50th Post Celebratory Extravaganza-a-Thon

Happy Friday, all! This is my 50th post on this blog - a nice milestone to take stock and think about what's going on / has gone on since I began.

I started this blog on March 1st, blogging about 'The Shame of Writing' and the paradox of wanting to be an author, but not wanting to tell anyone about it, thinking it seemed like such a pipe dream. I didn't have an agent at the time, but the whole point of this blog was to act as the focus for my newly concerted efforts to 'crack' publishing.

Well, there's been a change since then, of course. I'm represented by The Bent Agency now, and my shy-ocity has all but disappeared. On Twitter I make contact with editors, publishers, agents and other writers on a daily basis, and this is an intense privilege I don't want to lose sight of. If you're an aspiring or even established writer not using Twitter routinely, I would really, really recommend it. I've had back and forths with NY Times bestselling authors, the editors of several publishers both UK- and State-side, famous literary agents, Publisher's Weekly, the Writers' and Artists' Yearbook, and even the brilliant and baffling Waterstones Oxford Street - always worth a mad few minutes. My point is that there is an ever present, ever fascinating, and ever helpful conversation going on across the whole publishing industry, and with a few quick hashtags you can drop in any time. So why not, eh?

I'm crazy thankful to the writers and readers who comment on the posts I put up here, with extra (and often way better) thoughts, links, hints and suggestions. Feeling plugged in to community is always good. If you're reading this, then you count too - thank you.

I've joined SCBWI now, and if I can make the leap to going to a meeting, I'll really feel like I've made it. In fact, speaking of 'making it', my boss at NY Intl has a good sense of humour, and at a recent work meet-up, my name badge bore this exciting description:

A joke, maybe, but one day ... one day...!

This post didn't really have a point, except happiness at having got this far, at least. Here's to another 50 or so to come, and whatever they'll be made up of. Books, I hope, and words, and thoughts, and maybe even some exciting news to share. That's my hope, at least. Cheers!