From believing that one really is a writer (even after having two books published) to realising the world rarely rewards us with the same respect as, say, for sports achievers, takes supreme confidence. To keep on writing against these odds one needs a community of writers, or at least one or two others who believe in you when you yourself cannot.

Lately life itself has been my own greatest obstacle to working on my next novel. From having long Covid for 13 months with its associated brain fog, to losing two of my closest family this year, life has presented me with almost insurmountable barriers. Almost. But as my energy slowly returns, the voice of doubt and despair gradually changes to one of courage, and I know I will take up my pen again in the coming new year. Yes, there will always be obstacles, but to counter these will be the return to a writing life with its routine, the sharing of peaks and troughs with my small writing community, and my hard-won belief in my writing self.

That we still write without the surety of reward, be it financial or social, we still is because we know intuitively that the finished sentence, page, poem or novel is a reward in itself.

As well as a room of one’s own and a liveable income, as Virginia Woolf advises, I and other writers need constant encouragement, tremendous discipline, and above all belief in oneself as a writer. So thanks to all of my readers who still give me positive feedback, like the woman who stopped me in the street one day to say she’d loved “Capriccio”, or a friend relaying that “A Dangerous Daughter” had helped her understand and forgive a young relative suffering anorexia.

My next novel will again be based on my own life but heavily fictionalised, It will be about coercive control and the struggle to survive oppression and stigma. Watch this space for excerpts from my work in progress. And send me positive vibes to keep me believing that I am, indeed, a writer.

Happy New to all my loyal followers

Dina

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