Resolution is a funny word, especially at this time of year.
One meaning is “to find an answer or solution, to settle or solve.”
Another is “to make a formal decision about something.”
Both work for the change of a year.
We bid goodbye to 2015. It was a good year for me in so many ways.
I resolved my search for an agent by finding the amazing Carly Watters.
I resolved my quest to get a first novel published by working with Word Branch Publishing.
I resolved my continuing cancer saga by completing my last (fingers crossed) reconstructive surgery.
Huge milestones, all.
And what of the other meaning? What new resolutions for 2016?
Most of what I want to accomplish is only partially under my control. My agent is shopping a murder mystery, and I’d dearly love to see that book come to publication. It’s as good as I can make it, and now it’s up to the editors. I wait and hope.
I have beta readers checking out my newest thriller. With their suggestions, I resolve to make it work.
I have the barest outline completed for my next book. It’s calling to me right now. 2016 will see it finished, and I can only hope it will sing to others the way it sings in my head.
My publisher has the first of a different series in her hands…will she like it? No longer up to me.
And somewhere down the road I hear the distant voice of Saria, my Flamewalkers calling for a new adventure. It’s a faint flicker that teases the edge of everything else I write.
Endings and beginnings. They’re what the changing of a year brings to mind. 2015 was a banner year for me, and I hope it brought longed-for resolutions to you, too.
What resolved for you? What do you resolve for 2016? Share in the comments.