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A New Book and a New Look for a New Year

It's a new year and a new year calls for a new template and background for a blog. I was looking through what seemed like hundreds of templates and I'll be be looking through hundreds more before I select one because I am very choosy about my blog's appearance. But you'll see a new look in the next week or two, maybe even three.

Speaking about a new year, as late as I'm running with my book, The Fool's Illusion, it's a great time to put out a new book. I'm coming near to the composing of it. The stories are written, I just have to get them together in one manuscript. I'm presently working on the introduction. If you want a pre-introduction, if you will, you can read one with a free excerpt of the title story at HorrorAddicts.net.  That will give you the perfect sneak peek to the book. If you want even more of a sneak peek, go to my other posts here at the Fantastic site for two whole, free stories--"The Puppet Show" and "The Bazaar"--that will be included in my book. Think of it as three free excerpts from my soon-to-release short story collection plus some insight on what the book is about and therefore its major themes.

With a new year also comes new enthusiasm for writing and so I feel more energised and eager to get my book out and to conjure up more stories for you. You may even find one of those new ones here, but if not I'll definitely direct you where to go get them when they're published.

I'm not really one to create new year's resolutions by the first week of the new year but I'll be sure to make them at least by month's end when I plan to have the book released. Maybe that could be one resolution I can make for myself and all of you faithful readers: release a book by the stated time frame. Probably another resolution will be for me to write a full short story, including all revisions, by the end of each month. That may not seem like a lot of short stories in a year, but I have to consider the other writing I do for journalism such as at Examiner.com as well as all my marketing and promoting of my stories and articles and the time it takes to do all those things. That resolution's just an idea, but a very good one that I'll greatly consider.

I hope the new year is starting off good for you too and that you'll come up with your own helpful resolutions. Feel free to let me know what they are in the comments box (unless they're too personal, of course).

Until next time . . . and Happy New Year!

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