Escape into a Story · Memory Lane

2023 Goal: Read More Romance (+sale & freebie!)

Read More Romance in 2023I don’t make New Year’s resolutions anymore. It’s been years since I’ve bothered. Just as soon as I made a list of goals, habits I wanted to change (or develop LOL), weight to lose, well, I’d break it and never manage to get back on track. And then the Type A overachiever side of me would heap on the guilt and self-condemnation, and the next year my list would basically look identical to the failed list of the one before.

Have you ever been caught up in that cycle?

Instead, I like to look at what worked the year before, what didn’t, and then readjust my priorities to a more realistic, doable level. Unofficially, of course. No more resolution lists.

Have you seen the TikTok/Reel clip that shows someone’s written goals and then they cross out letters or add to the end of the line so it completely changes the meaning? For example, “read 50 books” becomes “read 5 books” when they black out the zero. Or “get a new car” becomes “get a new career.” That’s how I feel looking at lists of resolutions—how can I rework them so I don’t fail (AGAIN)?!

But there’s one resolution I never have to worry about failing at: READ MORE ROMANCE. Ha ha! You IR blog readers know what I’m talking about! Check, check, and check in that box!

Speaking of goals (in lieu of resolutions… goals sound so much more achievable, don’t they?), do you set an annual reading goal for yourself?

I like to join the GoodReads annual reading challenge. I purposefully set it lower than the number I’ll actually read because I tend to go so far overboard, I get a little embarrassed looking at the real number. Which is currently at 200 out of a goal of 180… (Wait, was this post about resolutions or confessions? *face palm*) But keeping track there all year round is still a fun way to stay accountable to the goal, whether you’re realistic, lofty, or subversive in setting one.

How about you? What kinds of goals (reading or otherwise) are you setting for yourself as we head into the new year? Or, like me, have you basically given up on making resolutions and are simply looking forward to the end of 2022 with the hope of a better year filled with quality, inspiring romance reads?

To help you reach your reading goals (however unofficial they may be), our own Valerie Comer has a whole list of FREE and 99¢ books available from Christian and Inspirational authors to fill your eReader with. CLICK HERE to access the sale! You’ll find books from a number of IR authors as well as other respected authors in the Christian romance community. The sale ends TODAY, though, so hurry and get clicking!

Before I sign off my last post of 2022, I want to wish you well. I pray for you, dear readers, comes from Numbers 6:24-26:

24“ ‘ “The Lord bless you and keep you;

25the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

26the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” ’

And laughter. May He also bring you joy and laughter. Happy New Year!

about me · inspirational · Uncategorized

When all you want to do is ____________…

..and everything else has to take priority.

It’s not fun. Let me tell you. I’ve been re-reading Gina and Jaydon’s story for weeks just to remind myself what’s going on in their lives so that I can stay consistent with where I want them to go. Plus, you know, edits. Lots and lots of edits.

But I can’t seem to get the time to sit and finish the story as quickly as I want to. Does that ever happen to you? You’ve got this nice long goals list, or…wait for it…New Year’s Resolutions (gag, choke, puke) that you’re ready to commit to and raring to go. And then? BAM! Life happens.

You get sick. The kids get sick. Oh, and there’s work. The house. Dinner, every night. Activities and chaos and and and and and–whew!

You know what I’m talking about.

So here’s another reminder for all my fellow recovering perfectionists out there. Let it go (shut up, Elsa, I hate you). But seriously, it’s okay to let go of those icky, stressed out feelings that are keeping you from achieving those goals. The rigidity that comes with perfectionism says it’s all-or-nothing, success or fail. But that is a LIE. The truth is, there is peace in the balance. There actually is a middle ground, a place where you’re mostly succeeding and not letting the little shortcomings derail you–remembering that the small things really are small things.

A heads up for those of you who are not perfectionists (you lucky schmucks) but are probably married or related to one, that overachievers are more likely to be procrastinators and feel really, really guilty for breaking those resolutions or not completing our lists. And the anxiety that comes with those failures sucks. It makes us annoying jerks who snip and snap at everyone around us, and when you point and laugh (I can admit that from the outside, perfectionist freak outs are pretty amusing) it only reminds us that we’ve screwed up and heaven forbid we’ve had a witness to a failure.

Thank God for maturity, though. If my thirties have taught me anything, it’s that life happens and I’m much happier if I just roll with it as it comes. It’s a struggle, I’ll admit, when my first nature is to stress out and get annoyed with myself for not being superhuman enough to accomplish it all.

Like Brynn in my first book, I have to remember that “Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails” (Prov. 19:21 NIV). As long as I am keeping my eyes on the One who knows what needs to happen where and when, then things really will fall into place. Like Ecclesiastes 3 says, to everything there is a time and a season.

Today, it’s my time to work on my website, social media, and getting things updated. Tomorrow it’s a day of substitute teaching and shuttling children. This weekend it’ll be family time and taking care of the house. But Monday? Six hours of writing. A full, dedicated day to do what I both want AND need to do.

So I encourage you–when you’re overwhelmed by the failures and breaking resolutions and the pace of life going too fast for you to squeeze it all in–relax, let go of the frustrations, and remind yourself that the balance feels better than the stress. Because you’re going to get done what you can, when you can, and stressing out and treating everyone around you like crap isn’t going to help anything. You may as well enjoy the highs and lows, because that’s where you’ll find the balance. It’s resting, even in the pursuit.