Reflecting on 2022

Finish and publish A Place Where We Belong

Well, this one is a big fat nope. I have tried to get going again with it multiple times throughout the year but it’s just never quite worked out. I’ve progressed maybe a few thousand words in the entire year and still have over half of the book to write. I know I can do it, but this year just hasn’t been kind in my brain and it has really impacted my novel writing.

With that said, I did have some writing success as I set myself the mid-year challenge of a poem a day for a month and that led to my first poetry collection July which I’m really quite proud of.

The fact that I also had my first ever interviews about my writing including one on TV is a big deal. Plus, even if sales will likely never be what I wish they could be, the fact that there are people who have bought my books including July and enjoyed them or found them meaningful or helpful will always be the most important thing to me and I really have had some lovely comments from people about my poems.

So, while my big writing goal for the year didn’t happen, I did get something written and published this year.

With that said, I will just have to pick myself back up in 2023 and try again to get A Place Where We Belong to the finish line as it’s a story I really want to get out into the world and I really want to let these characters sing.

Make the most of my Notts Operatic Society debut

The Hunchback of Notre Dame was everything I could have hoped for and more. It was a dream come true performing it every day for a week and the audience reaction was incredible.

I’ve made some wonderful friends at Nottingham Operatic Society and I’m so proud to be part of their number as I’m constantly in awe of how insanely talented they all are. That they’ve taken me into the fold, co-opted me on to the committee and let me loose with all my crazy photography and videography desires as well as getting to perform has really been a big thing in keeping me going this year.

I know I really would’ve struggled this year if it hadn’t been for NOS and Hunchback, so I cannot thank everyone who was involved enough. I don’t think any of you realise just how much it meant to me.

I’m taking a performing break for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang in 2023 to give my parents a break from constantly looking after Milo in the evenings, but I’m just going to funnel that time and energy into making more content than ever, especially as the society reaches its 130th birthday. Exciting times are ahead!

Teach Milo 12 new tricks

Well, we certainly didn’t manage 12 tricks, but the three he has officially learned (Wait, Spin, and swimming) mixed with all the other things he has figured out (he certainly knows what Treat means now, and he’s had more than a few meals out at pubs, and sat through an entire evening of carolling at a really loud pub and more) show just how far he has come since I got him.

As 2022 comes to a close, I think we’re hopefully in the latter stages of his second teenage phase as he certainly likes to push the boundaries and be a naughty tinker sometimes, but he’s so much better than he was during his first teenage phase and the love he gives now is adorable.

I’m so proud of him, so even if we haven’t done 12 tricks, we’ve certainly had 12 months of amazing experiences together. I can’t wait to spend so many more with my cheeky little monkey!

Read 12 books including The Poetic Edda and the Pearl Manuscript

Well, I’ve smashed this one. The goal was 12 books, the end result was 28 across a real range of genres and time periods. I made it through the entire Poetic Edda and the Pearl Manuscript, the entire Howl’s Moving Castle Trilogy, got introduced to Heartstopper by the Netflix show and then proceeded to devour everything Alice Oseman has written; read some Agatha Christie, some Neil Gaiman, some Ray Bradbury, some manga, some non-fiction and more!

It’s been a lot of fun exploring all these different stories and I really can’t wait to dig in to my reading for 2023 as I’ve got a lot of books coming from Christmas and New Year and also I finally want to finish off my Five Novels by Charles Dickens collection.

Clear at least half of my film watchlist

My goal was to watch 65 films from my backlog of about 135 films. I managed to watch 126 of them this year. But that’s just the films that were on my backlog. Over the course of the year I’ve managed to watch over 150 films and short films. It’s been really fascinating to see so many of the latest films and some of the greatest classics of all time and see what I thought about them.

That said, I certainly did not expect my favourite films of the year to be:

• Everything, Everywhere All At Once
• Top Gun: Maverick
• Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
• Belle
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2