This year has been a bit like being at a theme park for me – lots of rides, too many sweets, and a haphazard unfocused approach to my writing. But that’s gonna change! So what happened this year?

• Released a wonderful anthology with my talented writing buddies Ava January, Clare Griffin and Sarah Fiddelaers.
• Approached a couple of publishers about my WIP and got some great feedback to take in and help me move my craft forward.
• Finaled in a couple of comps, the latest of which is the Sapphire where I have 2 entries going into the second round and came third in the Valerie Parv competition (unfortunately the last time it will be run in its current form due to the passing of the wonderful Valerie.)

• Participated in Writers SA Manuscript incubator with the wonderful Victoria Purman and will continue this mini-mentoring with the same group in 2022.
• Did a virtual presentation at the RWA conference – on how to boost your aspiring writer profile by participating in an anthology (OMG my first ‘paid’ writing gig!)
• Entered lots of competitions and feel like perhaps my writing is finally ‘going somewhere’.
• Read a lot of great books and had a lot of fantastic conversations with many other aspiring writers.
• Ended the year on a high and pumped for my writing and the stories I am going to work on next year.

This year also saw some increase in my work commitments – I was part of the 2021 organising committee for the Australian Entomological Society annual conference. We switched from being an in-person to online conference and it went incredibly smoothly. Next year will bring some work challenges but I am looking forward to working on some of the upcoming entomology projects in the new year.

I’m going to take a break over the next 3 weeks – both from writing and from my paid employment but I wish everyone a happy and safe festive season and see you all in the new year!

xxx Nancy