I’m not good at New Year’s Resolutions. They’re not hard deadlines, so they’re easy to set aside. I stick to them for a little while, and then, gradually, I don’t.
Take this blog, for instance. Last year, I swore to make an effort to post once a week, but as you can tell from the dates of my posts, well, that didn’t pan out. After updating my Facebook author pages and tweeting, I was pretty much tapped out. The answer, of course, is to prioritize this space. I know I do get visitors–Google Analytics says so. If folks know that something new will be posted on a weekly basis, they’ll be more inclined to visit more often.
I have also wanted to write more short fiction. It’s not my natural length, so it’s a challenge. I’ve written a few pieces over the years, all commissioned–I haven’t sent anything out cold since the early 1990s. Maybe it’s time to take some chances again.
Barring utter disaster, I will be releasing at least one new novel in 2021. It’s entitled Echoes of War, the sixth Jani Kilian novel, short snippets of which I’ve been posting over at my Facebook author page on Sunday evenings (or sometimes Monday evenings). I’ve would also like to finish Lilith, the third Gideon Witches story, which may be either a novella or a novel. There’s also a straight suspense novel I’ve been pondering for over a year. Thing is, I’m a slow writer, so this is more than a year’s work for me already.
Cooking and baking–those are always at the top of the to-do list because if I don’t do them, I don’t eat. They’re also easy for me to write about, so I think I’ll wrap this up with a link to a recipe that’s become a favorite of mine, Persian-Style Carrots and Black-Eyed Peas. I’ve been incorporating more beans and vegetables into my diet for a while, but I wanted to find more ways to cook them besides soups and roasting. This recipe offers some flavors I don’t often employ, saffron and honey. It’s good warm or cold, as a side dish or rolled in flatbread. In fact, I cooked some black-eyed peas today to be used in a batch I’ll be making this weekend.
So, first post of the new year. It’s a start.