So 2014 was eventful, and 2015 promises to be even more so…
Writing Stuff
Two of my short stories were published this year.
January – ‘The Ballad of Mr. Bones’ is a story that I loved writing. It’s about a post-apocalyptic obsession with shoes (and other obsessions) and was published in a special issue of Not One of Us called ‘Coping.’ Copies of ‘Coping’ can be ordered here for the low price of $3.50
April – ‘Symposium’ was published in the Irish edition of Literary Orphans, an absolutely fantastic journal run by Mike Joyce. It’s about love and life and a local pub. It’s the first story I wrote when I decided to take this writing lark seriously and in 2012 it was longlisted for the RTÉ/Penguin short story award so I’m glad it’s finally found a home. It can be read for FREE here.
Other writing related adventures include re-editing the submission chapters of my novel and renaming it to Human Child. I did a lot of planning and preparation and began edits on my second novel, The Waiting Place. Edits will start in earnest now.
I wrote two new short stories and will begin submitting them this year. I also completed NaNoWriMo!!! Woo, Huzzah! This is my third attempt at Nano and the first time i’ve succeded without breaking the rules. I started on November first with only a vague idea and by the end I had 50,000 words of a new novel that I reckon is a pretty solid opening to a trilogy of fantasy books. Edits and teasers etc will follow but I’ve tentatively titled it Dream Catcher.
China Stuff
I also spent seven months living, working and travelling around China. You can read about my exploits here, the blog is still being updated because there’s too much to tell. Ultimately it was an amazing experience, I’m delighted I took the plunge and did it but 7 months was enough. It has ignited a travelling bug in me though so we’ll see where the next few years take me.
Work Stuff
So I’ve been teaching for a few years now, giving grinds, teaching EFL and working in secondary schools and I’ve decided that I’m going to give it a proper go. I enjoy teaching and it’s a great way to finance and allow time for my writing. When I returned from China I got a job as a substitute teacher in a secondary school and I got accepted onto a PME course with Hibernia college. This is an online course so I can continue to work and write, but expect a few blog posts here where I talk about any ideas I’ve used in class to teach creative writing
House Stuff
We had a problem with rising damp in the house, started picking away at that and before we knew it we were sleeping on the sitting room floor because we were renovating three different rooms in the house and doing all the labour ourselves. The end result is that most of the house looks awesome (only two rooms left to go!) and I now have my very own office! For the first time ever I have a little writers’ hole that I can lock myself away in. There’s still a few finishing touches and I’ll post pictures and things as soon as it’s all gussied up.
Family Stuff
Some of my family and friends have returned to Ireland so that in itself is awesome. I continue to be very fortunate to be friends with such awesome people and writers and even more fortunate to be related to such crazy and caring people. Also my nephew is finally walking and kind of talking so that’s awesome, rather than a quiet little baby he’s an actual human now with built-in interactivity. And of course I am incredibly lucky to have such a supportive boyfriend who didn’t raise one word of complaint when I left to go travelling alone for 7 months and always makes me smile.
2014 was awesome, it set the standard pretty high. So onwards and upwards for 2015!!