Updates and blog sabbaticals

You know when you meet a friend after a very long time and you haven’t spoken to each other? And so many things have happened in that time- you probably got married and divorced, twice; wrote a book(ahem), gone through three different jobs etc, etc. So when said friend inevitably asks, “What have you been up to?” your facial expression resembles a deer in the headlights because you have no idea how or where to begin.

This is exactly how I feel right now, writing this blogpost. This blog has been gathering dust for almost a year and a half. It’s pathetic I know but it reflects how my life has been for the past year. One roller-coaster ride after another which includes in a nutshell: completion of my qualification, starting a new job, moving into a new place, lots of travelling(not the fun kind), a home invasion and the usual madness that comes with teaching in a semi-rural school with large classes.

I don’t even want to touch on my many WIP’s. I did do a little writing last year but not enough to absolve myself of shame. 2015 was a crazy year in my defence. It was like a bombardment of sorts and I am surprised I was still left standing at the end of it. The consolation (or should I say reward) was my much-deserved trip to Cape Town in December. Definitely the highlight of my year.

But I still want to apologise to my blogger friends for not keeping in touch and not reading your blogs. I missed you guys terribly. I miss the writing world terribly (I’m pretty sure the Devil has my soul in a box somewhere).

I do resolve to change things though. They might not be big changes but it’s better than nothing. If time allows it I will blog more. And of course write more.

In the meantime I’d like to know what everyone has been up to. What is going on with your WIP’s? Have you published anything? Any developments in the publishing (traditional or self-publishing) world I should know about? What books are you reading?

Let me know, I want to hear! Good riddance to 2015, welcome 2016!

NM 🙂

Updates and returning to the classroom

It’s been 6 months since I’ve blogged and it bears testimony to the year I’ve had so far. I’m now on a break for a few weeks so I’ve decided to poke my head back into the blogosphere and say helloooooo…

 As some of you already know, I’m studyimg for my Teaching qualification this year and last month I started my practicals.  It’s been 13 years since I last set foot in a classroom and the feeling has been surreal. Schools have just closed for the mid-year holidays hence my break. I’m now given the chance to reflect on what I’ve seen so far and I can safely say, it is definitely one of the most challenging experiences of my life.

I’m still not sure at this stage if I’m cut out to be a teacher. The idealist in me is perhaps disillusioned (long story about traditional teaching vs OBE, I won’t get into it now) but I still got two more months of practicals to do. I haven’t started developing my own lesson plans or properly conducting lessons as yet so maybe I’m being premature in my judgment. Time, perhaps, will be the better judge.

Hopefully I’ll have some stories to tell when this year is over and maybe it will inspire some fiction as well 😀

I know I haven’t been keeping up-to-date with all of your blogs but I will try to catch up. In the meantime I hope you all are making progress on your WIP’s and reading some amazing books. I will try to squeeze in some blogposts in the next coming weeks if my brain can handle it. Until then, adios!

NM  🙂

Above image courtesy of ammer / FreeDigitalPhotos.net