Wicked Wednesday: Best Gift of Advice in 2015

Wickeds, we are closing in on the new year. For some of us, Christmas is two days away. So tell me, what is the best advice you got in 2015? How was that advice a gift? What did you learn that you can pass on?

Edith: My fifth and sixth novels were published in 2015. This stuns and delights me, and is still a little hard to believe. Advice is often given to debut novelists, like, ahem, the AWESOME Julianne Holmes (aka our own Wicked Julie Hennrikus), to enjoy the ride. I think this is still one of the best admonitions, despite nobody actually saying  it to me in 2015. Even when it’s our second or sixth or sixteenth published book, it’s important to celebrate. To toast with a glass of bubbly, to do a dance, to order a cake. To walk out of your house and yell, “Whoopee!” Don’t ever stop celebrating. And you know, everybody has something to celebrate.

Liz: Some words I’ve been trying to live by: Everything will happen exactly as it’s supposed to. I try to focus on this if I start getting ahead of myself, like thinking I should have published a certain amount of books by now, or be at a different place in my life. I have a laminated card in my office with a slightly different take: Whether or not it is clear to you, the Universe is unfolding as it should. Good reminder for all.

Jessie:  The best advice I received was to start a gratitude journal. I think of myself as a person who is generally appreciative but makign a habit, every Sunday morning, to sit at my desk and to write down those things in the past week for which I feel grateful has made a real difference in what I focus my attention upon. I feel uplifted on Sunday mornings and I can remind myself by just thumbing through of all the wonders, large and small, my life affords.

Julie: As Edith said, the advice to enjoy every minute was well taken. Also, to stop and celebrate each milestone. Too often goals are met (like finishing a draft, or getting copy edits in), but we just blow past them and set the next goal. Now, I am trying to take every milestone, and celebrate it.

Sherry: My daughter gave me my best writing advice this year. I was upset about a review that wasn’t very nice and she said (paraphrasing someone) “You can be the sweetest juiciest peach in the whole world and there’s still going to be someone who hates peaches.” It’s why I know can occasionally be seen chanting “not everyone likes peaches.” It’s so true and applies to all of us. Then she painted the saying for me and I keep it in my office.

Barb: The best advice I got this year was during Julie Hennrikus’s interview with Elizabeth George at Crime Bake. George said something like, “Always move in ways that open up the story.” This struck me as good advice not just for writing but for life, especially as we get older.

What do you say, readers? Good advice or bad? What’s the best advice you got this year?