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Some Writerly Advice for the New Year

December 28, 2022 by in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field tagged as ,

Have you made your New Year’s resolutions?

Christmas and Hanukkah have passed, and I hope your celebrations were happy. Now is the usual time to start thinking about resolutions for the New Year.

I haven’t made any, and don’t intend to. Last year I decided my only resolution would be to take baby steps into the future. I think that’s probably one of the few resolutions I’ve ever kept!

What I need, I suppose, is motivation!!! With that in mind, here are some words of wisdom from famous authors of the past:

  • “The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul…” —Gilbert K. Chesterton
  • “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” —George Eliot
  • “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” — C.S. Lewis
  • “Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow; The year is going, let him go, Ring out the false, ring in the true.” —Alfred Lord Tennyson
  • “It’s never too late to become who you want to be. I hope you live a life that you’re proud of, and if you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start over.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald
  •  “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” —E.E. Cummings
  • “Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” —William James

When you’re as old as I am, it’s always nice to hear that it’s never too late. But actually, I found this bit of advice more in tune with the author and the upcoming holiday:

“Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.” —F. Scott Fitzgerald

What’s your New Year’s resolution? Share it in the comments below.

You can find more suggestions for your New Year’s resolution prep at Parade.com.

Have a blessed and happy New Year, and I’ll see you back here in March for my next Quarter’s Day post.

Image credits: Depositphotos.com

Some of Alina’s Books

CHRISTMAS KISSES

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CHRISTMAS KISSES

STORM & SHELTER

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STORM & SHELTER
FATED HEARTS: A Love After All Retelling of the Scottish Play
MISTLETOE & MAYHEM: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

THE COUNTERFEIT LADY

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THE COUNTERFEIT LADY

A LEAP INTO LOVE

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A LEAP INTO LOVE
WINTER WISHES: A REGENCY HOLIDAY ROMANCE ANTHOLOGY

HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

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HAUNTING MISS FENWICK

MARRYING MR. GIBSON

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MARRYING MR. GIBSON

THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

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THE GHOST OF DEPFORD HALL

THE VISCOUNT’S SEDUCTION

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THE VISCOUNT’S SEDUCTION

ROSALYN’S RING

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ROSALYN’S RING

LILIANA’S LETTER

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LILIANA’S LETTER

THE MARQUESS AND THE MIDWIFE

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THE MARQUESS AND THE MIDWIFE

ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY

Buy now!
ADVENGING THE EARL’S LADY

ROMANCING THE PAGES

Buy now!
ROMANCING THE PAGES

THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL

Buy now!
THE ROGUE’S LAST SCANDAL
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Touch

December 26, 2022 by in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as , , , ,

3 Haiku poems

Touch

your breath on my cheek,
as I hold you close to me,
silken infancy


it was the breeze, or
maybe the brush of your touch,
long lost, yet with me


father holds my hand
between life and death, an ache
forged in memory

©Neetu Malik


Some of Neetu’s Books


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For Christmas . . .

December 25, 2022 by in category Infused with Meaning by Kidd Wadsworth
Photo courtesy of Jez Timms at Unsplash

Give yourself the gift of community.

2020 was my worst year ever. To give you some perspective, in 2019 my dad died, but I do not consider 2019 to be as bad as 2020. In 2006, the high-tech startup I founded failed. In 2000, I miscarried. Why then would 2020, and not one of those other years remain in my mind as the year I most wish I’d skipped.

Let’s start with my miscarriage in January 2000. Yes, it was painful, and discouraging—I was undergoing fertility treatments—but on December 17th my son was born. The trauma of losing a child in the womb dimmed when I held Anthony in my arms.

When my business failed in 2006, I came home to a family that needed me, to neighbors and friends I’d ignored to work on my business. They greeted me with open arms.

When my dad died, I grew closer to my mom. In grief, my family came together.

Each time when tragedy struck, the people around me comforted me, they brought joy into my life. 2020 was altogether different. In 2020, I lost my community.

Yes, I am a liberal, one of those terrible people who consistently votes for representatives and senators that can’t balance a budget to save their lives. I supported wearing masks, but when I put on a mask and walked among a masked people, I sank into depression. I missed the smiles of my neighbors. I suffer from hearing loss and without seeing another’s lips move, I also began to miss and misunderstand the words of others. Conversation became difficult. Because of the terrible speakers on my old computer, Zoom was a nightmare.

I suppose what happened was inevitable. Like a character in a bad novel, the emotions I felt manifested themselves physically. I fell and broke my right leg in two places. Two weeks later, I contracted the shingles. Never having seen the shingles before, I delayed going to the doctor until it was too late for the anti-viral to work. I got the disease in late September. I was finally off the pain medication in mid-January. I left the crutches behind in March.

Finally, have regained some of my former strength, in the summer of 2021, I flew home to Texas to see my family. I even embarked on a road trip traveling by car in a huge lopsided triangle from Dallas to Austin to Houston and back again. Along the way, I saw family and friends—and I talked and talked. Me, the classic introvert, talked. No antidepressant ever lifted a person’s mood faster. The sun shone brighter. I had more energy. Food tasted fantastic. Life, like a cherry blossom, bloomed for me.

Finally, I understood. I needed other people. I needed community.

This year I’ve made a new resolution. Yes, I need to exercise more. Yes, I plan to write another novel. Yes, yes, yes, there are so many things knocking on the door of my mind, calling out, demanding attention. But this year is the year I will give myself a different kind of gift. This year I plan to consciously seek out community.

I will listen quietly to my friends. When they are suffering, I will reach out to them and offer what help I can. When they are celebrating, I will wink and buy a sugary scone to share with them. When we are separated by distance, I will write to them long letters and phone at least once a month. I will plan visits. I will travel to see them.

I will slow down when about my daily chores, taking time to speak to strangers, to greet and smile at them.

I will carry in my pocket at all times two ten-dollar bills, so I will have something to give to those in need whenever I encounter them.

I will become an active member of a group which is seeking to positively impact our environment.

I will seek out a supportive faith community and both listen to them as they speak about their beliefs and dare to talk to them about mine.

I will try to be God’s friend.

Wishing each of you a Christmas brimming over with the laughter of friends and family,

Kidd

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A Year Is An Ocean by Veronica Jorge

December 22, 2022 by in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as , ,

As the year draws to an end, preparing to close its final chapter, I think of the beach.

It might seem perfectly normal to those of you living in sunny climates, or to snow bunnies hastening away from the cold. But to those of us in areas that have already seen our first snow, it might sound strange.

To me, beginnings and endings can be like the ocean.

Like a rushing tide, every New Year, we rush toward new goals and hopes.

Sometimes shrinking back in fear, or drifting away into distant doubts and difficult memories.

Sturdy ocean rocks, like strong foundations, enable us to stand secure. And even walk on water, like faithful friends that make us believe we can do the impossible.

Our footprints in the sand are washed away like our past failings and errors. While a merciful new year, grants us another chance at life.

The 1960s song, Try to Remember, written by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, plays in my mind. Emotion tightens my throat. My heart forms a prayer for the coming year.

May no one weep. Not even the willow.

Veronica Jorge

See you next time on January 22, 2023! 

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Dianna Sinovic, Featured Author

December 21, 2022 by in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as , , ,

Author of the Month: Dianna Sinovic

picture of dianna sinovic

Dianna is a contributing author in the last three anthologies from The Bethlehem Writers Group, An Element of Mystery: Sweet, Funny and Strange Tales of Intrigue, Fur, Feathers, and Scales, Sweet, Funny and Strange Animal Tales and Untethered, Sweet, Funny & Strange Tales of the Paranormal. She has also contributed stories for the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable ezine, including “In the Delivery.”

Born and raised in the Midwest, Dianna has also lived in three other quadrants of the U.S. She writes short stories and poetry, and is working on a full-length novel about a young woman in search of her long-lost brother.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Horror Writers Association, The American Medical Writers Association, and The Bethlehem Writers Group, LLC.

Dianna also has a regular column here on A Slice of Orange, titled Quill and Moss, in which she frequently includes short fiction.

Below, you can also listen to Dianna read her short story, “Cold Front” from the GLVWG Writes Stuff anthology.


Other books by Dianna Sinovic


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