Changing gears...

Dearest blog readers,

Time seems to pass me by with all things but blogging and writing. But I feel that I will turn the corner soon enough. I’ve gone down a gear since end October, and now the new year  is here, there will be another gear change down.


Space Project
The school project with Master 11 was a blast - we learned about different aspects of space by reading and watching documentaries, visiting the planetarium, and of course research on the net - including how to do a 'rocket'. We eventually did have success using effervescent tablets in warm water and plastic bottles (thanks to my brother- I am hopeless at that sort of thing). Lots of fun and I was honoured to be chosen to do the project with him. I was also happy to learn a new skill in using iMovie. (Unfortunately, I can’t show you the movie because of copyright of images - okay for school projects but not for putting it out there - but also because of the privacy I keep for my family.)


Blogging OWL
The Blogging OWL went very well I thought, and I was lucky to have an amazing co-presenter in Daniel de Lorne who took the lead as I dealt with some health issues. Blogging is such a big topic and we managed to fit it into 4 one-two hour sessions. Another new skill learned was using software to present in real time. I keep on learning new things every time I revisit the topic, and new resources as well. 

If you're looking for online courses for your writing, check out the Romance Writers of Australia OWLs - the new year will have a range of new topics soon.



What’s next?
I am catching up some design work and some volunteer work to pass on, but in the new few weeks, I want to get back into my writing and working on my stories. My brain has been so overfull in the last few years, that it slowly lost its creative drive for capturing my stories. It’s still in my head of course, but all my energy had been diverted elsewhere. And therefore, I’ve been too tired to concentrate in the way that I want.


Reading
The good thing is that on the whole my reading has increased - there a few busy weeks where again, it takes a back seat and while the stories are gripping, it’s my mind that is too tired to follow. But on the whole I’m able to read a little a day. I managed 49 books last year which is an increase from 24 books in 2014 (hey that's double!).

Check out Eleni's Library to keep up with what I am reading, including how I'm going in my 60 Book Reading Challenge for 2016 (also widget on the sidebar of this blog).



2016

Since 2015 was such a horrid year for me personally, I'm glad for the freshness that a new year brings. I hope to be around more and get back to some more regular features but I'm not rushing myself. 

Have a fantabulous 2016 everyone!! Take care.
-Eleni

Yia!!!!

Stepping back

I had two amazing conferences in August - the Get Fresh in '15 Romance Writers of Australia conference in Melbourne (go team!) and the Love Thrills Romance Writers of New Zealand conference in Auckland.

I spent a lot of time networking and talking to people - catching up with old friends and making new ones, and generally having a great time doing this.

But it also made me realise that it's time for me to step back from major volunteer work. I had mentioned in an earlier post how I had been struggling for a while now. This was brought home to me when I was exhausted really before the conference in Melbourne properly began. I remember thinking 'how am I going to do this for another year?'

The simple answer is that I couldn't. So thanks to the help of some wonderful friends in RWA who had seen my struggles, I have been able to step away from my two major roles in the organisation, keeping only smaller roles to keep me giving back. I'd wanted to continue as I'd given my commitment but in the end the best for everyone was for me to remove myself from the roles and allow people who are fresh at them.

I'm in handover mode and once this is done, I'll be reviewing my writing direction and seeing where best to put my energies. In the meantime, I'm enjoying reading again - I hadn't been able to read as I'd been falling asleep as I was so tired and anything I did read wasn't being absorbed.

All rugged up for an early morning walk in
New Zealand - used to seeing AM from
the other side.

I have also stopped studying for the moment - and really I'll review if I'll go back. I think I garnered what I needed from Tafe and while I didn't earn my qualification, that hadn't been the reason I'd been studying - in fact, I'd gone in with the idea that I wouldn't earn a qualification and study as long as it suited my purpose of developing some design skills to help with HelzKat Designs, which I have. I'm not going on to a design studio so the qualification isn't the important factor. I'd also been there long enough to see the course change and change again that it wasn't the original course I'd signed up for.

The truth of the matter is I have only so much energy and on good days, fabulous, I can do a lot of what I want to achieve, but good days are not my norm. I have okay days on the whole, but CFS and Fibromyalgia can change how I feel from moment to moment. It's not easy to adjust to this- I still struggle after so many years - but every so often, I'm reminded that it's not only okay to rest, but it's absolutely necessary.

I have missed blogging and talking to you all and sharing. So I'll be back online when my time is my own again.

~Yia~