Hello Fellow Children’s Writers and Friends,

I know it’s been a while between blog posts, but quite frankly I’ve struggled deciding what of the many things that have gone on this year to post about. 🤷🏾‍♀️2020 has been a year where everything and nothing seems important concurrently. I’m not going to go into my ‘2020 stuff’, I’m sure you have more than enough of your own ‘2020 stuff’ to be getting on with.

However, one of the things I’ve done this year is put into place a section of our budget for writing.💲✍🏽 Doing so has allowed me to take on several things I wouldn’t normally have and to do so, guilt free! Do you feel guilty when you spend some of the family budget on something exclusively for you that isn’t food, clothes or other ‘so called’ essentials. Trust me, some food and clothes definitely aren’t essential? If it’s at all possible, I highly recommend you try this method, ie putting creative pursuits in your budget. One of the ways I’ve made it possible is that other than absolute essentials (ie undies) I’ve bought no clothes this year- that’s right no, nada, zero, zilch and I LOVE buying clothes and👒👢🕶💍👚👠👗🧤💼 2020 has made that a little easier in that shops weren’t open and (unless I went online) I couldn’t then, didn’t want to go to them anyway. Anyone else suffer shop phobia this year?🥺

I’d been saving to have author photos done, but for various reasons these will now be delayed, plus I had some good ones taken 📸 at our parish First Holy Communion recently which will suffice for the time being. This left me with the opportunity to buy myself a little early Christmas present 🎄🎁and so today I start the Writing Picture Book Course with Zanni Louise. I’m very excited about taking this long-wanted course and rather than feeling guilty, as I often do when I spend money on my creative life, I feel proud of my good management which is allowing me to invest in my future. 😊

Speaking of Christmas, look out later this month for my annual(ish) Gift for the Writer in Your Life post. Be sure to print, screenshot, screen save and leave it lying around for your loved ones to see. Also if you have any great gift ideas🤶💡 be sure to let me know and I’ll include them.

Short and simple this month fellow travellers,

Savour the quest,

Journeygirl