Connections made and kept

View from here

It’s a bright sunny day in my little pocket of Scotland today, the sky is blue but there is a distinct Autumnal chill in the air.  It’s not long now until I will be making the trip back to Yorkshire to visit family and friends.  I am quite excited about the visit as it’s a while since I have been and it’s always good to catch up.  I can’t wait to see the friends I haven’t seen in months but one of the things I am most looking forward to is giving my Mum and Dad a hug.

Hubby sees my Mum and Dad quite regularly as he tends to stay there if he is working in the area.  As I don’t have Skype or any such method of communication I rely on texting and phone calls as my most frequent means of contact.  Seeing them in person will be wonderful.

The days leading up to the festive season will be very busy!  I have now signed up to become a stall holder at three upcoming Christmas fairs with my Le Petit Cadeau creations and I am quite excited about the prospect of selling my signs face to face.  Much of my work at the moment comes from online commissions or word of mouth.  Actually meeting people face to face is something I really enjoy.

As I write this it is a frightening 53 days to Christmas and I am in no way prepared!  I have not made a list which has, therefore, negated the need to check it twice!  Thank goodness I am not Santa or there would be some disappointed children out there!  On my return from Yorkshire I am going to make it my mission, in between craft fairs of course, to buy Christmas presents!!  As you and I both know, once Guy Fawkes night is out of the way it’s a rapid journey along that festive road!

One of my creations

As for my novel, rejection is something I was prepared for, or so I thought.  But I have to say it smarts a little.  When you have put hours of work; your heart and soul into something; into creating characters that are somehow tangible to you, it’s hard to take when people don’t have the same enthusiasm for what you have created.  A good friend said to me, recently, that every rejection is one step nearer to an acceptance and I am desperately trying to hold on to that!  After all, to quote a sign I saw recently, ‘Someone, somewhere wants exactly what I have to offer.’  I just have to wait until we meet 😉

Along the way so far I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised at how supportive other writers have been (and continue to be) I have made some wonderful connections with people whom I feel will become good friends and will be there to share a virtual champers (or a real one) when my book does get published! (Jan Romes, Allan Bott, Bev Jones, Melodie Ramone, Susan Buchanan to name but a few) I am proud to say that I have received support and advice from people I consider to be extremely talented writers and I appreciate that more than I can express in words.

Another of my creations and my new motto!!