Happy New Year!
Are you one who makes New Year’s Resolutions? If you are, why not share your Top Three with us in comments? If you’re not, why not? Do you do something different instead?
I’m not much for resolutions or words-of-the-year (if WOTY is your jam, we’ll talk about them next week, so save them up!) but I do set goals. Most of my goals are writerly goals, but I also set goals for my personal life. 2020 made some of those goals impossible (spend a month in England? not check…) but hey, 2021 is a brand new year and all things are possibly possible again, right? (Not the England trip — it’s now backburnered for several years. We’ll see.)
Winners this Week
If you’re a winner, you should have received an email from the author in charge of the giveaway. If not, please email us at: prizes at inspyromance dot com.
Merrillee Whren’s winner is Trudy!
Laurie Larsen’s winner is Brenda Witt!
Lindi Peterson’s winner is Alicia Haney!
Melanie D Snitker’s winner is Amy Perrault!
Congratulations!
Don’t forget… every comment you make qualifies you to win one of the monthly Amazon card giveaways!
Winners of the December gift cards are Margaret Bunce and Deb Galloway!
Reader Gathering
Did you know Inspy Romance hosts a Christian Romance Reader Gathering group on Facebook? Deb Kastner will be taking over the group this week. Join us… but don’t forget to answer the questions for admittance!
StoryChats @ InspyRomance
Story Chats is back this week with an all new episode launching Friday! Narelle, Elizabeth, and Valerie will be chatting with Mandi Blake about new beginnings. You won’t want to miss it!
Listen to our new weekly show on your favorite podcasting app, through the player on our podcast tab, or watch us on YouTube! Wherever you listen or watch, please be sure to hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode!
Lamentations 3:40 is only one of many Scriptures that tell us to look back so we can look forward… and make changes if necessary! Perfect verse as we come into a new year.
Last Week on Inspy Romance
On Monday, Liwen Y Ho offered a game: “Who’s Most Likely To” with our admins
On Tuesday, Melanie D Snitker shared some snowy romances… and a #giveaway!
On Wednesday, Narelle Atkins recommended a Christmas book: Once Upon a Silent Night.
On Thursday, Shannon Taylor Vannatter offered dreams… and a #giveaway!
On Friday, CLOSED for New Year’s Day
On Saturday, Toni Shiloh shared her favorite CCR Reads of 2020… and a #giveaway!
Next Week on Inspy Romance
Monday: Jaycee Weaver (20 Good Things From 2020 (and inspiration for 2021))
Tuesday: Heather Gray
Wednesday: Janet W Ferguson (Bad Boy Turned Hero Stories and a Favorite Inspirational Romance in 2020)
Thursday: Elizabeth Maddrey (From Fake Relationship to Marriage of Convenience + #giveaway)
Friday: Valerie M Boddem (Should a Romance Always End with a Wedding? + #Giveaway)
Saturday: Staci Stallings
Dec 23 at the top of our mountain pass, when we still had no snow at all in the valley!
New Releases
January 2021
Hope for Family (Hope Ranch 5) by Elizabeth Maddrey
For the Love of Joy (A Coastal Hearts Novel) by Janet W Ferguson
An Unlikely Proposal by Toni Shiloh
Daisy’s Decision (Dixon Brothers 4) by Hallee Bridgeman
Opening Her Heart by Deb Kastner
Pray for Me (Vacation Sweethearts 5) by Jan Thompson
Longing for Lily (Bloom Sisters 5) by Tara Grace Ericson
December 2020
Cadence of Cranberries (Urban Farm Fresh Romance 10) by Valerie Comer
Forgiven by the Hero (Heroes of Freedom Ridge 6) by Tara Grace Ericson
Becoming Us by Jaycee Weaver and one other
Ride with Me (Chapel Cove Romance 10) by Marion Ueckermann
A complete list of Inspy Romance books by our authors is always available on our BOOKS tab. Find our audiobooks, our permanently free e-books, and our thank-you gifts for newsletter subscribers there as well!
Valerie Comer is a USA Today bestselling author and a two-time Word Award winner who writes where food meets faith and fiction. She injects experience laced with humor into her green clean romances. Her life on a small farm in western Canada provides the seed for stories of contemporary inspirational romance. Like many of her characters, Valerie and her family grow much of their own food and are active in the local foods movement as well as their church. She only hopes her creations enjoy their happily-ever-afters as much as she does hers, shared with her husband, adult kids, and adorable granddaughters.
I usually did a couple of New Years resolutions. This year recivering from surgery and just too tired. Have set an intention Exploration 2021 instead and looking forward to who/what appears, lol!
Hi Valerie! Happy New Year. I am not one to set New Year’s resolutions. As for Word of the Year – this word smith has too many words that I love (can’t narrow down to one word), plus life throw curve balls so the word would change. Maybe Word of the Month / Day. I always think about Benjamin Franklin’s self improvement plan of 13 virtues: Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity and Humility. He worked on them monthly. He was only 20 years old and kept a log on his progress. For me I try to work on the FRUIT of the SPIRIT: love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Nine attributes. As you stated Valerie: I set goals. Reading goal. Personal goal to eat right and exercise. Good mental health. Kindness. Best wishes. Stay warm and healthy. Beautiful wintry picture – peaceful and calm in an uncertain world.
Happy New Year! I don’t do resolutions, and haven’t done a word for the year, though I’m thinking of that this year and have found 71 Bible verses with the word I’m thinking of using, or variations of that word. I don’t really set goals, either. I guess I’m an oddball! Lol!!
I try not to make resolutions….always disappointed ☹️
Praying for a speedy recovery!
If we never knew before how much the world could change and throw curveballs, we sure learned that in 2020! The fruit of the spirit would be great monthly contemplations, too.
Hey, no worries if it works for you! Maybe next week when we talk WOTY, you’ll have yours solidified :)
I feel the same about resolutions. To me, they feel like vague hopes – I really should do x. Maybe if I wish upon a star, it will happen.
I guess that’s why goals work better for me. I can break them down into actionable parts, so there’s a visible path instead of a “mind over matter” mindset? Not sure if that makes sense, or possibly the distinction is only in my head!
Valerie, in high school taught students to set SMART goals (specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound). That is what I like about the yearly reading challenge on Goodreads. My 132 book goal is SMART (specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound).
Yes, I’ve heard that acronym before, but I’d forgotten it! I live by the principle, though.
I don’t do resolutions. This year I’m not going to look to goals as much either. What I want to concentrate on is daily thankfulness for what God has given & is going to give me. It can be overwhelming-in a good way-to consistently remember all of the ways I have been unable to “do” anything for myself yet at the same time to be given so much! I am also trying to be diligent to thank God for what I know He is going to do for me, basically taking my asking for an answer and turning it into a thank you for the answer You are going to give me or for the way You are going to work out this situation heavy on my heart right now. This is a process I am learning about through a devotional series, process being the key word! Creating this as a new habit and in turn changing my thought process is really making a huge difference! Long range resolutions or even goals are more of a hinderance than help to me personally. I need to work on a literal one day at a time basis anymore.
I”m not one for resolutions or words of the year. I guess I’m more of a ‘whatever will be will be’ type of person!
Hi and Happy New Year to you and your family! And thank you, I just saw where I am one of the winners, and Congratulations to the other winners also. Well, I do no make any New Years resolutions, I used to but I never really kept them. I do have a word and my world for this year is “Hope” . Have a Great and Blessed week.
That’s valid!
Congrats, and check your email :)
Happy New Year 🎊
No resolutions for me 🤷🏼♀️
I don’t usually make resolutions or choose a word of the year. I did lay out some writing and personal goals (mostly health-related) for myself in what I feel is a very achievable way. I’m excited to make some progress in several areas this year that remained stagnant in 2020.
Happy New Year!
Here’s to a new 2021!
Oh, Deb, I love this. Being grateful for everything every day is HUGE!
Hi Valerie, Nope, I am not one to set New Year’s Resolutions either. If it wasn’t good enough to complete last year, there is little likelihood that I will do it this year either; however, I do set goals. In 2019, I set a goal to read 100 books and to read a wide variety of authors. I accomplished that without any trouble and met a whole, whole lot of new authors. In order to get my Goodreads goal of 120 books this past year, I had to slip in some children’s books too. haha However, I got no credit for the many times I reread them to the little ones after. Also, reading group author boxsets in groups of up to 9 or more only gives credit for one read generally, which stings a little. LOL I do also set goals to get at least one important things done per day so that I can reward myself with more reading.
Happy New Year to all you writers and readers out there. Hope your year is filled with wonderful characters and wonderful plots.
Happy 2021!
I’ve never gotten into making resolutions or goals for the year. Unless you count reading goals for the year, which remain the same 100 books. :-) I always exceed that number by a few.
I love your snow picture! Beautiful to look at, and I sure don’t miss seeing it.
Have a blessed Sunday everyone!
First up, thanks so much for my prize!!
I’m a bit like Valerie, don’t make New Year resolutions as such, but do evaluate my life and work towards what I feel needs to change. This year, my challenge is to read through the whole Bible in a year, rather than just alternating different books in the New and Old Testament. Something that I’ve shied away from. You know, all those laws and genealogies…!! So far so good. I bit the bullet and joined Valerie’s reading Plan in YouVersion. It’s really great how through this blog we can challenge and inspire each other, too.
And reading is one thing I don’t make goals about!
Ha, I count the individual books in a box set! But then I don’t use Goodreads to track, either.
Congrats on being a winner! And thanks for joining the reading plan. 365 days is a lot to bite off, but I know we can do it.
If anyone is interested in hearing more about it (reading through the Bible in one year using the YouVersion Bible app), email me through the contact form and I’ll give you more details. We launched it through my reader group on Facebook. You’d only be starting a few days late, so easy enough to catch up still. :)
Hi and Happy New Year! I also don’t do resolutions. But somewhat like Deb above said, I try to find something every day that is a Free gift of God – something He provides for anyone who takes the time to notice. I’ve been doing this for awhile/# of years, and even during the worst years, the longest winters this gives me something to watch for every day and something to lift me up. For me, it also teaches the attitude of appreciation. It can be anything – a special cloud formation, a pretty butterfly, the frost glittering in the morning trees, a bird “sighting” at my feeders (like a grp of cardinals), lovely sunrises/sunsets, autumn leaves, a kitty sitting in someone’s window, or a rabbit or pheasant in the yard, etc. I also track books read on goodreads, but my “goal” there is mostly set because they track & I like going back to remember what a book was about (based on my review, to decide if I want to buy more from that author). The actual total count is irrelevant for me.
Your photo, again is lovely! It would qualify as one of my “gifts from God” sightings. ❤️
I love snow, since I rarely have to drive in it! So yes, I am thankful for it. We had some last week but it rained all night and we are currently snow-free… again.
Congratulations to all the winners. I am not sure if I would call them resolutions or goals. I want to read 80 books this year. I also want to work on decluttering the house.
I dont do resolutions, they always seem to not get kept, but I do try and set goals for certain things.
Happy New Year!
Congratulations to the winners.
Best wishes on your goals for the year!
Same!
Happy New Year!
I was never as happy to have built the habit of always looking for something to be grateful for then when I landed in a nursing home for a few months at 52 yrs. old! That time was so difficult in so many ways that if not for that habit I would have been totally miserable & any positive witness for Christ would have been destroyed. I had also gotten used to always trying to find something good in everyone. It’s rare that you can’t find something (honestly) but if that happens at least I know the time I spent looking could have been spent in a much less fruitful way! That, in & of it’s own is a good thing, right? Usually it turns out that they are going through a rough spot and often need a friend.
The Bible study I am learning how to thank God in advance for the answers to my requests through is by Cheri Swalwell. A truly foreign idea but what blessings it can bring! It’s certainly not always the answers I would prefer but if I really believe Jeremiah 29:11 I need to prove I trust His ways are far better than mine!
Thank you again for the prize! It is such a treat! ❤
<3
I’m a planner, so I love New Year’s Resolutions. Even if I don’t finish it that year, I’ve at least made more progress toward it than if I didn’t set any focal point at all. My top 3 goals this year are to publish the 4th book in my Christian romance series, edit my Bible study on patience, and break my addiction to sugar by going on a sugar fast, starting Tuesday for a whole month!
Those sound like great goals! I’ve been sugar-free for three years now – it’s definitely possible :)
Thank you
I don’t do resolutions and I don’t know why. This year I am going to try a gratitude jar. Every week put a piece of paper with one or more things I grateful for in a jar to read on new years Eve 2021. To God be the glory!
What a great idea! I’m sure it will be a blessing, since gratitude is never wasted.