Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! Who can believe it's 2015 already?

I can't believe how fast this month is already going. I've been making the most of the month so far though, and have started using the calender reward system that Victoria Schwab, and many of my friends (Laura, Cole, Emma, and more) favour. Victoria has written about the system here. And so far it has been fantastically successful! It's rewarding to see the stickers build up and be able to see exactly what you've achieved. Otherwise, I find that it's so easy to forget what you've actually done and just spend your time feeling bad about things. I highly recommend it! I do need to get some more stickers though, I wasn't really prepared.

The rest of the month promises to be busy, and while of course I'm hoping for lots more reading and writing, I'm also returning to Exeter for graduation, spending some time in Fowey (eeek!!), and then visiting school friends in Leeds - so it's going to be a busy couple of weeks. A mini holiday I suppose - and I think I need it! Will be good to get some perspective, make plans, think about the future, forget about inboxes full of rejections (both from agents and jobs).

But that's life I suppose. And compared to all the grisly and really depressing, scary things that have been happening in the news recently, it's nothing.

I am busy both editing and writing, which is going well so far - one of my resolutions for this month - and year - was to not let myself get bogged down in too many projects or get worried about what to work on. I've set myself clear targets for what I want to achieve and all the other ideas can wait, for now anyway. So far it seems to be working! I've got to remember that there's time for everything - although it doesn't seem like that sometimes. I feel like I have to be working on EVERYTHING all at once. But I've got to remember to take it slow and easy - and there you go. One of my goals for this year, which is so far going well. I hope to keep it up!

I hope that everyone else is having a productive 2015 so far, and are managing to stick to their goals and keep being creative! How's it going for everyone?

Merry Christmas and looking ahead to 2015 (pt.2)

Well. This year has flown by and I can't believe we're already looking at 2015! Putting this year aside, there are plenty of books and events that I'm looking forward to next year, as well as some resolutions of my own.

I actually wrote about some of the books I'm looking forward to here (although, my own personal list has already grown so much - there are so many books, both new and old that I'm looking forward to hopefully reading next year!). I think it's going to be another good year for YA and books and hopefully lots of exciting things are in store.

I'm excited about MuggleNet's first expo, MuggleNet Live! 2015: Expo Patronum, which is taking place on April 18th, and I can't wait to be involved and meet lots of my wonderful and amazing MuggleNet coworkers.

I'm hoping for another YALC. And more trips to Fowey. I'm hoping for lots of great book events, and meeting bookish and writing friends.

I'm hoping to keep blogging regularly on here, and over at a new blog/site I recently started, YA Inspires (I'm still feeling the way with that one).

Writing wise, I'm hoping to send Treading Water out to lots more agents, to edit the contemporary I wrote this summer to a good standard, to rehash and rewrite the MG story I wrote for my dissertation this summer. And of course, I hope for lots of new ideas, and inspiring things, but also focus. I hope to continue loving writing, no matter what.

Most of all, I hope the year is happy and full of good surprises and nice things!

And that's it for this year. I'm going to take a blogging break until the new year. I hope you all have an AMAZING Christmas and a WONDERFUL happy new year! I hope you get everything you want in the new year and have lots of hopes and dreams for the year.

Thanks for reading! x

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone and thank you for reading my blog over the past year. It's been a strange year, and a good one, but also a hard one in many ways, and it has sped by so very quickly. I'm startled to find us at the beginning of a new year again. It's been a year full of sporting triumphs, a summer of sport, the jubilee, and more personally graduations, new courses, moving and many chances.

Here's to the new Year, and all the adventures that it will be bring, all the hopes and dreams and excitments and everything.

I am going to quote the oft quoted and much wiser Neil Gaiman:

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Go here to read more.

Happy New Year everyone.

Goodbye 2012.

Hello 2013.