Thursday 12 December 2013

A Writer - Not A Blogger

As you can probably tell, I'm not much of a blogger and yet I do keep a diary - and have done since 1981 and I fill it in daily!! - but the attraction of blogging remains a bit of a mystery to me. How on earth do all the bloggers keep up with their blogs - along with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc, ect, etc and still get their books written??

SO - what have I been up to since October? Besides getting on with novel number 12, I found the time to attend the Dunford Writers' Day in Fareham. Fabulous group of people, and very professional writers so their opinion of your manuscript really counts. (Thank goodness they liked mine!!!) Also did various WI talks around Dorset and only managed to get lost once - and that was the sat-nav's fault! Fancy telling me I was at my destination when I was clearly in the middle of nowhere! I've have no idea why a dog walker was in the middle of nowhere as well, but she was able - thankfully - to point me in the right direction.

As a committee member of the Romantic Novelists' Association I enjoyed the festive lunch laid on for us before the committee meeting. I've been Organiser of the RoNAs (Romantic Novel Awards) this year (and that proved to be a job and a half - with all those spreadsheets it was like being back at work). Don't let anyone tell you that books are no longer getting published by traditional publishers - because my house was filled with books that definitely were!!! After the meeting was the Winter Party and in a massive room packed with writers you almost had to shout to be heard.

At the end of November, my eldest grandson, Tyler, came to help me bring the Christmas decorations down from the loft (At the last count there were 8 Santas either singing, dancing or lit up around my sitting room). Later in the day we were joined by my other grandson, Bailey, and the two of them decorated the Christmas tree between them - with 3 sets of lights, and all the tinsel and baubles available flung onto its branches it is a sight to behold! What a brilliant job!!!!!!!

December so far has been one festive feast after another. Lunch with my ex-colleagues at Bournemouth University was followed a few days later by the Society of Authors regional lunch in Ferndown, then by Wessex Writers' festive tea in Lymington, and then tea and cake with two writing friends at Compton Acres in Poole. Tomorrow I will be at BBC Radio Solent for Katie Martin's Christmas Party live on air at 1pm, and on Sunday I will be at Psychic Robert's (link on my website) for his usual festive meal, then just a couple of lunches with good friends and a Nativity play in the run up to Christmas.

Am I writing? Well, not as much as I would like - but I'm having a great time and there's always next year!!! Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and a massively productive New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!