I hope you all had a good week between Christmas and the New Year, and that those who are in school are enjoying their break. I am, but I’m also excited for school to start again. Did I ever mention that I started college classes? I’m still a technically a senior in high school, but I started dual credit classes at a community college this past fall.

My first semester went well, and I enjoyed my classes. That said, I’m not excited because I feel prepared for the next semester. In fact, I wouldn’t mind if the next couple weeks set their heels in the ground and dragged their feet all the way till the first day. But at the same time, there are things I did poorly last semester that I’m looking forward to improving.

Call it New Year’s optimism.

Because New Year’s Day is just the day when you shake off last year’s mistakes, wipe the slate clean so to speak, and start over. Or at least, try your hardest for two weeks before things go back to normal.

And one thing I want to clean up is my blog. I haven’t paid it much attention the past few years. And, even though I probably won’t be writing regular posts (besides continuing to post chapters of Banished), I feel it’s time to do some tidying up. Which mostly just means I’ll be finding a new theme over the next couple days and updating my About Me section (it’s going on four years old!), so don’t be surprised if things look different the next time you stop by.

Also, I plan to read 100 books in 2017. And to keep myself accountable (and to keep track of what I’ve read), I’ll be making short blog posts about each one. These won’t be full reviews, just comments on what stood out to me.

Other things to look forward to this year: Banished will continue to release weekly until it’s entirely on the blog, which will finish in late March (assuming I can count weeks), at which point I might take a short break before I start releasing Hunted. And while I’m not sure I’ll get it out before Banished finishes its run, you can expect the fourth and final Riddled Stone book to hit Amazon this spring.

I’m not sure what I’ll do once I finish the Riddled Stone series. Probably take a long nap.

Anyway, happy New Year!