So that was 2012…

And it was a truly emotional and busy year, thoroughly exhausting mentally and physically. There have been some funny times and some happy times, but what I will remember most about 2012 are the challenges it brought and the pains and upset of struggling through those challenges.

I’ve been through a change of jobs, two bad bouts of chest infections and an almost permanent cold for the rest of the year. I’ve suffered a lack of motivation with my university work and that has impacted into my novel writing – I’m still going but the pace is way below what it was last year.

Alongside all of this my friends have been battling terminal illnesses, multiple bereavements, break ups and disappointments. And all of the stress and trauma that goes alongside those terrible things has been shared by all of us.

As I look at this year’s round up I realise it is no wonder I feel tired, but I also feel amazed at what I managed to cram in, and all of this alongside working a full time job all year and battling through the second year of my MA. If I can do it, you can too.

So here are my totals for 2012, and I like to read these to the tune of The Twelve Days of Christmas:

In the year 2012 I did the following:

70,000 words of a novel down,

607 tweets tweeted,

162 books read,

80 blogs posted,

55 reviews written,

10 graphic novels treasured,

8 theatre trips,

1 Tolkien festival.

Countless movies watched,

retro cartoons re-geared.

Almost an MA,

and a heap of challenges.

So I’m nearly done with my master’s degree and it will be an ecstatic moment when I reach the end, but also a relief. It has been a long, tiring journey and a long, tiring year.

I wish you all the very best for 2013 and hope it looks brighter for all of us.

Elloise Hopkins.