Wishing you all a wonderful, happy, and beautiful new year!

I hope 2016 is eventful, productive, surprising and satisfying xxx

Good riddance 2014

I've just had a look back to my Goodbye 2013... post. Wow, I had a really good 2013!

You can obviously see, from the title of this year's post, that 2014 wasn't as good. I even called it my nemesis year, on account of turning 40, but in the event, that was okay. I knew it would be, but I do like a bit of drama.

2014 wasn't all bad - we had a wonderful family holiday in Scotland...

 This photo was taken from the top of a mountain - yes! I actually climbed a mountain. You see that green patch in the middle of the photo? That's where we were staying.

And, below, was our final morning. I left Hubby to pack the car, and my sister-in-law and I took a last walk with the kids. A lovely memory for the long journey home!



And we had some really lovely weather over the summer - I caught a tan! Well, I could see I'd caught a tan, even though no one else could.

But on the whole it wasn't the best year. There were many struggles, and a lot of people I know were having very bad times too. I'm glad it's behind me.

Next year is going to be challenging - #1 son taking his GCSEs and starting college, #2 son starting secondary school, and Hubby away touring for longer than he's been away before.

Writing-wise, I decided to start my next book yesterday. It was going to be a rewrite - plus additions - to a previous manuscript, but I woke up yesterday morning with an idea for a sequel to the book I'm submitting at the moment. I know there's more story to tell - because a dream told me (obviously) - but at the moment I have no idea what. I'm just writing stuff in the hope that it'll all come together.

Actually, that's how most of my books get written, so really I'm just hoping that skill hasn't left me!

So, that was 2014, here's to 2015...

Have you made resolutions? Do you have goals?

Are you looking forward to something amazing?

Aren't you all just a little disappointed that the world doesn't look like this...?

Back to the Future II

Goodbye 2013...

Seaton, Cornwall

... I'm really going to miss you.

Occasionally you get one of those years that's just perfect, don't you? And 2013 was one of those years for me!

There was a lot of sea. music and alcohol, and I published my second book. I did a reading in April and a signing in December. I sold some books and several people told me that a couple of my stories made them cry.

Erm, not sure where this is

Marazion, overlooking
St Michael's Mount

I did quite a lot of writing, quite a lot of procrastinating, quite a lot of beta reading. And watches several of my blogger, Facebook and Twitter friends have some fantastic success with their books.

And the sun shone... a lot. It was the best British summer in a very long time. I even managed to develop a tan... well, a very vague tan that I needed to point out to people, but the lines were very obvious to me!

And most of all, I had fun... so much fun!

Saltash waterside, Cornwall

Me, and my hat, and some cider!

Hayle, Cornwall

So, the only thing left to do is look forward to 2014 (unofficially entitled My Nemesis Year).

I wish you lots of happiness, success and love throughout 2014.

Happy New Year xxx

IWSG - can I be amazing all the time?

It's the first IWSG of the year! I actually have no idea what I'm going to write about. I've spent the last couple of weeks over Christmas being completely out of routine, and not writing or even thinking about writing, so my head isn't really in the right place to write this post.

At the beginning of a new year, I always have the same insecurity - I expect the year to be amazing, then get to March or April and realise I'm not doing anything to make it amazing. January is my least favourite month, and I tend to hibernate which means I waste thirty-one days straight away.

I sometimes wonder if I'm too busy writing about amazing things that I forget to do any real-life ones. But then, what if I got too busy having an amazing real-life that I forget to write.

Okay, so this isn't a proper insecurity, it's just one of those things I think about sometimes, but what do you think: is it possible to be amazing all the time?

Happy New Year!!

Just a quickie to wish you a Happy New Year, and I hope your hopes and dreams and goals move ever closer throughout 2013.

Thank you for reading this blog over the past year, and I look forward to lots of new posts next year.

Goodbye 2011

You know something, I truly think 2011 has been one of my best years ever! I know that's a huge statement to make; to understand why (and in the words of Dr. Doofenshmirtz), you'll need to know a bit of the backstory:

Many, many years ago (although if you're thinking black-and-white, come forward a bit) I wanted to be a writer. I also wanted to be a recluse - I saw myself writing in an attic, with fingerless gloves, churning out works of genius. One day I met a boy who was a musician, and my dreams changed a bit. I now saw myself writing alongside my musician, who would serenade me with songs he was writing. I saw myself sitting in cafes in the long summer months while other people were working, and working in my pyjamas in front of a log fire in the winter avoiding the rain and snow outside.

Reader, I married him.

And then, reader, we had children, a mortgage, bills... and proper jobs...

For years and years, we had proper jobs, jobs that were okay, but also - a lot of the time - less than okay. Hubby was a teacher, I worked in a library. I still wrote, but not a lot, and certainly not enough to have a body of work to send out. My dream job was now just a hobby that I did in the evenings when there was nothing on the telly. And Hubby didn't sing at all. For years he didn't even pick up his guitar....

In 2010, he was inspired to start playing some gigs in local pubs. Then he started playing a few more...

Then - then! - this year, he gave up teaching! It was a big step - we thought about it hard, then took the plunge. I'd already changed my job - I'm now a fitness instructor - and had a lot more time to write. All of a sudden that dream from many, many years ago has come true! (Although I can't claim to be a fully-fledged recluse - what with having a family, friends and a job - I do have fingerless gloves.)

I've been reading other blogs recently where people have not had a good 2011, and I don't want to give the impression that this has been an easy thing to do. It's not, even now. We've had to cut back a lot, budget and re-budget, do without. When a pub cancels a gig at short notice, that's our food money gone. It's scary... it's very scary. But we're happy. We've realised as a family that we can do it - although as a Man City fan giving up Sky Sports in their current spate of glory has been difficult.

So, for that reason, 2011 has been fantastic and I think I'll miss it. I hope 2012 will be just as good.

And I wish that every one of you will find ways to make your dreams come true.