New Year’s Resolutions (and a test)

A new year is upon us and that means New Year’s Resolutions!

Not for me. I’ve gotten to the point in my life where these have no meaning anymore. However, it does allow for some introspection and set some goals.

This past year has been a wild ride. I attended three writer’s conferences where I learned a ton about writing, marketing, book launches, meeting other writer/authors, reading lots of books, and reading about writing books. The Accident was launched to the fanfare of whispers and The Paladin Awakens sits and waits for someone to notice. Ups and downs dominated my life the whole year. Out of it all, I learned my timing…well…sucks.

But, hey, that’s the point of introspection. Learn what worked and what didn’t. Do better next time.

So, what’s the plan for 2026?

Publish Canthany: Genesis. It’s a reasonable goal being another novelette-length story. I hope to have it completed in a few months. Run it through Scribes by mid-year. Have my editor go over it, etc.

Gain 500-1000 followers on my site and social media. It’s a good goal, but may be hard to meet. So far, nothing I’ve tried worked as expected. Lots of work ahead.

Gain the notice of an agent. This will be the hardest goal, I believe. If what I’ve learned from the conferences is correct, the above goal will need to be met before I have a chance. Doesn’t mean I should sit on my hands until I do.

So, there you go. My three goals for 2026. What do you think?

What else is going on?

I’m carving out time to work on my website some more. I have ideas to try, but the time wasn’t there unless I made time. This means the Psionicist Class, new artwork for Canthany and Paladin will be coming as small additions rather than large chucks.

I’m also going to start a new set of ads on Facebook and maybe Instagram to see if I can kickstart purchases of The Accident. If you see them, please like and/or comment on them.

Writing Progress Report

I’ve started over on Canthany: Genesis. I scrapped the first three chapters I wrote in favor of starting with what would have been the fourth. Why? Apparently, you can’t take any creative license with the Bible. As much as I tried to stay with the events of the first two chapters of Genesis, people that read it found fault. Whether it was their personal beliefs or perceived timing of events in the Bible or even the translation of the Bible, there was enough negative feedback I decided it would be best to skip Eden and start over with the anthropomorphized animals on Canthany. It’s a setback. Oh well.

God Bless you all!

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve passed the test. I want to thank you for reading my newsletter to completion by sending you a set of bookmarks I created for The Accident.

Aren’t these cool! There are six character designs and the far right version is the back of each bookmark. Please contact me through the contact form and we’ll make arrangements to mail you a set of these bookmarks.