I thought about calling this post “back to school” because that’s where I am and what I’ve done.
A short-term teaching job came up with a Danish boarding school just before Christmas and I applied for it. Don’t think British boarding school – that’s a whole other thing! Danish efterskole is a tradition deeply embedded in the Danish culture, and best describes a school with a focus on personal and social development, mutual respect, and the opportunity to experience and study additional non-traditional subjects, and to be a part of a community. I started last Monday. It’s a great school, a good job, good colleagues, and fabulous teenagers, but my writing challenge of a million words has taken a big hit.
Naturally.
I hadn’t anticipated returning to a so-called normal job, but then neither had I – or anyone else I know – anticipated the sudden hike in fuel, energy, and food prices. In other words: I got blindsided by inflation! Writing is not the easiest way to make a living, and Jane and I are often living on the edge, as it were. So this is a short-term gig until the end of June during which time I hope to top up the tanks.
Yes, I’m still writing.
Yes, more books are on the way.
But the challenge is going to take a little longer. However, I have decided to do what I said I wouldn’t do, and add the blog posts to the challenge word count. Late last year, I set myself a quiet challenge of blogging every day – you might have noticed. 😉 I started on November 1st, thinking that if I could could blog for a month then I could blog for a year. Of course, some of the stories I’m posting to the blog have been written before 2022, so there’s some serious cheating going on! But if I bend the rules a little, and distinguish the two lots of word counts between blogging and fiction (new this year) then it’s all good.
And fun! 😉
Of course, if I included emails in this challenge – well, I’d been done by now! That’s for you Mr Drinkwater!
Chris
P.S.
The photo is from January 31st in Qaanaaq, Greenland: our house with Herbert Island in the background.
Challenge word count to date:
- Fiction = 14,502
- Blog = 9,347
Total = 23,869
Yep, got a long way to go! 🙂
