Advice to make 2016 your best year yet

Happy New Year!
My 2016 advice for you:

Don't let yourself have any regrets by the time 2016 ends.

- Travel somewhere new. If you can afford it, go somewhere you've never been before, somewhere where the culture is different from yours and the world is more colourful. If you can't afford that kind of trip, go somewhere local that you've never been before. Find out more about the special beauty that your own town or city displays.

- Learn something new. You are never too old to learn a new skill or try a new hobby. Learn how to do something you have never done before. You might find out you enjoy it.

- Appreciate your loved ones and let them know they are loved, not just by your words but by your actions. Do something caring for someone you love. Spend more time giving out hugs this year.

- Live in love instead of in fear. Do something kind for a stranger. Stop making decisions based on the fear of what *might* happen, and start basing your life on love and service to others. Remember that the kindness you send out into the world will always find its way back to you.

- Do something good for the planet. Go out and spend some time cleaning up litter in your neighbourhood or at the beach, give to a charity that aids the environment, spend more time walking instead of driving places. Find a way that you can help fight climate change and then do it.

- Spend some time at the ocean. If you can swim, go for a swim in the waves. If you can't swim, just sit on the warm sand and watch the waves crashing against the shore. Trust me - it's therapeutic.

- Spend more time in nature. This world we live in is a beautiful place, full of its own special magic. Take time to appreciate the beauty all around you.

- Learn to love yourself. This might possibly be the most difficult challenge any of us will face, but it's one of the most important ones. Your body is not YOU. Your appearance does not define who you are. You have a soul, a spirit, a mind, and that part of you, that hidden part, is who you are. Don't let others who can't see that part of you define you. You know who you are; you know your strengths and your flaws, and, deep down, you know you are worthy of love. Embrace this.

- Take care of your body. While it is only the vessel that carries your soul, it can get sick and it can break down much earlier in life if it is not taken care of properly. So only put food into it that strengthens it and nourishes it, and make sure to exercise your body on a regular basis.

- Pursue your dreams. Don't let society tell you what dreams you should and shouldn't have. If your dreams don't hurt anyone else, then by all means, go after them. Start by taking small steps towards them and build from there.

- Create something. Whether it's art, crafts, the written word or something else entirely, be creative this year. It nurtures your soul, and, sometimes, it helps nurture the souls of others too.

- Be silly. Spend some time just being silly. Let yourself be taken over by a fit of the giggles, make corny jokes, and laugh a lot. Laughter improves your quality of life.

Goal-setting: When You Don't Succeed #ChaBooCha

Goal-Setting: What Happens When You Don't Succeed at your Goals

First off, for those of you who have succeeded at the ChaBooCha challenge this month, congratulations! I know it wasn't easy to set aside time for writing, but you did it! Let me know if you wrote your book start to finish during the challenge, and if you succeeded, I will send you a winner's badge for your blog or website within the week.

But for those of you who didn't succeed, I have a bit of advice. (Chapter Book Challenge member Melissa Gijsbers has mentioned that she is giving some tips for this over on her blog too, so feel free to go have a look.)

You've already done something great just by participating, just by putting words down on paper, even if you didn't reach your goal. Did you read one of the guest posts during the challenge? Then you learned something. Did you write down an outline, a page or an idea for your story? Then you are already further along than you were at the beginning of the challenge. Succeeding at a challenge or achieving your goal is a great thing to strive for, but don't forget all of the smaller achievements along the way that move you closer to your larger goal.

Not all deadlines you give yourself will be met. Trying is what is the important part. Putting in the effort to do achieve something, even if that effort is only the effort for one small step in the journey, is worth the time spent on it.

Achieving a writing goal is a journey, and part of that journey is to learn and grow while you get there. There is no set time for each person to reach their goals. Yes, this is a challenge with a set time for reaching your goal, BUT its main purpose is to give you some impetus towards writing your book.  If you are even just a tiny bit further along, even if the distance further you have travelled is only in your head and not written down yet, that means the challenge has done its job, and you ave benefited from it.

You don't have to take my word for it though. There are a lot of people who have mentioned the journey towards success. I thought it would be fun to use Google to find some image quotes that would help give some perspective on our successes, failures and efforts. (After the images, keep reading and find out about a different writing challenge and the Teapot Tales anthologies.)

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Blog Your Book in 30 Days

For those of you who want to continue to challenge yourself to write in the month of April, I am running a Blog Your Book in 30 Days challenge. There are a lot of helpful writing posts on the blog from last year, and even more fitting, April is National Book Blogging Month. The challenge can be participated in concurrently with Camp NaNoWriMo too. You don't need to actually blog your book. For those of you who want to keep your writing more private, there are some alternate routes to participating in the Blog Your Book in 30 Days challenge.

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Teapot Tales anthology submissions

Do you like to write fairy tales? In addition to the "donate" button that can be found on the right sidebar of this site, there is another way to donate to keeping the challenge running. Every year we bring out a new volume of our Teapot Tales anthologies. This will be the third volume and the theme is returning to fairy tales. you can find out more about previous anthologies at Melusine Muse Press as well as more about the submissions process. the stories are flash fiction and are to either be a new take on an old fairy tale (sometimes called twisted fairy tales or fractured fairy tales) or completely new fairy tales. Submissions are only open to Chapter Book Challenge members, Previous Teapot Tales anthologies are "Teapot Tales: A Collection of Unique Fairy Tales" (Teapot Tales: Volume 1) and "Teapot Tales: Pirates, Mermaids and Monsters of the Sea" (Teapot Tales: Volume 2). The anthologies are sold through Amazon, but will be expanding to other retail outlets. All authors get to retain the copyrights to their stories to publish in their own collections or on their own websites. Up to three stories may be submitted. Artwork (line drawings) is also accepted. (Deadline is not definite yet, but will most likely be in June or July.)

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Winners!

And here's the fun part of today. I get to announce the prize winners for all of the prizes during the challenge!

The winner of Girl Incredible by Patti Larsen is:

Robyn Campbell

Congratulations, Robyn!

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The winner of Yes! You Can Learn How to Write Beginning Readers and Chapter Books by Nancy I. Sanders is: 

Sydney O'Neill

Congratulations, Sydney!

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The winner of Writing the Paranormal Novel by Steven Harper is:

Kelly McDonald

Congratulations, Kelly!

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The winner of Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Stories by Terry Pratchett is:

Priya

Congratulations, Priya!

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The winner of the e-book copy of  Swallow Me, NOW! by Melissa Gijsbers is:

saputnam

Congratulations, Sharon! 

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The winner of Writing Irresistable Kidlit: The Ultimate Guide to Crafting Fiction for Young Adult and Middle Grade Readers by Mary Kole is:

Anita Banks

Congratulations, Anita!

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The winner of Writing Plots with Drama, Depth and Heart: Nail Your Novel (Volume 3) by Roz Morris is:

Joanne Roberts

Congratulations, Joanne!

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The winner of The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes by Tami D. Cowden is:

McMarshall

Congratulations, Maria!

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The winner of You Can Write Children's Books Workbook by Tracey E. Dils is:

Kathy Phillips

Congratulations, Kathy!

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The winner of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Children's Book Publishing by Harold Underdown is:

Kelly Vavala

Congratulations, Kelly!

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The winner of The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi is:

Nancy Kotkin

Congratulations, Nancy!

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The winner of A Rat and a Ransom by Y. I Lee is:

Manju Howard

Congratulations, Manju!

Everyone has two weeks to notify me of your mailing address and/or the e-mail address you like e-books sent to (and which format). If we don't hear from you by April 14th, the prize will be donated to a local library instead.

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And that concludes the prizes for this year's ChaBooCha! Thank you so much for participating, and a big thank you to the authors who guest posted during this year's challenge!