Blogging for Santa

Dear Santa,

Been thinking about what I'd really like for Christmas. You see, it's normal to wish for things that we can't control. Essentially, one usually wishes for luck. But I wanted to break that norm. I decided that I would wish for the strength to persevere, the energy to work extraordinary hours and the passion and the insight to craft great stories that resonate in people's hearts.

I've decided not to wish for any of that, but to do it instead. I can control all of that. As a writer, it's very important to focus on what I can control. I can't put an editor in the right mood when he picks up my submission from the slush. I can't make myself lucky. I CAN fight my hardest, and I can make my hardest extremely freakin' hard. I can put my heart and soul into the study of the craft. I can be compassionate and empathic in my views of humanity, and I can write with compassion and empathy.

So instead of wishing for things, I decided to make promises to myself. I never break a promise. Here goes:

1) I will work ludicrously hard to get into Clarion. This is a dream of mine, and I will do everything in my power to make that dream come true.

2) Regardless of my Clarion application's outcome, I will not miss a beat. I will work as hard on the day I receive that fateful letter as on the day previous.

3) I will work to make each story all it can be. I'm lucky to be prolific, but if one focuses on such things, then one isn't focused on the creation of art. Each story, I will slave over, striving with all my heart to create a masterpiece of emotional and psychological acumen. That way, one day, I might succeed.

No one can guarantee success, but I can control every facet of a herculean attempt. For a herculean goal, to use the other sense of the word, nothing else would suffice. It's as Michael Jordan says, 'I can't accept not trying.'

Given all that, luck is the only thing left to wish for.

Dear Santa,

Please let the powers that be throw a little luck my way. I promise to always work hard enough to deserve it.

Merry Christmas,

Wm. Luke Everest