It turns out I’m not a natural newsletter writer.* We made it to 2024, though, so I figure that calls for a brief look back at 2023.
A lot of bad things have been happening in the world, but I’m going to focus on some good 2023 things, because I’m sure you get enough of feeling powerless and overwhelmed when scrolling your news feeds.
Travel:
I started the year with a spur-of-the-moment trip to London, which was extremely out of keeping with my nature and exactly what I needed. I did very little while there beyond drinking tea and reading in the various gardens of the inner west and it was excellent.
E and I headed up to Bendigo for our first taste of the Bendigo Writers Festival and had a marvellous time, while I popped up to the ACT for the day for the Canberra Writers Festival. We also had a short 5-night cruise to Hobart and back in December, during which I fell in love with cruising Cunard just as they’re about to stop their Australian season. My timing, as always, is impeccable.
Writing:
Obviously, the biggest writing event of the year was my debut novel, House of Longing, coming out in June. Having a book published is the strangest thing, complete with all manner of odd emotions you’ve never experienced before. I found myself regressing to bad thought patterns I’d not succumbed to in years, and I’m still working on mastering the great art of Not Comparing. I’ve been very lucky, however, in that my reviews have generally been positive and it’s nice to know that there are people out there who enjoyed my queer asylum book.
I wrote a new historical novel mid-year and have recently begun tossing around ideas in my head for the next one.
Doing the Publicity Rounds:
Marketing doesn’t come easily to me, so I was a bit worried about doing publicity for the novel, but it turns out that I love doing radio, podcasts and panels, so it ended up being one of the highlights of the year. I got to be a part of the Canberra Writers Festival, which was such an amazing privilege and totally worth the longggggg day trip interstate.
Watching, Reading, Listening:
Around July, my The Bill special interest revitalised big time, so I’ve been watching a vast amount of that since then. I’ve also watched a lot of Drag Race from all over the world, thanks to being married to a massive fan of the show, and I particularly enjoyed Sweden’s & Germany’s first seasons. I finally got around to watching the first series of Good Omens, which is as excellent as I was expecting—Michael Sheen and David Tennant are two of my absolute favourites, so putting them together was *chef’s kiss* In 2023, I also (belatedly) discovered and enjoyed What We Do in the Shadows and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
I read 62 books in 2023, many of them for my PhD, so not always for fun. A lot of the 62 were fantastic, but I don’t want to name them all here, so instead I’ll just give you my top five, in the order that I read them:
Hunger, by Roxane Gay
A Million Things, by Emily Spurr
Limberlost, by Robbie Arnott
Our Little Secret, by Allayne L. Webster
Witness Statements: Making The Bill Series 1-3, by Oliver Crocker
You know the rampant special interest had to sneak in there somewhere.
Yet again, my musical year in review was very dull, with Miley Cyrus taking out top artist, top album (Endless Summer Vacation) and top song (“Jaded”). I did, however, do something very much not dull in October, which was seeing Paul McCartney live. And what an absolute honour that was. I still can’t quite believe it.
2024 Plans:
I don’t do New Years Resolutions, but I do have a goal for the new year of removing myself as much as possible from negative situations and avoiding as much unkindness and anger as possible. I cut back dramatically on my social media usage in the latter part of 2023, and my mental health has been so much better for it.
The biggest focus for 2024 will be my PhD. I’m at the writing-up stage and am entering my final year, so I want to make the most of the experience, even while bewailing the horrors of trying to condense many years of research into never enough words.
Novel Number Two will be simmering away on the stovetop as well.
Paying the Cute Tax:
You made it through 2023 AND this newsletter! Please accept this photo of The Baby as your reward:
* Things I am a natural at include patting animals, amassing vast numbers of books, and complaining about the heat.