It's hard to believe, but there are only two Mondays left to this year. Next week, I'm going to be looking forward to 2015 and making some New Year's (writing) resolutions. But this week, in the tradition of many media outlets at this time of the year, here's a quick round-up of the past twelve and its achievements - and a few thank yous.
2014 has been a good year for this writer. I was aiming for 50 'out theres' - stories submitted to competitions - and by May, I was up to 45, but never quite hit the magic number. However, I did have some competition successes this year and you can read about those here. My thanks go to the organisers and judges of these, and other competitions - of which there seem to be more each year.
In April and July, I published the first two books in the series on The Business of Writing. These are currently only available as ebooks, but watch this space... I am grateful to those of you who downloaded copies and particularly those who fed back that you found them useful.
I posted 67 pieces on this blog. The monthly pattern developed over a year ago (book review, interview, personal essay, travel piece) held up well - and my daily travelogue from my trip to Scotland in June was so well received, I did it all again when I went to Spain in October.
It's been interesting watching which of the posts gathered the most hits. My all time top five are as follows:
- Publishing Lessons part 1
- Elizabeth Chats with...Curtis Jobling
- Elizabeth Chats with...Bodicia
- Reading Aloud: My Tip of the Week
- Tips for Business Travellers
For months, Curtis and Bodicia were neck and neck for the top spot - and then, along came Publishing Lessons and blew them both out of the water. I guess we're all trying to learn about this strange industry we're in. My hit rate has risen over the year and I am grateful to the people who take the time to read the posts and comment.
For the second year running, I completed NaNoWriMo in November, although this year, I was closer to the wire and only scrapped through with 50K words on the last day of the month. A big thank you to the guys running the NaNo site, encouraging, cajoling and bullying us all throughout the month and across the finishing line.
The biggest (writing) achievement of the year was the publication of Gorgito's Ice Rink. My debut novel took seven years to bring to fruition, but I'm quietly pleased with the outcome and the sales and feedback to date are reassuring, Huge thanks to everyone who's been involved in any way in the writing, editing, proofreading and cover design; but also, thank you to anyone who's bought it.
So that was 2014 in this writer's life. A final thank you to all my writing buddies: Chudleigh Writers' Circle; Exeter Writers; the Exeter MA buddies group; members of the Swanwick Writers' Summer School; and the buzzing, supportive community of writers I have met online. They say a writer's life is a solitary one - but it doesn't feel like it from where I'm sitting. Have a great Christmas everyone.
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