It has been a really strange year for me in so many ways, with so many things happening it seems all at the same time. Yet in some strange way, it has also seemed as if nothing has been happening at all. When I read back that list that I wrote though just the other day and go back over some of the older posts on this site, I am astonished to see just how much has happened, and how far I have progressed along both the writers and the spiritual path.
Coran has of course been the greatest inspiration in my life. We celebrated our 10th anniversary last summer (2007) and he has been there at my side during all those years, holding my hand and keeping me steady on the path when it seemed that all hope was lost. He was there mopping up the tears each time that I lost my job through redundancy or whatever, when my mother died just before the millennium, when my sister attempted suicide and called us in the middle of the night as a cry for help. He was also there each time a rejection letter popped through the letterbox from an agent, a publisher or a job, and when I signed the contract with Authors OnLine Ltd. He was there when I made my first ever book sale, and he will be there with me I hope until the day that I die. I can't think of anyone that I would rather spend the rest of my life with, and I don't need a piece of paper or the blessing of any church in order to declare that.
It seems fitting then as this year draws to a close, and I begin to look back, and then forward to the next year which is about to start, to acknowledge not just the part that he has played in creating that success, but also the part that so many others have played as well.
Of course the first person that needs to be acknowledged is Mr Fitt himself, the owner of my publishing company Authors OnLine Ltd. Were it not for his foresight and his belief in the book that I have written, Gardners would never have deigned to even look at placing it on such favourable terms, and it would not be enjoying anywhere near the level of success that it has done. I know that this is very modest compared to the likes of JK Rowling, whose programme a year in the life of was shown on ITV earlier tonight, but still to me it means a lot.
I also of course need to acknowledge the rest of his staff - his wife Marjorie who writes my royalty cheques, Gaynor who deals with all the book orders from Gardners, Bertrams and hopefully in 2008 some independent retailers, and of course the wonderful and rather eccentric, even if I do say so myself, Paul Rix, whose little black book (volume one) is a mish mash of contacts the mysteries of which I have only just begun to tap. I wish him well with his own second book due out in early 2008.
There are too many friends to mention them all by name here, so to any that I have missed - thank you, and you know who you are. The most influential and helpful during 2007 though have included Gillyann Osborne, Ariadne (I have been banned from mentioning her real name), Nadine Laman, Leslie Yetter, Claire Williams at Paradigm Shift Magazine, Phil Harris and the editors and journalists at the various publications that have featured me this year. I also cannot forget the rest of the team at the newsletter that I edit, and of course our regular readers, and finally the the staff of Lundy Island and the crew of MS Oldenburg and helicopter pilots and team that keep the island open and welcoming during the cold winter months. I look forward to my 23rd visit I think (I have lost count) on February 8th.
I don't mean this to sound corny or contrived, and I realise to some that it might, but it is important to acknowledge those who have helped you along the way, and this is my way of saying a big thank you.
So the countdown to the end of the year then begins and the dregs from the bottle of Baileys await ....
Coran has of course been the greatest inspiration in my life. We celebrated our 10th anniversary last summer (2007) and he has been there at my side during all those years, holding my hand and keeping me steady on the path when it seemed that all hope was lost. He was there mopping up the tears each time that I lost my job through redundancy or whatever, when my mother died just before the millennium, when my sister attempted suicide and called us in the middle of the night as a cry for help. He was also there each time a rejection letter popped through the letterbox from an agent, a publisher or a job, and when I signed the contract with Authors OnLine Ltd. He was there when I made my first ever book sale, and he will be there with me I hope until the day that I die. I can't think of anyone that I would rather spend the rest of my life with, and I don't need a piece of paper or the blessing of any church in order to declare that.
It seems fitting then as this year draws to a close, and I begin to look back, and then forward to the next year which is about to start, to acknowledge not just the part that he has played in creating that success, but also the part that so many others have played as well.
Of course the first person that needs to be acknowledged is Mr Fitt himself, the owner of my publishing company Authors OnLine Ltd. Were it not for his foresight and his belief in the book that I have written, Gardners would never have deigned to even look at placing it on such favourable terms, and it would not be enjoying anywhere near the level of success that it has done. I know that this is very modest compared to the likes of JK Rowling, whose programme a year in the life of was shown on ITV earlier tonight, but still to me it means a lot.
I also of course need to acknowledge the rest of his staff - his wife Marjorie who writes my royalty cheques, Gaynor who deals with all the book orders from Gardners, Bertrams and hopefully in 2008 some independent retailers, and of course the wonderful and rather eccentric, even if I do say so myself, Paul Rix, whose little black book (volume one) is a mish mash of contacts the mysteries of which I have only just begun to tap. I wish him well with his own second book due out in early 2008.
There are too many friends to mention them all by name here, so to any that I have missed - thank you, and you know who you are. The most influential and helpful during 2007 though have included Gillyann Osborne, Ariadne (I have been banned from mentioning her real name), Nadine Laman, Leslie Yetter, Claire Williams at Paradigm Shift Magazine, Phil Harris and the editors and journalists at the various publications that have featured me this year. I also cannot forget the rest of the team at the newsletter that I edit, and of course our regular readers, and finally the the staff of Lundy Island and the crew of MS Oldenburg and helicopter pilots and team that keep the island open and welcoming during the cold winter months. I look forward to my 23rd visit I think (I have lost count) on February 8th.
I don't mean this to sound corny or contrived, and I realise to some that it might, but it is important to acknowledge those who have helped you along the way, and this is my way of saying a big thank you.
So the countdown to the end of the year then begins and the dregs from the bottle of Baileys await ....
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