Happy birthday, Squidge's Scribbles!
The Scribbles are a year old today!
This is my 210th post, covering a variety of subjects - mainly writing, but lots to do with family life too. In case you've not been with me all year, here are some of my favourite times...
Being published.
I've been published several times over the year (look here for a full list) but the highlights were the publication of Stories for Homes, the charity anthology in aid of Shelter, and my very own Granny Rainbow.
SfH saw me deliver my very first public reading of something I'd published at The Ivy House - a fabulous but nerve-wracking experience.
Family stuff.
I have a thing about rainbows, so it seemed natural to blog about why. Last August, the family was thrown into some chaos when my son was hospitalized with a ruptured appendix, especially as it happened just before my church's Flower Festival which I was helping to organise.
I also went skiing for the first time in my life and against all the odds - loved it!
Improving my writing.
I was lucky enough to be recommended Les Edgerton's book on Finding Your Voice when I was struggling with some feedback. This book has to be one of the most important reasons for my improvements this year. I attended the Festival of Writing in York (almost time for the next one!) and wrote about several of the session. My favourite was Julie Cohen's Creating Characters...mainly 'cos we got to watch Pixar clips!
I also posted some of my own thoughts on how to build a story with an analogy that likened writing to knitting socks.
Free fiction.
In October I took part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, posting every day for a month. Every other day during that time, I posted a flash fiction piece - including one inspired by a prompt from Chuck Wendig's terribleminds blog, called The Forgotten Library.
And I asked folk to challenge me; early on, I wrote a story that had to include a rocking horse, cowboy and a zimmer frame.
I wonder what will be on my list in another year's time? A second Granny Rainbow book? StarMark in print? More short stories with RASSSA? Only time will tell...
I hope you'll stick with the Scribbles, to find out what does happen!
This is my 210th post, covering a variety of subjects - mainly writing, but lots to do with family life too. In case you've not been with me all year, here are some of my favourite times...
Being published.
I've been published several times over the year (look here for a full list) but the highlights were the publication of Stories for Homes, the charity anthology in aid of Shelter, and my very own Granny Rainbow.
SfH saw me deliver my very first public reading of something I'd published at The Ivy House - a fabulous but nerve-wracking experience.
I have a thing about rainbows, so it seemed natural to blog about why. Last August, the family was thrown into some chaos when my son was hospitalized with a ruptured appendix, especially as it happened just before my church's Flower Festival which I was helping to organise.
Improving my writing.
I was lucky enough to be recommended Les Edgerton's book on Finding Your Voice when I was struggling with some feedback. This book has to be one of the most important reasons for my improvements this year. I attended the Festival of Writing in York (almost time for the next one!) and wrote about several of the session. My favourite was Julie Cohen's Creating Characters...mainly 'cos we got to watch Pixar clips!
I also posted some of my own thoughts on how to build a story with an analogy that likened writing to knitting socks.
Free fiction.
In October I took part in the Ultimate Blog Challenge, posting every day for a month. Every other day during that time, I posted a flash fiction piece - including one inspired by a prompt from Chuck Wendig's terribleminds blog, called The Forgotten Library.
And I asked folk to challenge me; early on, I wrote a story that had to include a rocking horse, cowboy and a zimmer frame.
I wonder what will be on my list in another year's time? A second Granny Rainbow book? StarMark in print? More short stories with RASSSA? Only time will tell...
I hope you'll stick with the Scribbles, to find out what does happen!