A Magical Year

MuggleNet celebrated fifteen years the other week. MuggleNet is a site that I’ve known about for a long time, and always used to visit for my Potter news. For Potter fans it’s a go to resource for news and information about the Potter world.

And then a year ago, I happened to see on Twitter a call for applications for journalism interns. And I thought, well, why not. I’ll give it a shot. Writing and Harry Potter – two of my favourite things. It would be perfect - I wanted something new to do, a new challenge, and I wanted to be develop my writing skills. So, I sent the email off and forgot about it. I never thought I’d ever be picked.

But a few days later a wonderful email dropped into my inbox. The email told me that I had been chosen as one of the interns. I don’t know how I managed to compose an email back that wasn’t full of OMG/I CAN’T BELIEVE IT/THANK YOU SO MUCH. But somehow I did (in fact, I think I underplayed it quite a lot).

And so the journey began.

I couldn’t believe that I was lucky enough to be a part of that amazing team and be able to write things that were posted on MUGGLENET itself. It was a dream come true, and very, very surreal. I threw myself in there, with plenty of enthusiasm and determination to do well.

And then, by December I received an email to tell me that I was being promoted to a full time staff member if I wanted it. If I wanted it - of course I did! Despite receiving the email so early in the morning, I was bouncing around delighted, because I couldn't believe it - I couldn't believe that they wanted me and I had discovered that it was something that I adored doing. And it was a bonus that everyone on the team was very welcoming, happy to help out with any questions, queries or issues, and lots of fun as well. I was a bit nervous of everyone at first, but soon settled in. It was a wonderful thing to be a part of, and it was amazing to feel part of the Potter world in a way that I never had before. And it was so good to be surrounded by people who cared as much as I did. I kept it to myself for a while, because I loved it so much and it was special and I just loved being a part of it. I was soon given my own MuggleNet email address, invited to my first staff meeting, and started helping out with some things for the upcoming site relaunch. And just like that I was thrown in in the most wonderful way.

Since then, the year has flown by, but it has been amazing and so magical. I have been able to attend the Studio Tour TWICE for the site, writing up a review about it, reviewed books, written countless articles, helped out with other projects on the site, and helped to solve that J.K. Rowling anagram she posted on Twitter, as well as other things I'm sure I've missed. I have made wonderful friends and over the summer even met Toni in person, one of the other writers who started at the same time that I did. I have been given a whole new world and I adore it. It's impossible to quite explain and describe all my feeling towards this, and how much I LOVE it.

Once again, I find that I have to thank Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling for so much. And of course the wonderful team at MuggleNet for taking me on and letting me be a part of all of this. So thank you all for such an amazing year. It's been incredible. It's amazing to be part of such a hardworking, dedicated, and enthusiastic team. Thank you for EVERYTHING. And I look forward to what's next and all the magical things to come.Here's to another magical year!

Writing, Dissertation, and YALC!

It's been a while since I've updated anything writing wise on this blog. I had a couple of exciting things happen quite recently though (I hate writing about this, so I apologise. It's just kinda exciting).

The first was that one of my short stories, a YA story called 'If I Remember' was a runner up in a competition. I was delighted about that - especially as it was a YA story, and I want to go back and do more work on that sometime.

The next was that I have been shortlisted for another IdeasTap competition, this time one that is in association with the Norwich Writer's Centre. Being shortlisted means that I get to attend an exciting day long writing workshop in July. More here.

Otherwise, things are plodding on as usual.

I'm still writing for MuggleNet, something that I absolutely adore and it's so much fun. One of the best things that has happened to me -  in fact I can't believe that I've only been writing for them since last November. It feels like much longer than that. It's the best team to work for, and everyone's so lovely and of course getting to write about Harry Potter... it's a no brainer! Actually, internships are currently open if you're interested in writing for the site. Check them out here.

I just finished the first draft of a story I started back in April. I was delighted to finish, although I dragged out writing the last few chapters. I don't think that I was looking forward to actually leaving the world yet. But there's still lots of work to do - I wrote it by hand, so I've got to type it up (sort of a first edit really, and a great way to see where there are plot holes etc. I really like working that way. And you feel like you get to know the story again, in a different way).

I'm also still working on Treading Water, more edits, trying to get it as good as possible! This summer I'll mostly be working on my dissertation however, which is due in at the end of August. I'm nearly at the end of my course though, hurrah!

In other book-y news, there are so many AWESOME books out this summer that I can't wait to read. I think my most anticipated book is Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins, although I was super excited about The Silkworm coming out. Anything J.K. writes is golden.

And in a couple of weeks, it's YALC - the first YA con in the UK. I can't wait! It's going to be fantastic, with so many amazing authors there, as well as lots of lovely friends. I can't wait! Who's going? Maybe I'll see you there!