Sunday 31 December 2017

Happy New Year to You All...

Today has been moving furniture out of my office area and putting temporary storage in place. It's certainly given me a bit more space, and will be easier to move things for the electrical work in the next few weeks.

I've just got to reconnect my printer now...

As it's the last day of 2017, my flexible plans for the coming year are made and all that's left is to reveal my final word count for the current year.

For 2016: 34,621.
For 2017: 36,444.

Considering the circumstances of the last few months it's not too bad.

So my target for 2018 is to aim for 50,000 words.

All that's left is to wish you all a Happy New Year...


Celebrations!

Saturday 23 December 2017

Merry Christmas One and All...

Goodness, where have the days gone.

(image courtesy
of Dennis Apple)
I'm still not sorted as there's presents still to wrap, and sadly a few friends won't be getting their cards until after Christmas- not enough hours to get everything done this year.

 We're almost done in the sorting and boxing department- fortunate as the Electrician starts work in 2 weeks!

Christmas Eve I'll be cooking and preparing as much as possible, so I don't have to get up early to put the turkey in the oven on Christmas Day...

Merry Christmas to all...




To all my friends and readers, I wish you a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas...


Christmas image from Pixabay.





Thursday 14 December 2017

2017 Has Been a Year of Highs and Lows...Part 2

Welcome back to Part 2 of my Writer's Year.

Although I didn't mention it in part 1, I did set myself an unspoken/written target on my word count this year.

Not only did I want to improve on my 2016 total (see further down the page) but I wanted to exceed 40,000 words. I have to the end of December...

My year Part 2...
(My typing speed is improving.)

So here's July to December.

July
It was an exciting month. My daughter finished University and we attended the graduation ceremony at Trentham Gardens.

I also led my first workshop.

August
This month can be summed up with the word boxes. We have work to be done on the house, rewiring and re-plumbing (to start with).The storage unit was sorted and we began sorting, disposing of, and packing.

The quote for the rewiring was selected with a provisional starting date of October.

Guest post by Sally Quilford.

September
The writing stopped for most of this month. But I did attend a book launch in Waterstones Nottingham, for Cathy Bramley's The Lemon Tree Café.

October
This was a good and bad month.

Having signed up to Readly earlier in the year, I was researching what magazine filler slots there were available.

As well as sorting and packing I had other time consuming commitments. But they all faded into the background when my OH was hospitalised for a short spell, and recovery was slow. Very happy to say he's okay now and is feeling much better than before that happened.

My shelf sorting revealed my box of old floppy disks of short stories, articles and my first novel (unfinished). Even better I can access them for future use.

November
Eye issues and new glasses. The unpleasant winter cough and cold bug. :(

December
Two Christmas parties.

Looking back, I haven't made as much progress as I'd hoped on my main project, which is a big disappointment.

But there's been positives across the year. I still co-host #writingchat on a Wednesday evening on Twitter (when I'm not at the writers' club).

I have been a Belmont Belle for 18 months (the Leicester Chapter of the RNA), and celebrated my second Christmas party with them all. :-)

Both of these have given me insights and knowledge I didn't have when I joined them, and in turn they've increased my confidence in so many ways- thank you all.

My 2016 word count was: 34.612
My 2017 word count (currently): 35,884 - to be updated after Christmas.

So to my targets for 2018...

Get that second draft completed.
Continue to be open to writing opportunities and experiences.
Rewrite/revise a few of those short stories I found on my floppy disks.
More reading and much more writing.

And especially to keep writing while all the work is being done on the house...








Sunday 10 December 2017

2017 Has Been a Year of Highs and Lows...Part 1

It's only 15 days until Christmas Day and I've still got so much to do... I'm doing this in two parts so you haven't got to read a long post- if you are interested. ;)

As in previous years I look back at what I've done  during the year; whether I've reached my targets, and make a few decisions on my focus during the coming year.

Last year I did my 2016 review toward the end of November, and my aims for 2017 were:

Carry on with the second draft; get out into the world more; continue being open to writing opportunities; read more; write more. And lose weight... :-)   

I haven't done too badly- okay the lose weight one hasn't made any progress. :(

The 2017 Review
January    
It was a slow start.

I'd intended to enter an epistolary short story competition in Writing Magazine, but decided not to enter; you can find out why in A Very Slow Start.  

After a brief foray into the 1920's with a novella idea that was lurking, aided by a fashion source book, I began writing the idea out of my head- it's now on hold while I decide a few important details and get on with my main project.  

February   
I was planning my return trip to Bath (see March).

The NWC National Short Story competition opened and I began my reading, marking and feedback stint.

March                                                          
With the competition reading ongoing, I was continuing to write the 1920's story.

My long weekend in Bath with my OH was wonderful, with museum visits, lots of walking and occasional stops for refreshments.

April
This was my opportunity to share a few of my many images from my March visit to Bath. There was the History of Fashion in 100 Objects at the Fashion Museum (also more images on my Serena Lake site)  as well as the Bath Postal Museum, and the Museum of Bath Architecture. Here's a link to all three.

May
This was a very busy month.

On the 4th May I was out celebrating the 90th Anniversary of Nottingham Writers' Club with other club members. We started with a reception at the Nottingham Council House overlooking the Market Square. Then we went for dinner at a nearby restaurant.

I also had to reinstall Windows 10 on my desktop. After an unexplained issue my computer wouldn't install the important security update that would protect my device from that ransomware that hit computers across the country.

The latter half of the month saw the release of my feel good/ghost story on Alfie Dog Fiction. It's still available for download, so if you're looking for a short story to read with your cup of tea or coffee, just follow the link.

June
Was the annual Lowdham Book Festival. I was promoting the writers' club and the books and downloads by club members- and myself. It was a lot of work preparing for it, and an early start on the day. (I've decided to give 2018 a miss.)

During this six month period I was writing as many days of the week as I could, and my second draft was slowly making progress...

Word count: January - July: 29,646.

Sadly it didn't continue that way. Part 2 will be posted on Thursday...


Friday 1 December 2017

Update - the Bad Sex in Fiction Winner was...

Christopher Bollen for The Destroyers.

You can read the judge's comments in this Bookseller article.

Until next year...