New Year, New Me! I hope. Well, let’s give it a try at least #amwriting #amreading #Resolutionsfor2017

I’m a big believer in New Year’s resolutions. I love the idea of a clean slate. Let’s just forget all those mistakes of 2016 and open the brand-spanking new agenda. There are a lot of haters who think resolutions are stupid or overdone (or maybe they’re just big fat meanies). But isn’t life about striving to be better? Even if it’s just to be happy or content with our lives. Resolutions are the perfect opportunity to reflect upon our lives. What works? What doesn’t? What changes do we want? What’s a realistic change to make? How did last year’s resolutions go? I will always struggle to be a better person even if I spend a whole lot of time failing.

1. Continue to blog two to three times a week. Last year’s resolution was to blog more. That didn’t always work out, but I definitely improved. I also realized my limitations. Blogging more than three times a week is just not a realistic goal if I’m working on a manuscript.
2. Network better. Building an author platform is a lot of work (major understatement!). I keep thinking that if I just spend an hour a week on social media networking, that will be enough. Not. I need to not only put information out into the digital landscape, but I also need to interact with others – be it by commenting on blog posts, re-tweeting a tweet, or whatever. I’d like to say I’m finally going to figure out how to use Pinterest, but I’m only human.
3. Market more. Yeah, no one likes to do book marketing. It’s a time suck. But if I don’t market my books, my sales to plummet to only a book or two a day and isn’t that just depressing. I’m also trying to be smarter about the marketing. In other words, don’t just throw it out into the universe and hope for the best. I also need to analyze what works and what doesn’t. It’s an ongoing and never-ending process.
4. Finally write that one book. I’ve had an idea about an historical romance/thriller for a few years now, but I keep shoving it to the back on my to-be-written pile (yes, that’s a thing). But now that I’m in a country where I speak the language and have a library card, I really want to get my butt moving and research enough to get this book written. I think I just have to accept that this book will take a heck of a lot longer to write than the usual three months it takes to write my romantic comedies and cozy mysteries. Still working on that, but the library is calling my name. It’s a really nice library.

1. Read those books. We all have a to-be-read list that can go on for days and days. I’m in the horrible habit of just adding books to my TBR without making any effort to read books that are already on the list. Talk about a self-perpetuating problem! This year I’m going to try to spend at least an hour a day on a book in my TBR pile. I’m not sure that’s a realistic goal. I’ll let you know next year.
2. Commit to a healthier lifestyle. Notice I didn’t say lose a ton of weight. That’s absolutely part of it. Oh boy, is that part of it. Having spent the vast majority of my adult life, yo-yoing in weight, I know that I need to change my lifestyle in order to keep the weight off. I always manage to do that for a while and then backslide. And by backslide, I mean jumping off a cliff back into bad habits. I’m currently working on a manuscript in which the heroine goes on a health kick after her boyfriend dumps her. I’m committing myself to strictly following a healthy regime until this book is finished. Hopefully by then, I’ll have developed new habits.

What are your resolutions? How do you plan to stick to them?