Last April, a friend of mine launched her Buy Me A Coffee. I had been playing with this idea for years – years of giving free advice on Twitter, years of answering questions via email. Years of actually having coffee with people who had questions and just wanted to know if I had the answers. Most of the time, they were thinking about writing a book, or wondering about how to publish a book, or wanted ideas for publicity.
My consulting fees started at $45 an hour, but most of the advice actually was had for the price of a cup of coffee. I was generous about meeting with people I knew, and I was happy to help. That’s okay. Until it didn’t work any more. Not because I didn’t want to help any more, but because my energy reserves were so very low, I was barely able to work when I was being paid. I certainly couldn’t work for free. And then, just as I was starting to feel better, and could do more paid work, thinking about taking clients again (as I hadn’t had one since 2018), the pandemic hit. So I was happy to join my friend Laura on her new endeavor. It is often easier to do things together.
We none of us knew we would be in this for the long haul. That term itself has taken on a whole new ominous meaning. We could never have predicted that we would be sitting here over a year later – almost two years later – and still not see the end in sight.
So after a very bad 2020, when my mental health was not good, and trying to find a new therapist, and then finding one and starting with her in May of 2021, the year which promised to be a new beginning but turned into a year full of its own hardships and challenges, we are now looking at another new year. What will 2022 hold? I, for one, cannot take a third year of bullshit and stagnation. So I am taking 2022 by the horns and I mean to make something out of it.
I am therefore resurrecting this platform, in the hope that there are still people out there who would value my experience and my words. I cannot take on clients yet, and this will give me space to continue working on my mental health in 2022. I will also share here definite progress on my novel, which has been spurred on by joining an online group called Paperbacks & Co, and which has merged into another online group called Thrive Founders Co, which I am sure will help me pull together my online presence and manage a new writing life.
What can you expect here, then?
I will be sharing regular updates on my novel and other writing,
I will share publishing advice from over 20 years of working in the industry, and
I will share my photography, both of the setting for my novel (from a trip to Orkney in 2017 - see Skara Brae below), and general shots.
I will also share my progress with Thrive, which was my word of the year in 2020, oddly enough. For 2022, my word is Self, and I hope you will join me on this journey.
