Here we are in 2012 with Christmas receding as a memory, only retrieved by baubles discovered shining under the sofa or when a Christmas pud from a hamper gift is served up thinly disguised as a fruity dessert for an ordinary Sunday. Life begins to pick up its everyday rhythm, with normal tasks to be completed.
I have a weekly list - to be fair it sometimes stretches into two, or even three weeks. It becomes a glorious mess of arrows and loopy lines linking the different areas of my life: writing, church, psychology, home. For example, those thank-you letters which await my attention, are they 'Writing' or 'Home'? And bits and pieces I write for Church - maybe even about counselling others, or a psychological article for a Christian magazine - where do I put those?
But even within those items which definitely belong in 'Writing', there is a woven, tangled web. One example: today I was looking up diseases. It was research for my novel-in-progress, Dancing in the Dark, but the information is helping me to think about other work I am doing - particularly the pending 'Ask Angela' for Caring magazine.
Then there are the two novels that are dominating my life at the moment. Losing Face now has a publication date, 25th May (I am shouting this from the rooftops!) so my task is to move into my role as a published novelist including publicising it. Meanwhile, I am working out the finer details of what happens to the same characters next, as I finish and edit Dancing in the Dark. The two novels are dangerously merging into one in my mind, as I read backwards and forwards between them, seeking consistency. But there is a bonus - out of their converging stories, the characters become even more 'real'. I will just have to be careful to avoid lifting the curtain on Dancing in the Dark, when discussing Losing Face.
So my prayer is that I will have wisdom day-by-day to become more organised to make good use of my time, yet accept, enjoy and discover the benefits from the chaotic, interesting, wonderful confusions of life.
Happy writing,
Annie
