Misbehaving

I got a great Christmas present from my best friend. A bracelet engraved with the following statement:

WELL-BEHAVED WOMEN RARELY MAKE HISTORY

So true.

So I have decided that's my motto for the New Year. I am not going to behave. I am not EVER going to care what people think about what I wear, what I do, or what I say. Not that I do now (which is why she thought of me when she bought the bracelet).

But most especially, it's a reminder to writers. To anyone thinking about daring to write a novel, quitting the day job, doing something kind of crazy like embarking on a publishing journey.

Don't behave. It's completely nuts to quit a stable day job to write the Great American Novel, but you know what? Life's not a dress rehearsal. Don't behave. To search for an agent, to put yourself out there, you have to misbehave. You have to throw caution to the wind.

I've never behaved and I rather like how things have turned out. I still have seven books under contract. I have a chaotic life I have kind of hated lately . . . but one viewing of "It's a Wonderful Life" cured me of it.

If you don't like your life, only you can fix it.

So I am not going to behave.

I like my new motto for the New Year.

Anyone else have one?