Out with the old...

One year ago I posted my writing resolutions for 2014. I freely declare I have not hit those goals.

I celebrated my NaNoWriMo win
by designing my own book cover.
Now all I need is to finish the manuscript
and get it published!

In October, after submitting my final university assignment for the year, I checked in, re-examined those goals and set new ones. I had completed some, was on track for others, and had yet to start a few.

Of those goals, I have not: Submitted two finished PB MS to two or more publishers by the end of the year; written three more PB first drafts; entered one more competition for the year; updated this blog weekly; and only submitted one story to a magazine for publication, not two. I also didn’t print my goals or refer to them as the printer ran out of ink. Then I forgot. I also signed up for PiBoIdMo but didn’t write down a single idea.

So I could make excuses about not reaching these goals, and they’d run along the lines of two months in a neck brace and constant physio after surgery, illness, full-time university study, parenting, etc, but I’d rather take a more positive approach.

The Mini-King: Wise beyond his years

The Mini-King gave me an order yesterday: “Mum, you just finish your work. Don’t worry about doing anything. You don’t even have to get out of your pyjamas.”

 
And who was I to argue? The Mini-King had decreed it to be so. I love that sweet, benevolent little dictator.

So I did what was ordered – stayed in my PJs and finished my last uni assignment for the year.

Frankenstein's monster meets Bridget Jones

That's what I feel like at the moment, as I type, arms outstretched, neck stiff, eyes staring forward.

The neck brace I'll be wearing for the next five weeks has robbed me of peripheral vision, and also the ability to look down easily. I eat with the plate pushed halfway across the table, as my laptop is now, so I can see what I'm doing.

Reindeer read review

Roger the Reindeer by Ken Lake
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Roger the Reindeer, in Ken and Angie Lake’s series The Diaries of Robin’s Toys, centres around illiteracy. Roger leaves home not knowing how to read or write, and this gets him into all sorts of trouble. He eventually learns to read and write, then is offered a job with Santa.