It's been a while, I know. Since I wasn't writing much last year, I was saving my limited energy for writing fiction rather than blog posts. And as for 2023, I was afraid to say much about what I was up to for fear I might jinx it. At the end of 2022, I quit a job of more than twenty years with nothing lined up. My plan was to take a year off from the workforce and write full-time. I also wanted to tackle some of the many necessary projects associated with owning a house approaching its 100th birthday.
I'm aware that I'm privileged to be able to give myself this opportunity, but at the same time, it's taken many years of tight budgeting and saving more than half my income to get to this point. It's been a leap into the unknown, and I guess I was worried I wouldn't recover from burnout and get my writing mojo back. I'm pleased to say that I have indeed found my mojo - I gradually increased the amount I was writing each day (to the point where I now have a sore back from too much sitting at my desk!) and on the last day of April I finished the first draft of a fantasy novel.
I've also welcomed a new addition to the backyard (after several months of struggling with contractors) - a new greenhouse. Part of the whole 'living in genteel poverty' thing involves growing your own vegetables, and the greenhouse will allow me to keep doing so during the cold wet winters we have here. I'm also fitter and a lot happier than I was four months ago, and for the first time I can actually consider looking for a new job without shuddering.
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