My New Year’s resolution for 2014? Finish this bottle of scotch!
Now, you’d be perfectly reasonable to question why this would be a goal worthy of a New Year’s resolution given that many celebrants can polish off a bottle of scotch in a single New Year’s Eve. But this is not just any old bottle of scotch and I will not drink it just any old time.
The Scotch is Glenmorangie, my namesake scotch. I’ve always fancied that if I needed a pen name, “Angie Glenmor” would be it. Since my actual last name has changed five times but my scotch not once! It seems sensible that if I publish, I should publish under the most consistent name. Besides, the tasting notes describe Glenmorangie Original as “the perfect balance between sweetness and complexity. Resulting in a mature spirit that is soft, mellow and creamy. Perfect for enjoying at any time.” Which, you have to admit, could also make a pretty fantastic book blurb.
Now I just bought this particular bottle of scotch New Year’s Eve 2013. I didn’t buy it to celebrate the new year. I bought it to celebrate the fact that I had just (barely) fulfilled my 2013 New Year’s resolution to start submitting my fiction. (Details here, if you missed it.) I wanted to sip a dram by the fireplace and write in my journal about the satisfaction I felt sending off my manuscript entry before the clock struck twelve.
Now, I wouldn’t make much progress as a writer if I never submitted anything ever again so it came to me that I had to find a way to be accountable and submit more of my stuff. I took a sip from my glass and it came to me! I will drink a dram from *this* bottle to celebrate every time I submit something new. I have to make enough submissions in 2014 to finish the bottle before midnight next New Years Eve. Who knows, in time, I just might start measuring my courage as a writer by how many bottles of scotch I go through.
Of course, I realize there are writers out there that would go through that bottle in a week but not to worry, my liver should be just fine. I’m still kind of new at this game and expect to have to work pretty hard to get through that bottle.
Perhaps I’ll share it with loved ones and offer a dram to friends willing to celebrate with me and drink to the success of my manuscripts. Slàinte mhòr!
Read ~ Write ~ Wander
~Angie