Hello fellow Children’s Writers and friends,

As I sat down to write this post, I found myself somewhat conflicted. I had two burning questions. One, was it time to write differently? i.e. More generally, not specifically about myself and my experiences on my personal journey to publication. And two, regardless of which way I chose, what would I possibly write about? I felt as though I had nothing new to say.

The first one turned out to be quite simple. Although I was wary of writing ‘my’ and ‘I’ so much, I needed to go back to the beginning. Right back to the earliest intention of the blog, which was of course, the sharing of my journey to publication in the hope it might help others. This means that although my journey, like so many others has some really slow, quiet, writing times and some ridiculously fast and busy non-writing times, to be true to this blog and its intention, I need to continue this way

The second question was considerably more difficult as I found myself creatively drained. It took a little while to realise that there was a very real and physical reason for this. As well as doing my ‘writing in the cracks’, I have been busy with both work and family. At one stage over a couple of weeks last month, I held five different paid and unpaid jobs. I kid you not! Life!

Looking back further, I was in no doubt as to why I was unable to find the energy to create. This year, I have had the immense joy of celebrating my daughter’s 18th, my son’s 21st, my mother in law’s 75th and my own 50th birthdays, as well my husband and my 25th wedding anniversary. Top this off with the 50th birthdays of my three oldest and dearest friends and this little introvert has expended an awful amount of social energy this year. The last of these being celebrated yesterday. Thank goodness my Dad’s 90th is not till next year! While it would have been nice to have these events spread out over a couple of years, each and every one of them was of great personal importance and very necessary threads in the tapestry of my year. As far as writing is concerned, I haven’t sat idle and even had a go at applying for a grant this month, which also was not without (technological) drama. As well as this, the creative fodder this year will definitely provide once the holidays kick in and the exhaustion subsides.

I hope this has given you a snapshot in the life of this writer’s journey to publication.

Farewell fellow travellers,

Savour the quest,

Journeygirl

P.S. Look out for an early post next month as I again scour the net, to find the best gifts for you, my fellow writers this Christmas. Be sure to leave the post open and lying around.