We’re nearly two weeks into January and it already feels too late to wish everyone a happy 2026. Would that the news could be less awful, but here we are… That’s not an excuse for me to give in to my more despondent instincts, however. I have goals for this coming year, and I intend to strive for them.
I won’t say it’s a “new me” for the new year because there are a lot of decades of ingrained habits that can’t be overcome that quickly. My therapist and I have tried. BUT! That doesn’t mean I can’t become an improved version of myself over the next cycle of the seasons.
The first goal is to do more reading. I know it seems silly to hear an author admit to not doing as much reading as they’d like, but I truly have fallen out of the habit like I used to do it. That’s something I aim to remedy moving forward.
That includes various fiction works, whether they’ve been paused for a while or not. It’s not like my to-read list ever gets any shorter, so I might as well start trying to chip away at it. But it also includes some writing craft books, non-fiction (particularly related to mythology), and some anti-fascism and anti-tyranny non-fiction, just because I’m apparently not allowed to keep myself in a good mood. I’ll try to remember to let you all know how it goes.
Another goal of mine is to be more consistent about writing, and that starts with my drafting practices. I’m very guilty of trying to make a perfect first draft, which is always a fool’s errand. So, my resolution is to be more willing to put out crap if it means just having something written down. It can be polished later, but I can’t refine a nonexistent draft of a story about a woman with amnesia who finds herself thrust into a conflict against a cult worshipping a newly appeared demon whose presence stirs her memories unless I put something—anything—down on paper (you know, figuratively).
Another goal of mine for the upcoming year is to shop a short story to publishers. I mean really, properly, earnestly try to sell this story. It’s not one that’s available on the site. My understanding from trying this sort of thing before is that publishers aren’t interested in works that have been published online previously.
Admittedly, everything I hear about the publishing world intimidates me. I’m not an outwardly ambitious person, so the effort required to play the game is something that still feels beyond me. I guess this coming year will teach me just how much chutzpah I can summon when needed.
With that established, there are a couple of small projects I’m working on at the moment and which I do plan to make available here. The first is a horror short about sailors who venture too far into the waters of frost giant territory, only to find that something else terrifying also lives there. The other is a contemporary short story about a man who lives on borrowed time thanks to a deal with Death and knows that the end is coming soon. The hope was to have the fantasy short (Wretched Us, All In Rime) ready for this month’s post, but alas, it’s not quite there. I do have a finished first draft, though, so that’s something to be proud of, by my standards, at least.
That’s it for now. Stay safe out there and help one another out. We’re only getting out of this madness if we all look out for each other. Fear and despair are powerful weapons, but remember that those who employ those weapons are also governed by the same. They only want to make us afraid of each other because they’re afraid of us. See you next month!
– Marc
Marc Rivers, Author 