never make new year’s resolutions. Hell, it’s been the only resolution I’ve ever kept!”

– D.S. Mixell

“The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide you’re not going to stay where you are.” – J.P. Morgan

Definition of New Year Resolution:

CollinsDictionary.com

Noun “a promise to yourself or decision to do something, esp to improve one’s behaviour or lifestyle in some way, during the year ahead.“– www.collinsdictionary.com

Macmillan Dictionary.com

Noun “a decision that you make on the first day of the year about the things that you intend to do or stop doing during that year” – macmillandictionary.com

Resolutions

With what is a hectic holiday season for most of us coming to a close with the start of the New Year, I thought it would be a good idea to ring in the month with a shorter than average post. I admit that my original intentions were much grander, but at the advice of a fellow author, I decided to scale back and focus on helpful new years resolutions and pledges for writers.

Modern vs. Ancient

Many believe that the activities you engage in during the month of January help to set a pattern for the year to come. This concept has been around for a very long time, although the driving force has evolved.

In modern times it is customary to use the beginning of the year to set new goals for ones self. That being said, I am sure that it wouldn’t be very surprising for you to learn that although referring to such promises as New Year’s resolutions was much more commonplace in the 19th century, according to merriam-webster.com there is written evidence that similar resolutions have been in use since at least 1671.

Our modern resolutions are generally promises made to yourself that focus on self improvement whereas in ancient times, people would make promises to a higher power. For instance, according to history.com , 4,000 years ago Babylonians made pledges to the gods, believing that if they kept to their word, their gods would bestow favor on them for the coming year.

These ancient people are believed to be the first to make such resolutions during their celebrations of the new year, although for them the year began in mid-March when the crops were planted, rather than in January.

Goals

I think we can agree that the concept of making pledges for improvement is hardly a new one and there are endless possibilities to the types of resolutions you can make, but rather than list my own aspirations here in this post, I have instead included 5 Basic Writerly Resolutions and 5 Pledges for authors that I feel are very important for creative growth.

5 Basic Writerly Resolutions

1.) Call Yourself a Writer! Own it. Whether you are published or not, if you write, then you are a writer.

2.) Write more and make it a main priority. Great writers are always working to improve their craft and the more you write, the better and faster writer you will become. This idea goes hand in hand with the next resolution.

3.) Read More. As with any craft, the more familiar you are with words and sentence structure, the more naturally they will flow from you. Good writers are said to immerse themselves in written works of all types with the intention of improving their craft by studying other writers works.

4.) Learn something everyday. It could be as simple as learning the definition of a word you never heard before, or keep up on current events, or as complex as delving into string theory, or studying a new language. The choice is yours. The more you know, the deeper your well of experience will be to draw upon while writing.

5.) Resolve to go outside during breaks for fresh air and a change of scenery. Exercise boosts creativity and gives your mind a chance to roam free. Common modern new years resolutions include loosing weight, quitting vices, or just making healthier choices in general, but making healthy choices and exercising regularly can be especially important for writers because we tend to spend a lot of time sitting in place.

5 Pledges For Authors

1.) Resolve to Maintain Realistic Goals. Pick one goal for the year and track your progress, but be realistic. You probably aren’t going to finish a novel a month this year, but maybe you could do a chapter a week if you set your mind to it. If you end up doing much more than that it will be cause to celebrate, whereas overblown goals can lead to spiraling as you fall behind on your anticipated output and creative burnout when you realize there is no way to catch up.

2.) Resolve to Always Act Professionally. Be confident when interacting with others and treat everyone with courtesy and respect. If you are unreliable, don’t hold yourself accountable for your words and actions, or submit work with blatant mistakes, people aren’t going to jump at the chance to work with you.

3) Resolve to Stop Comparing yourself to others. Some writers are recluses, and others are social butterfly’s. Some seem to work with lightning speed, while others publish slowly, but consistently. Every writers has their own process and are influenced by a variety of factors. Figure out what you want and then go for that, not what you think everyone else is doing.

4.) Resolve to Share you ideas rather than wall yourself up in your house with your work. Input from other people can make your writing better. Be sure to find people you trust to give you honest feedback regarding projects. You do not have to agree with everything they say but listen with an open mind. Their insight could give you a better understanding of how others will view your work and ultimately lead to more inspiration.

5.) Resolve to Support Others in the creative community. Be kind and encouraging to others authors. Whether chatting over social media or at in person events, I have found that the majority of people in the creative community are quick to offer advice and assistance when they are able. It is truly an amazing community to be a part of and it extends well beyond writers to include editors, graphic designers, illustrators, etc…

Expect the unexpected

Regardless of the type of pledges you make yourself at the start of the year, try not get discouraged or give up if your goals get disrupted. Instead work to forge a new trail. Maybe it will lead you back to the path you envisioned, or maybe it will lead you some place you never hoped to imagine.

Final thoughts

In the year ahead, lets try keep in mind that we will all face tough decisions and make mistakes along the way, but I know 2022 will be a great year, because regardless of the unforeseen challenges ahead, we will create new gadgets, make amazing discoveries, and strive to learn from our mistakes.

I want to thank you for your continued support. I hope that you enjoyed this brief post! Stay safe and keep being awesome.

The Blood Inheritance Quartet

Updates, Quotes, and New Years Resolutions

Fast Updates:

Wishing you all a safe and happy New Year!

Quotes about the New Year: