Happy 2013!

Happy New Year 2 by Sabine Sauermaul

How was your New Year's? Hope everyone had a good time, and didn't suffer too bad a hangover. I watched the Red Green New Year's special, while negotiating for chair space with my cat. Amazing how such a small creature can take up so much space.

I guess a lot of people are writing about their resolutions and goals for 2013. For me, the focus is on writing, of getting more of my work out there. Not that 2012 was a washout. I published five short stories, four in anthologies and one through MuseItUp Publishing. I'm currently finalizing the draft of an urban fantasy short novel that I intend to submit this month.

This year, I've decided I'm not going to listen to the naysayers, those negative people who try to convince me, rather insidiously, maybe I'm not good enough. You know the ones. They hide behind insincere compliments, but when it comes time to walk the proverbial walk, they're nowhere to be found.

Sadly, these people (and some writing groups) have played a negative role in my writing, convincing me maybe I wasn't good enough, or that I wasn't writing the right stories, etc. So many of my stories lay dormant on my hard drive, pushed aside, even though I liked them.

That's why I've decided to dust them off, finish and/or revise them, and send them out into the world. Screw what my detractors say. I don't have time for those who want to shoot down other people's dreams.

As for resolutions, I usually don't make any. Except this year, I want to submit at least one story a month. Doesn't have to be a story, either. Could be a screenplay or a poem. As long as I'm writing. :-)