Hello and a big welcome back to those who have previously followed my blog and a warm welcome to those who are new to itsdefinitelystephanie.com.
It has been a very very long time since I have written on this blog with the last entry being in 2021! But do not fear dear reader, this writer has not put her pen and paper down to enter into early retirement, in fact quite the opposite. The daily ritual of diary writing has continued and has been something I have done for a number of years now. Beginning each day writing a few lines of something about my previous day provides me with some focus and sets me up for the day ahead as I feel like I have already achieved something before commencing with my day. It also stops me feeling so bad when I have not had the time or the energy to write anything else as I know that I at least made some time for ink to hit the page and provide with a record of my day and potentially some inspiration in the future for other writing projects.
2023 was an incredibly busy one with the birth of my first child and having two pieces of my writing shortlisted in writing competitions. After entering so many competitions over the years and not receiving a response, I almost wondered if it really was worth pursuing my passion of writing but the hard work paid off in the end, making the advice from other writers true – ‘just keep writing and keep going’!
My first shortlisted writing piece was a poem on the theme of ‘Friendship’, for a competition run by Upper Hutt Library in New Zealand. Their library is an incredibly welcoming space and they are always so friendly and willing to help with any book issues you may have. I was also given the opportunity to read my poem at a special prize giving ceremony, sadly I was unable to make it but they have posted my poem (titled ‘Dearest Margot’) online along with the other shortlisted poets and the winner’s entry. These can be viewed here: https://www.upperhuttlibrary.co.nz/News/2023-Poetry-Competition-Shortlisted-and-Winners
Although I was not selected as a winner in this competition, I was given a special mention which I was really surprised at as just being shortlisted was a big achievement for me, so to be given a special mention was an extra cherry on the top!
The second piece of writing to be shortlisted was a short story based on the theme of ‘Coronation’ to mark the coronation of King Charles III, for the Bury St Edmunds Literary festival. To be recognised and shortlisted for a competition linked to a literary festival was totally unexpected and again a real boost to my writing confidence. I am still waiting for the literary festival to post online the winning and shortlisted entries but in the meantime I will post a copy of the story and poem in a separate blog post.
As to 2024 and the writing goals I have this year, the first is a very general goal and that is to just keep going and try and put something on paper each day, the next is to try and set up a book store on this blog so people are able to buy directly from me my books rather than using Amazon in order to buy them. (I just need to work out the technical tools to do it! ) And finally I hope to update my blog more often this year and try not to leave it too long until the next post.
However, until then I hope everyone is having a good 2024 so far and that you are able to achieve your goals whether they be linked to writing or non-writing related.
Blog soon
Stephanie X
It's Definitely Stephanie! 