With lots on and an ever developing ‘career’ as an author, I find it easy to simply tick off achievements as ‘done’ and move on to the next task. I think this comes from years of a 9 to 5 job where the pace could be relentless and the opportunity to celebrate limited.

It’s something I’m trying to change in myself.

So, I took time today, while walking in the park, to reflect on the recent past and the imminent future.

In the past month, I’ve been included as an entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and I’m very chuffed and often smiling about it.

The Best of British Science Fiction 2022 (Newcon Press) won Best Collection at the British Science Fiction Awards. My story, The Strawberries of Finsbury Park, is in it, so I can now say that I have a story in an award winning anthology.

At the weekend, I’ll be talking at the Hawkesbury Upton Literature Festival. Although I’ve spoken at a lot of events and festivals, I think this may be the first time at a purely ‘literature’ festival, so another first coming up. And, I get to talk about those strawberries from Finsbury Park.

My final reflection is that I seem to be having more and more catch ups and chats about writing with other authors, which is great and probably a reflection of 18 months of full time writing. Which, by coincidence(?), is how long the Cybersalon participatory foresight project took that culminated in All Tomorrow’s Futures : Fictions That Disrupt.

It’s too easy to focus on the things that haven’t come off yet, but all in all, things are progressing very nicely.

So, have I arrived? Am I there, yet? Depends on where is, I guess. I’m a firm believer in direction not destination, so hopefully I’m always there, but I’ll never arrive, and I’ll keep on doing stuff.