The Winding Narrative Turns Two

The Winding Narrative has reached its second anniversary, so it’s time to review progress on my writing journey. In my second year, I wrote 38 posts and nearly 35,000 words. Here are some highlights:

• I joined the editorial team for literary agency, NAC. This gives me the opportunity to work with authors of fiction and memoir to get their books ready to pitch to publishers. This work is a joy and I’ve met some fabulous people. To give me more time to focus on this, I’ve decided to reduce the frequency of my blog to once every two to four weeks instead of once every week or two.
• My most viewed blog was: Barb Grant’s Tough Transition to Mansfield. She shared her journey in adapting to country living and overcoming health issues and touched readers with her authenticity.
• The most popular blog (based on likes on the blog site) was a tie between How to be an Unhappy Expat and Natalie Muller, Publisher at Black Cockie Press.

The focus for my blog last year was on interviews. I spoke to other creatives, in particular to other writers, and I did a series of interviews with personalities from Mansfield, the Australian country town where we have a holiday home. I also continued the chronology of my writing journey at the point of my years in Houston, and shared more writing tips.

This year, I aim to continue my interviews. In the chronology, I’ll finish the Houston story and move onto Qatar.

For my novels, I’ve now completed four books in a series, but only the first of these has been pitched to publishers. So far, no success. It’s time to double down and up my game. This is my year for consolidation. I’ve been working with some writing mentors and am now in the process of rewriting the second in the series as a stand alone thriller to pitch later this year. Most authors tell me they pitch several books before success, so this isn’t unusual and I’m staying positive. Writing success often comes not in drafting the novel, but in the edits. I’m learning, and hopefully improving, constantly.

Please get in touch if you’d like to share your own winding narrative and feature in an interview. I look forward to another fun year of tips and tales.

To see where I was this time last year, see The Winding Narrative Turns One
Next time: Cassie Lane on Writing Memoir
Next writing blog: Writers Victoria Flash Fiction 2020 – Part One
Next year: The Winding Narrative Turns Three