A Twist on Resolutions by Sarah E. Burr

We all know the age-old adage: new year, new me. While I understand the concept, reinventing myself doesn’t feel like the right message to send. I’m proud of who I am, so I’m revising this phrase to “new year, best me.” My goal in 2023 is to be the best I can be, and the same goes for my characters.

The leading ladies from each of my series have gotten together for this month’s post to share their goals and resolutions for the new year or, more accurately, their next book.

 

Hazel Wickbury from the Glenmyre Whim Mysteries: I plan to dedicate myself to my candle shop, A Wick in Time, and experiment with new products for my customers. I’ve always been interested in soap making, so learning this craft is on my list of resolutions. With Iggy’s upcoming book release, I also want to ease up on my store manager’s workload, which means finding another person to bring onto the team. Maybe I can convince my aunt and bestie, Poppy, to help out, or perhaps someone new to Crucible is looking for part-time work. On a more personal note, I have to seriously think about my future with Ezra and whether I’m going to let my whim—a supernatural ability to see when someone is going to die—keep affecting our relationship. Yikes, just writing that down sends me into a panic spiral. Yes, I definitely need to resolve this, as much as it pains me. How? Well, I guess time will tell.

 

Coco Cline from the Trending Topic Mysteries: I aim to be more present and focus on the positives in my life 😇 I stress out way too much about things that have or haven’t happened, which can get in the way of my relationships. After Stacy Lockner’s murder and coming face-to-face with her killer, I desperately need to take some time to focus on my mental health. Confronting a murderer was scary beyond all belief, and I’m not sure I’ve really processed what I went through. Luckily, my social media marketing business is growing and keeping me busy, and Center of Attention is looking to make its first hire soon. Weeding through applications has been a great distraction, but I do have to sit down and figure out who to onboard. Without some help, I will eventually run myself ragged, juggling all my consulting engagements and my lifestyle blog, Trending Topic.

Duchess Jacqueline from the Court of Mystery series: Virtues, where to begin? I must aid in the conflict currently assaulting the Realm of Virtues. After the downfall of Duke Savant, his nation plunged into turmoil and rebellion. As a protector of the realm, it is my duty to help his people emerge from this political storm, unscathed. How I plan to do this, I still need to decide. With so much riding on these decisions, it’s difficult to focus on anything else. But I do hope, amongst all this chaos, I can spend some time with my beloved Perry and our dear friends to prepare for Lady Uma Dorrow’s upcoming wedding.

 

Arwen Lark from the Book Blogger Mysteries: This year, I’m going to introduce myself to Sarah’s readers 😁 And absolutely crush my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I’ve committed myself to reading one-hundred-fifty-six books. That’s thirteen books a month! It sounds daunting, but with all the reviews The Wren (a.k.a. me) is scheduled to post on my popular literary blog, What Spine is Yours, it shouldn’t be too much of a hurdle. Although, my Hollywood-hotshot brother’s upcoming visit might get in the way…

 

What goals do your favorite characters have this year?