Author Resolutions

Okay. I'm way behind on this blogging stuff. If I actually thought I had anything of VALUE to say, I'd be happy to write more. But I'm not a philosophical sort. I'm more the down-to-earth-the-horses-need-shoeing type.

But, I'll give it a try here for my publisher, Moonlight Mesa Associates.

My book is sitting on my publisher's computer, about 1/4 of the way finished. At least I know where I'm going with it, though. I just haven't felt the urge to write. I am pleased that my other three books seem to be selling pretty respectably. Saving Tom Black and Apache are pretty consistent. The big surprise came when I saw that Canyon of Death was the top-selling Moonlight Mesa book for the Ingram distributor last month. I have to admit that encouraged me to keep on keeping on. I'll resume the book after the first of the year, but only on rainy, windy days. Since I live in Arizona, that won't be overworking me any.

I've quit the Facebook thing. Might as well quit Twitter, too. This is about as social as I seem to be able to get. The problem with Facebook is that literally every person on the Western Reader site is trying to SELL their books. It's like a bunch of cheap advertising and it's annoying as hell. And it's the same people, over and over and over. So, one of my New Year resolutions is to stay away from social media and the nasty snide comments that sometimes go on with it. I think I have a tendency to be a face-to-face person, not a media type. Any friends I have know where I live and can call or email. Period.

Another thing that annoys me is people plastering their photos all over the web for the world to see. That seems somehow over-the-top, like indecent exposure. I suppose if someone had just a handful of friends, it'd be fine. But it seems most people have hundreds , and I'm betting that most are probably total strangers.

Anyway, back to the resolutions...besides having resolved to quit social media, I'm going to make a bunch of resolutions this year. Mostly they're going to involve "slowing down" and "savoring" the day. In fact, I may do a private retreat to get me started off right. I spent time in Mexico in November and it was great. No socializing. No blah-blah-blah. Just swimming. Snorkeling. Sittin' in the sun and thinking. It's been hard to get back into the swing of things...not sure I want to. I could take a laptop down there and finish the new book in record time, if I could afford to be gone again.

So, when I finalize all my resolutions, I'll think about sharing them here on this blog. I figure if you're reading this, then you might actually be interested in them.

Everyone who reads this, I want you all to have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Let me know what some of your resolutions are. You might inspire me!