A New Chapter of the Story

Hello everyone,

I'd like to start off with an explanation.

Obviously, it's been a really long time since I last posted on here. Unlike in other times where I have taken a hiatus, I didn't say that I was going to take a break. And in the past, I have apologised for breaks, but I don't want to apologise this time around.

For me (and for many other people I am sure) this past year has been exceptionally hectic and emotional. After Covid, I think so many of us have been readjusting, and it's not always been the easiest of processes.

But also, this year has brought me to the end of my university degree (which still sounds very odd to say). There have been a lot of highs... and a fair few lows. And now I stand on the brink of a whole new adventure which I am really excited to get started with.

So, that sounds like a lot has been going on - why didn't I post about any of it?

If I'm being strictly honest, I decided to stop posting because it felt like a lot was up in the air in my life. I felt a bit lost, and I realised that I didn't really want to share that feeling. I've always liked to be in control, and so when I feel like there's a lot of stuff going on that I can't control, I don't feel as comfortable expressing myself.

So, I took some time. A whole year's worth of time in fact. And I know now that that was the best decision I could have made both for me and for the quality of content I would have been posting on here.

I could go into a post about emotional development here, but I'm not going to, because there are some things that should be kept private.

Instead, I'm going to talk about diaries.

I haven't mentioned it on here for a while, so if you're new here, I keep a personal diary.

When I was in sixth form, I tried to write in it every day (which was quite demanding I don't mind telling you). When I started at uni, I decided to curb that back to once a week, then only when something big had happened. Over the past year, my biggest gap between writing an entry was about six months.

I finished my latest diary yesterday, and as I always do once I finish a diary, I go back and read the entries. Kind of as a way of seeing how far I've come through that time period and what's changed.

The development has never been so stark, but then again, I suppose that that is because it has covered the biggest time period. I won't go into the personal details, but let's just say that it's been one heck of a year.

Writing that final entry made me realise that I'm ready to start this blog up again. I love writing posts, and so long as I don't focus too much on analytics (which to anyone wanting to start a blog, I cannot stress enough that numbers and stats should not rule your life), I think that it'll be good for me to start posting again.

And sure, I recognise that this new chapter in my life is going to be an exciting challenge and that I may not have time to write blog posts frequently. But I think that that's ok really.

I started this blog four years ago to express myself (and to obviously go viral in order to become a super-famous Zoella-grade influencer... we all have dreams haha). At the time, I was a shy sixteen year old who wanted to flex her writing muscles and write something that people would actually get a chance to read. I wanted to find my voice and prove to myself that I could do it.

A lot has changed in four years. I don't struggle with expressing myself these days (well, not as much as I used to). I'm a more confident and generally happier person, and in the past year, I finally feel like I know where I'm going. Or at least where I want to go.

But that desire to write and moreover to write something that people get to read? That hasn't gone away. As I was saying to my supervisor the other day, I'll always write, no matter what happens next.

Writing is in my soul. Stories are constantly floating around in my mind, and my characters often pop up in the most unusual places. Even at the worst of times, I always find myself coming back to the keyboard.

The words are a part of me, and I want to share my words with you.

So, I will be writing posts again, but you may not hear from me for a while. I'm not going to make any promises because I honestly don't know what lies ahead. I've got a whole new schedule to adjust to, and I think I'll get my head around that before I post next. Which might take a while, or might be in a week. Who knows?

Which in itself is quite thrilling, I think :)

That said, I wanted to highlight my writing blog, which can be accessed through this link: https://roxyelle01.wixsite.com/creativewritingbas

As some of you will know, in October last year, my first novel "The Past Never Dies" was published. The link to buy it on Amazon (which I would really really really love it if you would!) is here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Past-Never-Dies-Blackwood-Mystery/dp/152890284X/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=the+past+never+dies+book&qid=1634032734&sr=8-11

So since I am a proper published author these days (which I still love saying at any given interval), I figured it was time I actually devoted a website to my work. My creative writing blog was part of a university assignment for last year, so I've given it a bit of a makeover and turned it into my author website with all the relevant links to my work.

I''ll post on there whenever there is news about my writing, so keep an eye on that (hopefully I will have some exciting things to tell you about in the coming weeks). I've just posted an update post about what I have been up to in the past year in terms of writing, so go give that a read.

And that's about it really. Thank you so much for reading <3

Roxanne xxx