January. 2023. Yikes. When I was a kid I used to think about how far ahead the year 2000 was (we wrote essays about it, all this futuristic stuff like flying cars), and how OLD I would be then. Moving on... :D
Happy new year to everyone, and a special thanks to those who have stayed the distance for the two years By the Letter has been going out. I still love doing it, and it seems you love reading it.
It's traditional in January to review the year before, so here's a summary-
On the writing front, I released two books, Legend of the Winged Lion and River Witch. I also wrote some flash fiction, and from the handful of competitions entered, I maintained my 33% success rate for a longlist/shortlist/win. Must enter more!
I am ever grateful for all your support in these endeavours: those who buy, leave reviews (love you), critique drafts, act as read ahead reviewers, and also our local libraries and bookshops who are simply wonderful. I will be calling on you all again!
As you know, a lot happened on the personal front too, and the house project is ongoing. From February, we're without a kitchen and utility room (laundry) for four months or so. Lots of nice cafes locally!
And of course, there was the loss of our precious Sammy. Not yet ready for another dog, but the itch is there (don't tell David).
To help keep me sane, I did a fair bit of reading, racking up 8,874 pages over 35 books according to Goodreads (love data!). Many of them I've reviewed here and others on my blog. More to come this year.
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