What are your wishes for the new decade?

New Year’s day has come and gone, the beginning of a new decade. It’s the time of year to reflect on everything you’ve accomplished in the past and make your wishes for 2020 and beyond.

The new year has barely begun, and I have already received a slew of newsletters and listened to several book publishing podcasts about setting an agenda for 2020.

My biggest desire for this year is a simple one: I want to become an even better writer and provide more stories that entertain, excite, and cause you to think about the unimaginable.

If I accomplish that, I’m happy.

More specifically, I hope to complete two books next year in The Story of Elthea’s Realm series. Elthea’s Paradox, book 3 in the series, has taken me longer than I expected. I hope to have it ready for publication in the first half of 2020, with the fourth book in the series out by the end of the year.

I’ve come across a variety of quotes about New Year’s wishes, but I recently found one that I thought was particularly good to share with you. It’s a quote from fiction writer Neil Gaiman. Here it is:

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“I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You’re doing things you’ve never done before, and more importantly, you’re Doing Something.

So that’s my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody’s ever made before. Don’t freeze, don’t stop, don’t worry that it isn’t good enough, or it isn’t perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you’re scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”

― Neil Gaiman

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For years I was scared of letting others read my fiction, allowing people to judge it and decide if it was worthy.

I’m glad I put my books out in the marketplace for you to read. The process has helped me grow as a writer and as a person.

Here’s to both of us making many glorious mistakes in 2020 and beyond.

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash