Wishing everybody a health and happiness for 2014.

Thank you for your support, visits, likes and comments throughout 2013. I feel very lucky to have such kind and generous visitors to my site. I hope to be a little bit more active with my poetry in 2014, and look forward to your comments and kind feedback.

Review of 2013

2013 was a very productive and creative year for me. I was lucky enough to have poetry published by Dagda Publishing in two anthologies –

Western Haiku, and

Threads

I also released my first anthology, Tipping Sheep (the right way).

I took part in the open mic session for the ‘Off the shelf’ event held in the Sheffield Winter Gardens. It was a cold but fun day with many fabulously talented poets sharing their work.

What 2014 has in store?

February will see more of my poems appear in two anthologies by Dagda Publishing – Passages, and Ballads (details to follow.)

I am currently working on my second anthology, but it is slow going, trying to juggle work and pull together my poems into a cohesive theme – but I am getting there! Self-publishing was a steep learning curve which I don’t think I will be repeating if I can help it!

New Year’s Resolutions

I’m not really one for making resolutions as I feel if I want to do something enough, I just get on with it! However, this year I have joined the Veganuary campaign, and I am trying to be vegan for a month. It isn’t as hard as I anticipated, (already being a veggie and having an intolerance towards eggs) but I do really miss cheese!

Will I continue to be vegan after January? I doubt it, but I will be far more aware of looking at food labels and being choosier about my diet.

Hopes for 2014

My main concern is my 13 year old dog that is starting to slow down and struggle with Arthritis. I hope to keep him active, happy and pain free for as long as I can.

I am hoping that the economic climate starts to pick up. The downturn has severely impacted upon my work as an interpreter; this means I have to spend more time away from my writing whilst trying to source work. Being a freelance worker is not secure and is unpredictable in this current time of austerity.

I hope to enter more competitions, submit more poems for publishing and have more space and time for writing and blogging.

What I’m currently reading

I was lucky enough to get a few good books as Christmas presents which are on my, ‘to read’ pile.

These include,

Watching the English by Kate Fox

Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer

Women who run with the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes

What I’m currently listening to

With great sadness I will have to put away my beautiful Tzukettes CD. This has really set a festive spirit in my household, (and in my car) over the holiday period. Judie Tzuke and her talented daughters, Bailey and Tallula, sure know how to make a fab Christmas album 🙂

Santa also bought me the latest Stevie Nicks DVD which I am looking forward to watching when I get the house to myself.

I wish you all a happy, healthy and creative 2014!

Alex

😀