My Year - 2012

2012 has been a hectic year this year.
I finished my Masters in English Literature, finishing with a Distinction and I am very proud of that. It took a lot out of me and I went through a barrage of emotions for much of the year, even thinking at one time that I couldn't do it and it would be easier for me to just give up.
It makes me proud that I stuck with it, that I gritted my teeth, hunkered down, and got on with it. The end result is what was born from, for the most part, sheer determination.

I also found that, having spent three years as an undergradute who hated anything to do with postcolonial literature, as a postgraduate I experienced a new love for it. And with this new love, I used my newfound knowledge and admiration for Queer Theory (for which I have an intense interest) I read Stephen Gray's Time Of Our Darkness and wrote an essay, the experience of which it is unlikely I will ever forget.

After writing my Masters dissertation I started a book which quickly developed into a 5 book, and then 6 book, series! I call it my baby because I think it saved me from entering a kind of post-degree panic about what I was going to do career-wise.

I took part in NaNoWriMo in November and ended up with an almost finished draft of a novel I had no idea I had any desire to write to begin with. I learned a lot from my NaNo experience. The way I write, plan, and even feel about writing was drastically changed from the way I had previously gone about my writing before it.

It doesn't seem like I achieved much but in a personal way, I am proud of my achievements however small they may seem.

Next year I hope to have finished reading The Crimson Petal and the White (a book I started earlier this year but could not finish once I entered into the serious end of Masters) and to have finished my NaNoWriMo novel and my baby. I hope that by December 2013, I am on my way up in my chosen career of publishing.

But more than that, I hope that my family and I can continue to be happy and healthy.

Happy New Year everyone! I hope it's a great one!

:)