Engage and connect

Because it feels good

At the Under The Oaks Book Club at Effie Yeaw Nature Center.

I always make a New Year’s resolution, though they’re never the goal-oriented type—lose x pounds, exercise every day, sell x books, visit family x times a week. Instead I like to choose a general orientation for the year.

For 2024, my resolution was to favor what’s essential. That was useful. I had so many opportunities and obligations last year that I was sometimes confused about when to say yes, when to say no. Because of my resolution, I asked myself whether the obligation/opportunity related to family, close friends, writing, work, or personal growth or wellbeing. If it didn’t meaningfully attach to any of these essential (to me) areas, I found it much easier to answer no.

This year, I rarely doubted my decisions. I traveled a lot, for work and for pleasure, gathered regularly with family and friends, turned in the manuscript of my fourth novel, and was often at my father’s side in his last chapter. Favor what’s essential helped clarify when I should cancel everything and just be where I needed to be. Essential.

I want to continue this mindset in 2025, to make it part of the way I generally operate. I’ve tested it and learned it’s a good habit for me.

But the new year needs a new resolution. I’ve chosen to focus on this: engage and connect. I won’t judge every little potential activity according to its likely return on my investment of time or effort, because sometimes even the smallest connections wind up making me feel the best. I want more of that connected feeling.

I am thinking about my 2025 calendar as a way of making sure I do this.

I’ll be launching my fourth novel in August, but before that time comes, I aim to attend more readings and literary events and find more opportunities to meet readers in intimate settings (though big is great too) without endangering my personal life.

Earlier this month, I met with the Under the Oaks Book Club at the Effie Yeaw Nature Center for a warm and thoughtful discussion of Copy Boy, especially when the topic came up about the environmental tragedy of the dust bowl in the novel’s setting. Thank you Cassie Sessarego for inviting me. Maybe you belong to a group that would enjoy an author visit?

February 11, I’ll appear online in the Pen Parentis Salon, details to be announced soon.

March 6, I’ll join other authors at Time Tested Books in Sacramento for the launch of Sacramento Noir. Details to come.

March 7, I’m honored to see my story, “Take As Needed” (Akashic Press’s Sacramento Noir) performed at Cap Lit, at the Clara Auditorium. Details to come.

Early April, I’ll get to meet the newest (baby) member of our tribe—Wheeeeeee!

April 23-25 I’ll join a couple of private book clubs in Scottsdale, AZ. I’ve got room for one more if you are looking for your Scottsdale book club’s April read.

May 31, 10-4, I’ll visit with readers at the SACRAMENTO BOOK FESTIVAL, at the Shepard Garden and Arts Center.

June 6, I’ll be in conversation with author and host Joan Griffin as part of the Author Spotlight Lunch Pail Series sponsored by Sierra College and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Details to come regarding the Zoom link and times.

In late July, I’ll travel to France with my family to celebrate my and my husband’s 40th wedding anniversary. *grateful sigh*

And August 12 is publication day for my fourth novel, An Unlikely Prospect. I hope I get to meet with you as part of this celebration.

This year, this calendaring isn’t just a practical exercise for me. It’s a way of checking to see if I am leaving room for spontaneous connections, but not just waiting for them to drop in my lap. I’ve got a year to figure out if this is a good idea.

Do you make resolutions? What kind? I’d love to hear.

To a lovely 2025,

Shelley Blanton-Stroud