Friday 3 January 2014

Reflections of 2013

Happy New Year to you all.  Hope you had a good Christmas and that Santa brought you everything you wished for.
 
I wasn't hoping for much myself this year - lets face it the house is far too cluttered already, the book mountain is steadily growing and I need to fill in some of the many collected notebooks before I get any more. What I really wanted was to spend some happy times with my family and that is exactly what I got.  Fortunately - it doesn't always work like that.   But now, I'd be quite happy for them all to disappear back to work and school and leave me in peace!
 
Looking back on it, 2013 was a tricky year for me.  I didn't have any major traumas but being unemployed for a year (apart from some freelance work) gave my self-confidence a major knock.   I thought that being at home would be bliss and give me loads of time to write, but I've discovered that I have to get out into the world to give me the inspiration I need, even if Idon't always find the time to actually do it.
 
Summing up my submissions last year I was rather dismayed to find that I only submitted 9 stories, although some were submitted more than once.  And not all of my submissions were new stories.  I did spend quite a bit of time on my novel which is something, and I've entered the Richard and Judy book competition with a novel I submitted to the RNA New Writer's Scheme the previous year.  I don't hold out much hope for it, but at least its got me back into it, and I'm going to start polishing it so that this year I will be in a position to send it out to agents.
 
The year ended on a much more positive note with two short story acceptances and a part time job, so at the start of this year I'm feeling much more positive than last. 
 
I'm looking forward to getting back into the usual routine next week, hopefully writing on a more regulat basis so that this year I can be so much more productive.
 
Wishing you all an inspiring 2014 and may you all achieve your writing targets!
 
Linda

1 comment:

Things They Never Said - First Week in the Big Bad World

  Well, my debut novel Things They Never Said has been out in the real world for nearly a week now and I'm pleased to say that it seems ...