I usually don’t like New Year celebrations. I actually find them depressing, all that looking back, which is ironic as this is a retrospect! ( Ha!). In my defence I try not to look back for more than a couple of weeks, especially if it something bad that has happened. I try wherever I can to live in the present. After all you can’t change the past.
This New Year was different, mainly because of the lanterns. Ever since 1999/2000 New Year, fireworks have become a tradition. Setting the night sky alight with brief and spectacular shooting stars…I just love fireworks. So as Big Ben struck midnight, I stepped outside to check out the local fireworks and there they where…orange lights in the sky. Half a dozen of them in tight formation. Then more and more.
My other half, totally panicked, convinced that we were being invaded by aliens. I, unfortunately, realised within a couple of seconds what they where…I let him sweat for a couple of minutes, until it became embarrassing…then I let him in on it 
I have to admit that I was quite disappointed that we weren’t being invaded…what does that say about me?
Of course I have to mention the lousy weather. It snowed and then it snowed some more. I walked to work on the Tuesday. By the time I got there they decided to close the office and I had to walk back again! They kept the office closed on Wednesday too, so I did a bit of writing.
I’m reviewing the first draft of the Mr Sandman novel. There is so much of it I’m not happy about, especially my two main protagonists. My hero is a wimp and I want to smack the heroine…hard. She really needs to get a grip and he needs to suck it up and get on with it. I’ve been rewriting the chapters with them in them, which has had knock on effect on the plot. So more rewriting. Ack!
What I’m worried about is losing the integrity of the story. I’ve a lot of work to do.
I’ve also started to review the second chapter of the Rebecca Tabern e-novel, so I’ll be posting up the redraft and the rationale in the next week, or so.
I’m supposed to be entering the Mslexia short story competition. The deadline is the 25th January…I have pages and pages of notes…but no draft! I just can’t seem to get the story together. Some writers can start off with a first scene and just let the story develop. I seem to work the other way around, expecially for short stories. I’m more successful if getting a good story if I have a idea of an ending and in this case I don’t. Not yet anyway.
I made some reviews to my personal objectives and added on some new ones. New year resolutions and all that. They’re mainly domestic. I particularly want to revamp my garden. I’ve not touched it for a couple of years, so it’s overgown and messy. I particularly want a vegetable plot. I don’t have a lot of space, so I’ll have to be creative. I have a sunny wall, so I’m wondering if I can have a veg plot growing up a the wall…
It sounds like you had a fun New Years.
Best of success with the short story competition.