Well there is one thing that I can definitely confirm as a resolution; to make 2018 better than 2017. It will not be hard to achieve that.
2017 was the worst year in living memory, for many reasons. But that’s another blog post for another time…
So what do I want to achieve this year? Please note the lateness in January for this post… I am working on the theory that by waiting a couple of weeks before committing to a resolution, there may be less chance that it will fall by the wayside along with the empty ‘get fit’ promises. To be fair I am already fit, I am at a great weight and I am pushing 80-90 thousand steps every week. So that’s not the issue.
So what is the issue? Well, I have something of a change of lifestyle – enforced – to plan for, and I have an unexpected house purchase to consider.
And I have my book to finish.
Leaving aside the first two challenges; again, they are for another time. It’s the third one that I am really keen to complete, and to complete it with enough time for some sort of publishing solution to be put in place. Two years ago I started investigating the various options for publication. I now know why people spend months if not years trying to get their work published (and failing); as well as a well written and unique story, I need an agent, but not just any agent, I need the right agent.
A couple of years ago I attended a book launch related to Kosovo and the wider Balkans region. At Daunt Books in Marylebone, I met someone who suggested he could get my book published in Albania. I guess that’s better than nothing! In fact I would be happy to see it published in Albanian because the story is all about how NATO tried to stitch up the Kosovo Albanians during the most significant change to their security status in the county’s recent past (that’s the teaser)…
So my resolution is to complete the book, whatever it takes, and if I can find an agent – the right agent – to publish it before my self imposed deadline of January 2019, all the better.
Maybe I will return to Moledo, my favourite coastal village in northern Portugal, where I spent ten happy days writing my manuscript in 2015.
Ade Clewlow MBE 