One of the perks of getting older has to be the accumulation of experiences. Sure, others may recede into the distance as your memory fails (I’m trying to keep too much in this brain of mine, I think) but the new ones can be assimilated into stories. That way, the kernels survive and thrive, even as the outer shell disintegrates and blows away.
Birthdays are always reflective times for me. I’m one of those people who always believe I could’ve done more in the last year. For instance, I’m frustrated that it’s still uncertain whether I’ll be able to release another novel before the end of 2018. In the classic case of an author arguing against herself, though, I know that I’d rather wait and work carefully on my next release – I can’t countenance anything else.
My work over the last year isn’t too shabby when I sit down and think about it. I’ve written a third draft, three second drafts and a first draft that was completed during NaNoWriMo. As well as this, I managed to get Valerie completed and released. It might not be as much as I would’ve liked to accomplish within the year, but I’d always want to push myself further anyway.
And what of those experiences I’ve had in the last year? Some are good, some are bad. A mixture of both keeps you fresh, I suppose. Thanks to being incredibly busy with the “day job”, I haven’t escaped from Wakefield as much as I would’ve liked, but that didn’t stop me seeing friends and going to local gigs. A highlight was definitely Long Division 2018, a Wakefield music festival that introduced me to some fantastic bands and musicians. In the recent hot spell, I went to Haworth (just ahead of Emily’s bicentennial) and Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire. My fiance caught those two visits on camera and I feel a story brewing somewhere in there…
With any luck, I’ll manage to release another novel this year. If I don’t, I know that it’ll be the best it can be when I do release it. That’s what this is all about for me. After another year of being a writer, that’s still the point that resonates with me – I still want to write stories that I want to read. As long as that’s my guiding light, I think I’ll be okay.
