2012: A year in retrospect

2013Hello guys! It’s the start of another year and I’m raring to go – are you? Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and super New Year. It’s been a manic but oh so cool year. From attending fabtastic events (Manchester Literature Festival and Carat BlogShop were two of my highlights) to giving author talks and having my work showcased at The Octagon Theatre, I also released the second edition of my debut novel (last week). It has been a cracking year – and I’ve got a feeling that 2013 is going to be just as awesome if not better.

So much has happened this past year, that to summarize it in one readable post would be folly. So, I’ll be picking over the remains of 2012’s carcass (yes, I still have turkey on the brain) and ruminating about the juiciest bits. Now, I don’t know about you, but I love writing about things and people that intrigue or fascinate me. And I meet a lot of people. Which makes I find, being brief a colossal challenge (think of answering Master Mind whilst inebriated and that’s the level of concentration that I require).

IceAgeHave you guys ever seen Ice Age? Where the sabre-toothed squirrel finds a large nut and doesn’t quite know what to do with it? Well, here is my synopsis of 2012 in that large nutshell. Here goes (takes a deep breath): I published my debut novel Screaming Snowflakes earlier this year, released the second edition last week, I’m currently writing the sequel, working on the screenplay adaptation of Book One, writing nine novellas, completed my first NaNoWriMo, garnered some really cool publicity for the novel (Google ‘Amber Tesia’ and you’ll see what I mean), delivered my first Creative Writing Workshop, had my work performed at The Octagon Theatre, checked out some really cool restaurants (The Restaurant Bar & Grill in Manchester tops the list), discovered some awfully good writers (Sylvia Day, I salute you for giving us Gideon Cross), had my first Ayurvedic massage (which left me feeling floopy in a good way), enjoyed a digital detox weekend (highly recommended, by the way), serendipitously stumbled into a posh chippy with a piano (how cool is that?) in addition to flitting from one launch party to another (Neighbourhood stands out). Told ya it was a large nutshell.
Carat_resize_then_crop_540_350One of the events that deserves a special mention is The Carat BlogShop. Carat is predominantly a media planning company that also happens to specialize in social media. Their BlogShops are informative, interesting and utterly fabulous. Not many people / companies can be described as all three, unless you’re Taylor Lautner (come on, the guy interviews VERY well). Back on track, the Carat BlogShop was a fun evening of networking and Tweeting with cupcakes and competitions galore. There were some really cool brands in attendance too (Antler, Kaleidoscope, Matalan are just a few to mention), but more on that later. I learnt a whole tonne of social media tips and tricks thanks to the digital gurus at Carat and I look forward to the next BlogShop. As I’m trying to keep my blog short and punchy, expect more posts shortly.

Laters dudes and dudettes,

RAx