State of the Sloan. Wow. That sounds terribly official, like some kind of address the President is constitutionally obliged to deliver to Congress. Perhaps it’s more like a province of some banana republic. Our major export is sarcasm, by the by.

So, Happy New Year, faithful Fistful readers! I want to riff on a couple things today. The first being the much-maligned contrivance of the New Year’s Resolution.

It comes like clockwork. First we get Thanksgiving, then Christmas, then New Years… and then we get the fourth holiday season: people hating on resolutions. For whatever reason, people love to side-eye people for opining about their resolutions, and I simply don’t understand the invective. What is a New Years resolution? It’s a pledge to do something. A notion to better oneself. So what that most resolutions are abandoned? Does that mean we shouldn’t put credence in the aspiration? So what that it’s an arbitrary date to start considering your girth or your chosen addictions? At least we manage to take this arbitrary moment… after all, aren’t all moments arbitrary by some definition or another?

Truly, though, I get the sentiment that people should continually aspire for self-improvement, but I’m not the type to declare a thing invalid if it fails to deliver. I’m reminded of a local radio show host who expressed his distaste for those “Coexist” bumper stickers you see out there, which spell the word with symbols of major world religions. He declared these bumper tickers to be a major peeve of his, by simple virtue of the fact that people of the world will never actually coexist in peace, thus it annoys him that people think they can.

I, for one, admit that humanity may never manage to put aside our significant mutual hostilities. But I also maintain that peace is worth espousing. You might not change six billion minds, but you can help to create an atmosphere of tolerance around you. Likewise, when a person publicly mocks another’s New Years resolution, that person builds an atmosphere of defeatism and negativity.

So, instead of indulging in a hearty eye-roll and public snicker on Facebook at the resolver’s expense, why not quietly tuck in the attitude and hope they succeed? Don’t hate.

For example… a good resolution would be “Stop going Full Psychopath at company X-mas parties.”

Okay, soap box tucked back under my desk… time for a quick update on my various writing projects.

– The Curse Merchant, book one of the Dark Choir series, is out and about, selling well, and has just crested 50 reviews on Amazon with over a 4-star rating. I’m very happy with the BookBub promotion that went down in early December… we got LOTS of downloads!

– The short story prequel “Bait & Witch” is now available for purchase within the Chronology anthology by Curiosity Quills. It’s nestled in the midst of some high quality fiction, folks. A fine sampler of CQ authors!

– The Curse Servant, book two of the Dark Choir series, is currently available for preorder on Amazon, and it seems plenty of the readers who took advantage of the Curse Merchant sales have already purchased the sequel! I LOVE YOU ALL! Official release date is February 26th.

– The Curse Mandate, book three of the Dark Choir series, has just begun! I’m already enjoying slipping back into Dorian’s brain. This book will be broader, bigger, with a few more Michael Bay explosions. I… might have lied about the explosions.

– My latest independent novel, Yea Though I Walk, is in the hands of beta-readers. Once I get feedback from them, the fate of that book will be decided. On a personal level, I feel it’s my best work yet… it was certainly ambitious! Now I’ll wait and see if this is just in my head, or if the beta-readers agree.

Oh, and as for New Years resolutions go… mine is to wrap three complete first drafts this year. I know I can do it, and hopefully thereby set a new pace for writing. By the way, last year’s resolution was to lose ten pounds. I lost twenty. BOO YAH!

I love you all… keep reading!