Where did the year go?

It’s hard to believe but the first anniversary of Accursed Women is fast approaching. A lot has happened since 30 November 2013, high and low events. The greatest achievement was the publication of Accursed Women. The book launch was a wonderful success with support from family, friends and people I hadn’t met before. It had a positive vibe and great energy. I was buzzing and so was the room full of guests.

Christmas came and went, so did the New Year and I made goals for 2014. Suffice to say things didn’t go as planned. The book I wanted to publish this year didn’t eventuate and had to push it to next year (more about that in a later post). Finances were and are low and to pay for ongoing living costs I needed to work. What I found difficult was juggling work, home commitments and writing. Something had to give. I wrote less and spent little time on the social network sites.

I work as a relief teacher, basically I get a phone call either in the morning or if lucky the night before and asked to fill in for a teacher whose absent. The past two weeks I relieved for a teacher who was on paternity leave. I’ve also been called in to supervise exams for Years 11 & 12; our 12s will be sitting their Western Australian Certificate of Education (WACE) examinations very soon. This enables them to attend university, depending on their overall aggregate and degree they’ve chosen to study. And I’ve acquired work as a university supervisor with Edith Cowan University, observing and evaluating pre-service teachers.

In the midst of all this I’ve managed to finish the novel I’ve been working on, edit it and now the manuscript is with beta readers. I’ve also started a novella series, which sadly has been neglected. The characters are shouting at me demanding attention.

Phew!