Goodbye 2016

I thought it was time to reflect on the year that was 2016. I haven’t written an article as such before, so here we go. 2016 was a roller-coaster and so to close the year out, here are some pivotal events that happened.

The year started very promising, I had started a new job and was working in two schools. It was hectic going from one school to the other, but I made it work. My new line-manager then offered extra days, which meant resigning from the other school. That was fine as I was travelling an hour and half each way to get there.

At this time I was able to to a bit of work on my writing and finally complete the edits on my second book in the Servant of the Gods series. However, as Semester 1 was drawing to a close, it was getting more difficult to find time to spend writing, interacting on social network sites and posting articles on my blog. Suffice to say, I did manage to send out my manuscript to my beta readers. That in it self was a challenge for me, contacting my team and responding to them, but I managed to work it through.

I had been also submitting queries to agents regarding a novella series I am writing. However, it has not been consistent, and though a few agents have been kind enough to respond, they’ve declined to take on the story. I guess the positive out of this is that they’ve taken the time to reply to my query. The downside, I’ve been told agents and publishers are not interested in novellas. A bit short-sighted I feel. So where to from here? I guess I keep plugging the story and if I reach 50 rejections, I’ll go down the indie way, as I have done with my previous works.

The second half of the year proved to be more challenging. I had resigned from my other school and was now fully entrenched in my new school. Which was fine as it was only 30 minute drive. I must say at this time, my writing suffered. I have two writing projects running: one is my trilogy and the other the novella series and is very different from what I have previously written.

This was also the time when we received news my grandmother wasn’t doing very well. She passed away a week before her 94th birthday.

The highlight of the year was when we went to Kalbarri, a seaside town and 8 hour drive from Perth. We had a wedding in Geraldton, (6 hour drive) and after a few days stopover, we headed to Kalbarri. It was wonderful and did nothing but read, walk, take photos and relax.

Kalbarri
Photo by Luciana Cavallaro

Christmas was spent with the family, which is always nice, however I was sick and am only now much better. My plan was to get back into fitness and writing and reconnecting with the amazing and wonderful friends I have made via social networking and my blog. That hasn’t happened, but that’s okay, I know my friends are still around.

So to wrap up, I want to wish you all a wonderful 2017 and may it be a happy, healthy, and safe year.

I also have a new series in the pipeline, so watch for my next blog post. Thank you for being amazing.

Best wishes,
Luciana

indie publishing, reading, reflection, self publishing, social networking, writing, year in review