Blog for December.
This Monthly blog for December could
be my end of year blog, but it would take too long to look back over 2022, so
I’ll just pick out some highlights. The most significant would be my eight days
at Headford in County Galway, Ireland, at a Writers’ Retreat organised by my
American Publisher, Wild Rose Press — thirteen American women and me! I flew
from Ireland to London for the SPF Book Conference in London after that: two
days plus an evening party on the first night. The result of my involvement in
the world of books restored my ‘mojo’ and I got back into writing again. So
much so that I finished writing my latest Crime thriller, A Song in the
Night (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BHKH6QDW),and,
unbelievably, I decided to write a Romance under a pen name. I finished it
during the NaNoWriMo gallop with SPF in November and published it as Emma
Carney. The title is Happy Lies the Heart (https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BQH1F1LK).
The romance idea was just for fun, but now I will probably have a new jacket
designed by thebooktypesetters.com and think about a series. Just needs
some discipline; something I seem to lack nowadays. New Year’s Resolution
perhaps?
So, what about my December? Well, I
put the Christmas decorations up. Not too many, but at least the house was
ready for my Church House Group Christmas party on the 13th. That
was good: plenty of food, mulled wine, mince pies (natch) and a finger buffet.
I cooked BBQ Chicken wings etc. We had a houseful but were not too crowded out.
Being a glutton for punishment, and
not knowing my own mind, I dived into a music training session with Jonny May.
I joined his group over a year ago. The guy is phenomenal. I’ve learned a few
things with him, but this time I started on a Bb scale course. I’m still at it,
but I’m managing to achieve small steps.
Another highlight in December was a
trip to the UK Southern Book Show in Arundel. The show was arranged by fellow
writer, Natasha Murray. I used to have a stall at her earlier events, but since
losing Pat, there’s only me and Tuppence left at home, and I can’t leave
Tuppence in order to have a book stall all day at an event. Anyway, I turned up
with the dog and was able to chat for about an hour with at least six ladies
(all writers) who are old friends from the Chindi book club, which folded a few
years ago. I also spent time chatting with some of the other writers there. It
was really good. And as a ‘bonus’, Natasha awarded me the UK Southern Book Show
Super Fan award!
One thing we all had to deal with in
December was the bitterly cold, Arctic temperatures. We even had a seven hour
power failure, which was no fun. When I think of what those poor Ukrainian
people are having to put up with, it makes a seven hour power failure look like
a minor inconvenience.
The World Cup! Loved that.
I also attended a Christmas Lighting
Service held by St. Wilfrid’s Hospice at Chichester Cathedral. I received an
invite because the Hospice looked after Pat here at home during her last days.
Naturally the Cathedral was packed, but it was freezing cold.
Another welcome bonus was a £5
royalty payment from Heygates Book Shop in Bognor for the sale of one of my
books.
I made a brave decision too: I took
some of Pat’s winter clothes to a charity shop. When I thought of all those
people who are either homeless or freezing cold because they can’t afford to
turn their heating up, I knew I had to give Pat’s stuff away. I felt quite
gloomy after I’d done it, but I knew Pat would have approved. I’ve still got
loads of her clothes here, but it will be a long time before I can feel it's
right for me to pass them on.
I attended the final 2022 meeting of
the Bognor Write Club. We had a kind of ‘Christmassy’ type do: mince pies, a
selection of Christmas Super hero stories (all our own work), and a ‘Bran
Tub’ type draw where we all picked out a
prize; each one a contribution from those attending.
And on Christmas Eve, we had a
family Zoom meeting, which included our No.4 son, Stephen, and his family in
Australia. On Christmas Day I went over to No. 3 son, John and stayed the night.
So Christmas is finally over, the
New Year has begun, resolutions will be made and forgotten about, and we’ll all
hope and pray for the right outcome to all the problems our broken world throws
at us. I can only hope and pray that all of you who read this blog of mine will
have a really happy and contented 2023. If you read any of my books, please
tell people about me; word of mouth is important.
Happy New Year.
