The Latest News from Blydyn Square Books
Happy New Year, everyone!
Now, I’ve never been one to make “New Year’s Resolutions,” only because I feel like the mere title of resolution sets you up to fail before the end of January. But I AM extremely goal-oriented. In fact, (almost) every year since 2015, I’ve taken part in a special challenge that I first read about in Runner’s World magazine: Run (at least) one mile every single day between Thanksgiving and January 1.
They call it “streaking”—keeping up a daily running streak during the most difficult weeks of the year, that period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, when you’re most likely not only busier than usual with extra work and errands and cooking, but also tend to be eating in a less healthy way and (if you’re like me) maybe drinking a little more wine than normal!
So, what’s the point of streaking? As a friend (and former long-distance runner) put it: “You put the miles in the bank.”
In other words, by forcing yourself to run, even just a tiny bit, every day—no matter how busy or tired (or hung over) you are—you build your body’s stamina and keep up your fitness, so you don’t lose valuable training during the holidays.
I imagine you’re wondering what the hell all this has to do with books, publishing, and writing. And my answer is: everything.
To become a great runner, you need to run often (even if it’s not every day), so you can “put the miles in the bank.”
To become a great writer (or even a great reader), you need to write (or read) often—YES, EVERY SINGLE DAY (because with books, you don’t risk shin splints or worn-out knees, so you have no legitimate reason to take a rest day)—so you can “put the words in the bank.”
I’m not saying you need to write an entire novel every day. Even with the streaking challenge, it’s only ONE mile (which I’d equate to a few sentences or maybe a solid couple of pages of writing, or maybe a whole chapter of reading, if you’re feeling especially motivated). It’s NOT a whole marathon each day.
I’ve only been “streaking” with my running since 2015. But I’ve been a streaker when it comes to writing (and reading) for a lot longer than that.
Back in 2012, I DID make a New Year’s Resolution: to write every single day, no excuses. The trick was that I didn’t have to write a whole lot, but I DID have to put down at least one sentence each day. Not necessarily more, but never anything less.
Now that we’ve welcomed in 2022, I challenge all of you to become streakers, too. Make it your goal, your mission, your “refuse to settle for less” habit to write and/or read—at least a little something—every single day.
Let’s be streakers together.
Happy New Year and all our best wishes for a year of health, happiness, and success in your writing!
Blydyn Square Book Club
Our next Book Club meeting will be March 3, and we’ll be reading Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart. Join us at 5:45 p.m. ET for a great conversation! Check our Events page for the Zoom link.
Blydyn Square Happy Hour
Don’t forget to join us on February 3 at 5:00 p.m. (ET) for our now-bimonthly Happy Hour. We’ll chat about books, writing, working with a small press, and whatever else comes up. Join us on Zoom with this link.
Quote of the Month
“Books are everywhere; and always the same sense of adventure fills us. Second-hand books are wild books, homeless books; they have come together in vast flocks of variegated feather, and have a charm which the domesticated volumes of the library lack.”
—Virginia Woolf
Brain Teaser of the Month
Congratulations to Alex Phuong, who won an Amazon gift card. The question was:
On what date was Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol first published?
The answer:
December 19, 1843
Now answer this:
Since we’re in January now, from what Roman god does the month of January take its name?
That’s it for this month. See you next time!
Tara Tomczyk
Editor in Chief
Blydyn Square Books
