Hugs and Kisses to all my wonderful followers, and Happy New Year! 🥳🤗💋
Well, so many of us are blogging about our New Year’s resolutions, I guess it’s time I did the same.
2018 turned out to be a year which held great promise for success and positive change, and for all that their was some of that, it was also a year of trials, setbacks, death, emotional loss, frustration and illness, at least for me. I won’t kick a dead horse, so to speak, as there’s no point in kicking something that is dead, and I like horses, lol. So: going forward in to 2019, I have some very specific goals and accompanying deadlines.
1. Stay Alive. I know this may sound trite, silly, or perhaps morbid to some of you, but for me it is a fundamental. Life is hazardous enough just trying to drive on the freeway, crossiing a busy street, or simply walking home in the dark after work or going to a movie. However, in my case, my health has also been failing, and there have been signifcant consequences. At times I have literally been immobilized by fatigue, when I would normally be writing, playing music, drawing, trying new makeup or hairstyles, ANYTHING other than being so tired that I can barely hold up my bloody phone. For all that my condition is treatable, it seems to be getting worse; and at a certain point, you can’t get any worse, and that’s when our beloved Grandmother Death 💀 comes to take you on to your next lifetime. I have A LOT of things I still want to accomplish, so with my doctor’s help and ongoing healthy diet and exercise, I will still be here to write a blog like this one next year.
2. Get my current novel published. One of the most annoying things about being a writer is that you can write something really great, and it can even wow the publishers to which you submit your manuscript, but they can still say, “Your novel shows great promise, and we enjoyed this or that element,” or say, “Your novel is intriguing,” while still adding, “but it doesn’t fit with our current publishing plans,” or “It wasn’t quite right for us at this time.” On a positive note, one of the publishers did suggest that I submit something this year, but the novel I am about to write doesn’t fit with their genre, and it won’t be done until next year. Still, I’ve been doing this for a while, and one thing I know for sure is that there are a lot of great writers in the world, and lots of publishers in addition to billions of readers. I know that if I persevere, I will eventually see my current novel in print, both digitally and in hard copy. I already have new ideas on how to make the novel stand out from the crowd, and I’ll be submitting it again within 3 months or less.
3. Start writing my next novel. I have several novels under development: one that needs a re-write, but has HUGE potential, one that is half-written and coterminous in time-line with the first and has already gotten positive reviews from one of my beta-readers, another that is only a story outline, but is so appealing to me that I really want to write only that one, but it is less original than the others, and the one I am actually about to write, which started invading my consciousness last year while I was sending my current novel off to publishers for rejection...er...evaluation, lol! When I really put my little nose to the grindstone, I can usually crank out a first draft withing 90 days, and I’m very excited to write this story. It’s one of those that grabs you right from the beginning, makes you laugh and cry with the experience of the main character, especially cry, but ends in triumph and has a twist at the end. I got all of that just from the outline I wrote in 2o minutes one Sunday afternoon. The story concept taps into ancient mythology, modern science-fiction and world issues, and has a strong spiritual element (spiritual - not religious). I’m tempted to stop writing this blog and work on it right now!
4. Share an original music video on SG. This is something I’ve already been working on for a few months when I wasn’t writing. While I have to keep some details under wraps for the moment, I can share that I’ve started what I call a “virtual band,” a group of female musicians recruited from the ranks of SG’s, Hopefuls and members that will collaborate using 21st Century recording technology in order to compose, record, and mix songs and then create music videos to share with everyone here on SG. I REALLY like our first song, and our goal is to have it done by mid-November. I’m highly anticipating the collaborative element of this project; it should be FUN! In the short run, I will be uploading a video of me playing a medley of two famous songs on the guitar that I’ve never heard anyone combine before, but which complement each other perfectly, likely before Valentine’s Day.
5. As if all that wasn’t enough, I have one more thing I want to do this year: Learn Portuguese. I want to expand my knowledge of foreign languages in general, but I have more SG Hopefuls and SGs that speak this beautiful language, that I can’t help but take a few months (cumulatively) so I can directly write in Portuguese without using translation programs. I know enough Spanish to recognize a lot of cognates between the two languages, but Portuguese resembles French in some of its constructions, which tends to throw me off a little bit. I plan to learn the main Brazilian dialect.
I have lots of other things I’ll be doing this year, like going to concerts, returning to the HP Lovecraft Film Festival, and writing short stories, but those can all wait for other blogs. I will be blogging soon about how to avoid getting scammed via email, as I have previously indicated as well. I’m looking forward to reading all of YOUR New Year’s Resolutions!
Much Love, Muito Amor, Mucho Amor, багато любові, Nui ke ALOHA,
💗💜🖤
- Dhyani
