New Year’s has long been my favorite holiday. I like that you don’t have to stress out about trying to buy the perfect present as with Christmas or the other present-based holidays throughout the year. You don’t have to make awkward small talk with distant relatives like on Thanksgiving. Halloween is fun, but worring about trying to get the right costume is still stressful.

No, with New Year’s, you don’t have to do anything. Just celebrate in your own way and stay up until midnight if you want. It’s like a reward we all get for making it through the stressful holidays. And unlike the Fourth of July, you get the next day off to sleep in, so you’re not punished for staying up to watch fireworks by having to wake up early for work the next day.

I also like the feeling that we can all get a fresh start in the new year. It’s a good feeling. I guess making resolutions can be stressful, but those are optional. I didn’t make any this year.

On Christmas Eve this year, I received a rejection letter for a story I put a lot of work into and wrote specifically for one specific magazine. (Editors, don’t do this. Please wait until the day after Christmas to send out rejection letters.) It put a damper on the whole holiday. But on New Year’s this year? I got two acceptances! See. A much better holiday.

One of my stories was accepted by the recently resurrected Gallows Hill Magazine. In fact, I have the honor of being the first author to be featured on their new Fiction Fridays segment with my flash fiction horror story Three Views of a Dentist. Just looking at the picture they picked to accompany it gives me the creeps. Check it out and give it a like if you think it’s worthy.

I’ll tell you more about the other story that was accepted in a future post.

Anyway, Happy New Year’s!