ONE YEAR ON.

On 23rd August - which is actually the day we fly out to Jersey - it will be one year since I pledged on my blog that my goal was to be writing full time by that date one year on. Well - as we all know it hasn't happened. This makes me sit back and take stock of what actually has happened in that 12 months and I am not actually too sure where to begin really. Obviously the Yucketypoo book being published, printed and bound must be the first thing mentioned really - and I still carry the first copy I ever got around wih me because I still get days when I can't believe it has actually happened. Writing-wise, I am pleased that I finally got the two sequels written but we are still not certain the second one will be out by ths Christmas which is something of a worry. Other successes in that area are having another poem accepted for inclusion in a new anthology and the fact that two editors have actually come up and asked me if I'd be interested in writng for them. Robert Hale said they wouldn't mind seeing the fist three chapters and a synopsis of my long-planned but as yet unwritten historical novel so we will have to wait and see if anything comes of that.

On the whole, I am quite pleased with what I have achieved writing-wise but it pains me to relate that I still have not succeeded in finding an agent who is prepared to take me on! I know I still have a huge amount of writing to do - but the problem is lack of time, as ever! And on particularly busy days at the day job, I do wonder sometimes if I am ever going to be able to be really free to just be what I believe God intended me to be. I know He moves in mysterious ways - I just hadn't bargained for all the detours along the way! Again - I will just have to wait and see. I cannot believe I have come this far to just let it all fall by the wayside.

Importantly, I have discovered a whole circle of lovely Blog-spot Buddies who have cheered with me during the high times, brightened my mood during the low times and generally put up with my grumblings, so thank you all.

And now I suppose, I shall just have to start making plans for the next year.

Just one question - does FIFTY ONE & NOT OUT have the same ring to it? Hmmm! That's a poser. Answers on a postcard please!

BLACKPOOL & BACK

What a great week we have just had in Blackpool! The weather was good - only a sprinkling of showers and one heavy downpour - the rest of the week was brilliant sunshine. Blackpool is definitely a 'happening' place; loads going on there and plenty to do and see. Hubby and Eldest Grandson loved it, too. Not quite sure how I ended up going on the Pepsi Max Big One on Pleasure Beach - it is 210' at its highest point. The 'G' force on the first downward sweep is short but very VERY intense! Afterwards, Eldest Grandson and I stood underneath it and wondered how we'd had the guts to do it. I must say in the obligatory photograph which is taken randomly as you start to drop, Eldest Grandson looks terrified whilst good ol' granny (ie - me) has a somewhat inane grin on her face. I actually think that grin was petrified into place because it didn't leave me until we were safely back on terra firma. I almost expected to find I'd wet myself in sheer terror! Hadn't though, thank goodness, so I can forget about the Tenas for a while yet.

After The Big One (210' at its highest point!!!!!!!!!!Ahggg!), the rest of the rides we went on were somewhat tame. Not that we went on that many. We also went up the Tower and did the Walk of Faith on a thick pane of glass set in the floor with clear views all the way down to the street 310' below - at least Eldest Grandson and I did; Hubby (who has no head for heights at all) just closed his eyes and stepped across one corner before opening them again. We also went to the zoo. I am not a huge fan of zoos but I must say this one was quite impressive. The animals are in large spacious enclosures and there are conservation notes up everywhere that tell visitors how they are cared for and what their chances of survival are for the future. I am pleased they are not kept in cages anymore. And having read that elephants might be extinct by 2020 (which would be a tragedy), it is nice to know that future generation will still have the chance to see these magnificent creatures, albeit not in the wilds. Other attractions enjoyed were the Sealife Centre, the Waxworks place (horrible bit in the Chamber of Horrors, though, where you have to walk through a dozen or so corpses wrapped in cellophane and hung on meat hooks in order to get from one part of the grisly exhibition to another. I knew they were not real corpses of course but it sent a singularly unpleasant shiver down my spine as they whumped into me and left me feeling queasy for the next hour), the Ripley's Believe It Or Not exhibition and the Doctor Who museum. One of the best bits of the whole holiday was when we went to see Queen tribute band QEII at the North Pier Theatre on Thursday night. As huge Queen fans all three (even Eldest Grandson), we waited in the bar afterwards to meet up with the band members. Such nice fellas! We ended up chatting for almost an hour and exchanged contact details. Hubby even invited them to come and stay with us if they are ever performing in the South East - and they said they would!

All in all - a great holiday, thoroughly enjoyed by all. On Saturday, we dropped Eldest Grandson in Peterborough on our way home (no sign of Eldest Step-daughter's baby yet, though she looked HUGE, bless her) and finally got in to a very welcoming Cat at around 6pm. Sent out for a Chinese (naturally) for dinner, then slept for most of the weekend! Or at least until Hubby went back to work on Sunday night. The count-down now begins for our two week trip to the Channel Isles which begins on 24th August. And of course by the time we get back from that, Christmas will be peeping round the corner again. Where does the time go?

I am aware that I have almost hit the one-year deadline I set myself when I started this blog last year but I'll look into that next time I write.

Till then - adieu!