Blog Resolutions for 2013

My blog's going to undergo some changes this year.  I'm not sure of the extent of the changes yet, I figure I'll play things by ear.

The first real change is that I won't be contributing to SF Signal this year.  It's been a blast but I felt I needed to pare down my internet responsibilities.  I've got 2 blogs and I don't want to burn out the way other bloggers seem to be doing.  As a consequence of this, I'll only be doing one New Author Spotlight post a month, and it's going to be more relaxed in future (meaning I'll be able to post about authors for whom I've been unable to come up with comparison books - for example Kameron Hurley, whose Bel Dame series is so unique).  Depending on how things go, I may only do 1 author interview a month going forward as well.  We'll see about that.

In terms of reading, I've wanted to do this for a while and have not managed it yet but it's a new year so...  I'd like to read more non-fiction, specifically Medieval history books (with some Greek, Roman, Byzantine, etc. thrown in for fun).  I've started realizing just how much of my university education I've forgotten and I want to get back into my major.  And I've a few bookshelves of new and used history books I've picked up over the years that I haven't had time to read.  Last year I got a DVD course for Christmas called The Terror of History.  Being the procrastinator I am, I only opened it up in December, having just enough time to realize this was fantastic before I had to stop watching due to my work schedule.  Well, I bought a few more courses, since they're on sale, focusing on things I didn't study in school (as 30 minute lectures aren't in depth enough to teach me things I don't know already when it comes to my major).  Once I'm done with The Terror - and have read up on Hildegard von Bingen, Francis of Assisi, heretics and other topics of interests, I'll be starting The Other Side of History, which focuses on how the non-rich majority of people lived.  In other words, the sick, the poor, slaves, women, children, the old, etc. got by in several periods of ancient history up until - and including - the Middle Ages.  Depending on the interest of you - my readers - I'd love to share some of the things I learn from my studies here on the blog.  I may do a few historical posts and see how they're received.  I've got a ton of photos from historical sights I've visited that I could post about too...

I'd also like to continue catching up on older SF classics and broadening my knowledge base in that genre.  Looking at my stats from yesterday, I should add more horror and urban fantasy back into the mix too.

Since I've so many books I'd like to read, I won't be accepting any new book review requests this year. I may request a few from publishers (so you should get a few advanced reviews for new titles) but I'll be keeping those to an absolute minimum so I can catch up on sequels and backlist books.

Last year I managed more than a book a week.  While it was fun, it was also a lot of work and I want to have more time for creative endeavours (and housecleaning) so I'll likely pare that down as well.  I'm thinking one review every two weeks.  We'll see.  I'd planned the same thing last year and ended up reading about the same.

In terms of new content, I'm hoping to do more artist spotlights, maybe more small press spotlights and start commenting more on what's happening around the interwebs.  We shall see.

What reading resolutions do you have?