Tag: 2018

Reflections on 2018: A Year of Reading, Writing and Other Stuff

writeanne6 Comments

 

My previous two posts have been about the books I’ve read and enjoyed this year and about my own writing. And, in this my final post of the year, I thought I’d take a quick look back at how this writer’s life has been in general.

On a personal level, for me, 2018 – as it will have been for everyone – was a mix of ups and downs. And, out in the big wide world there has certainly been plenty to rant about. But I want to concentrate here on the smaller stuff and on the good stuff.

Here in the house, the 18 months of renovations finished earlier this month. Hurrah! It’s been stressful but worth it and our ‘new’ house at long last feels like ours. We have carpets! We have pictures on the walls! We have a home!

There have been parties to go to, music concerts and theatre trips enjoyed. There’s been quality time with family and friends – not least of which was the trip from our home in Scotland to Australia taken by me and the husband to visit our daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren. We had such a wonderful time and have so many precious memories. It was very hard to leave, but I’m already saving up for my next trip.

I also particularly enjoyed my visits to the Borders Book festival and to that other one held in the big city – the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

2018 was also an important anniversary for me. It is now 20 years since I had cancer – 20 years that I realise I’m fortunate to have experienced – and for which I’m very grateful.

I’m also very grateful to be able to spend so much of my time doing something I love. I don’t know what I’d do without my writing. I certainly can’t see myself retiring any time soon. It was wonderful to have Settlement – my new book – published in September, wonderful too to have it so well received by my readers. And I must also express my gratitude to my editorial team, to all the book bloggers and reviewers who took the time and trouble to comment, and most of all my loyal readers.

Next year I plan to do lots more enjoyable things, to read lots more books, and just to treasure still being here. And of course there will be lots more writing…

And so it only remains for me to say thank you to everyone who has followed, read and or commented on my posts during 2018. I wish you all a very Happy New Year when it comes.

As always, do feel free to comment below on how 2018 was for you and what you hope for in 2019.

A Year of Writing Doggedly

writeanne7 Comments

Having written about my top 20 reads for 2018 in my previous post, I thought I would follow that up with a look at my writing highlights during the last twelve months.

It has certainly been a busy year of writing with many hours put in at the writing desk. And I’m pleased to say those hours were productive.

Procrastination wasn’t an option as throughout the year there were writing tasks to be done. Posts for this blog and for guest spots on others’ blogs had to be written. I had features and opinion pieces to write. I also had to keep my website up to date along with my Facebook and Amazon author pages. And I had author talks and writing classes to prepare.

But of course, by far the biggest and most important task was to finish my latest novel and get it ready for publication by the end of 2018.

I spent January and February finishing off the pre-edit redrafting of Settlement. I’d already done several redrafts and lots of rewriting but my deadline to finish this stage was looming.

I made it! By early March, the manuscript was ready to go off to my editor – that alchemist of prose, John Hudspith. Having seemingly learned nothing from my experiences with my earlier novels, I was fairly sure there’d be very little that needed changing. But of course I was wrong.

By June, I’d spent three months doing further changes in response to John’s suggestions. And, as always as a result of this process, the properly crafted and polished work was so much better than its rawer earlier version.

So by July I was ready for a holiday and me and the mister set off from a very sunny and warm Scotland for winter in Queensland, Australia. But no hats or scarves were needed and we had a wonderful time visiting our daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren.

Once back home, August was taken up with finalising the new novel’s cover with brilliant cover designer Jane D Smith. And, I must say, thanks to Jane, the cover has received a lot of praise.

Then ‘all’ that remained was to write the publicity and marketing copy for booksellers, for my website and for social media. I also booked a blog tour to be organised by the amazing Kelly at Love Books Group.

And finally, in late September, Settlement was published, launched, and off out into the world.

This meant that October and November were taken up with a lot of marketing and interaction with my readers. It was great to get positive feedback on the book – both from existing and new readers. And I was delighted when some folks asked if there would be a third book in the series which began with Displacement.

Yes, is the answer. As this year of writing comes to an end, I’ve already begun writing the first draft of Fulfilment which will indeed be the third and final book – in the series I never planned to write.

Yes, I really didn’t have series in mind when I wrote what is now the first in the set.

Displacement was supposed to be a single standalone novel – just as my debut novel had been. I intended to move on to something completely new when it was published. But my readers weren’t having it and following an online poll they convinced me that a sequel was required. And then, as I wrote Settlement I sensed that a third novel was going to be needed before I could confidently write The End and finally leave Jack and Rachel in peace. Therefore it was good when readers seemed to agree.

So 2019 looks as if it too will be another year filled with writing. Bring it on! I can’t wait to find out where Fulfilment is going to lead me.

I’d be interested to hear from readers of this post what your hopes are for the new year – either in terms of your work – as a writer or otherwise – or more generally. Please do leave comments below.

Next week’s post will be my final one for 2018 and having done a roundup of my year’s reading and writing, I plan (with reference to the subtitle of this blog) to finish off with some reflecting. You’ve been warned 🙂

 

No Resolutions but Good Intentions: Writing, Reading and Reflecting in 2018

writeanne10 Comments

In spite of the time of year this is not a post about resolutions. I think the other 3Rs that this blog is based on ­- Writing, Reading and Reflecting are quite sufficient.

However, I do want to share with you some of my ongoing plans and intentions for the blog and my writing in general during 2018.

Writing:

The manuscript of my new novel Settlement is almost ready to go off to the editor and is planned for release in the first half of the year.

Settlement is the sequel to Displacement and, as I’ve never written a sequel before, I’ve enjoyed the challenge. It’s been quite a balancing act judging just how much of the back story to include from the original book. I don’t want the new book to seem repetitive to those who’ve read the first one, but neither do I want it to be necessary to have read the first one in order to enjoy the second.

And, as far as writing about my writing here on the blog goes, I plan to continue doing occasional posts on the process of writing, on my works-in-progress, and on my wider writing life.

 

Reading:

I certainly intend to keep reading throughout 2018. I believe it’s vital for writers to be readers too, but even if I gave up writing tomorrow – can’t imagine that happening – I’ll still be reading on my deathbed.

I will also continue to post reviews of books I’ve particularly enjoyed as, apart from wanting to share the love of good books, I also like to do my bit to help my writing colleagues get their work in front of readers. And I find that putting together a review – figuring out what worked in a book and why – helps me improve my own writing skills.

 

Reflecting:

And finally, I also intend to continue to do the occasional reflective post on topics I find myself thinking about and want to explore with readers of the blog. These topics may or may not be directly related to books – but will of course involve writing.

 

Question Time:

I also plan in 2018 to do a bit of a content/function audit of this blog and of my two author websites. As part of that I’d like to seek your much valued and appreciated opinions on various writing/blog related things.

And, as there’s no time like the present I’ll get started on that right away –

Question: I’d be interested to know your opinion on author newsletters. Do you sign up to them and if you do, do you read them? Are you prompted to buy an author’s latest book when you read about it in their newsletter or to respond to offers – such as free short story?

And finally I’d like to wish all readers a happy and healthy 2018.